Firecracker Pasta

In honor of the 4th of July around the corner....
(AND because my husband said it actually smelled like firecrackers...ha!)

 

 

Firecracker Pasta (aka Spicy Smoked Sausage Pasta)

 

Ingredients:

1 1b. smoked turkey sausage

1 medium onion (chopped)

8 oz. pasta

1/2-1 cup heavy cream (I used 1 cup for a thinner style sauce)

1 can rotel

2 cups chicken broth

1-2 cloves garlic (minced)

1 cup Monterey Jack cheese

1 tsp. salt (I actually omitted this)

1 tsp. black pepper

1 tbsp. olive oil

 

Directions:

In a large skillet, add olive oil, sausage, and onions.  Cook on medium high heat until browned.  Add minced garlic and cook for about a minute.  Then add rotel, pasta, cream, chicken broth, and seasonings.  Bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until pasta is cooked.  Lastly, add Monterey Jack cheese and stir to combine.  Broil in the oven for 3 minutes or until cheese is golden.\

 

Servings: 4

Calories: 625

 

 

 

This is my NEW favorite recipe y'all!!!!

  It was so flavorful and reminded me of a New Orleans Cajun-style pasta.  

 



Our Weekend

We had such a great weekend this past week!!! My mom surprised me and made the long drive to Cape to spend a few days with us.  It has been several months since she's seen us so she was thrilled to spend some time with her grandbaby.  Then, my brother and his family also came Saturday to spend the day with us.  We grilled, walked along the river front, and had lots of fun!!!

 

 

I made my favorite summer dessert recipe also.  This is SO easy and quick to make! 

 

 

 

Key Lime Pie

 

Ingredients:

 

For the crust:

 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

6 Tbsp. unsalted butter melted

 

For the filling:

6 egg yolks (at room temperature)

14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

2 Tbsp. grated lime zest

3/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

 

For the decoration:

1 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

thin lime wedges

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  For the crust, mix together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter in a bowl.  Press into a pie pan.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Allow to cool.  For the filling, beat the eggs and sugar on high speed in an electric mixer for 5 minutes (or until thick).  Reduce to medium speed, add the condensed milk, lime zest, and lime juice.  Pour into the graham cracker pie crust and freeze.  For the decoration, beat the heavy cream on high speed until soft peaks form.  Add the sugar and vanilla next and beat until firm.  Spoon or pipe onto the pie and decorate with lime wedges.  Freeze at least for 2 hours but best overnight.

 

***I sometimes use shortcuts for this recipe like buying premade graham cracker crust and lime juice.  You could also use cool whip if you didn't want to make your own whipped cream BUT the homemade is SO much better!!!

 



Father's Day & Meal Prep

I hope everyone had a great Father's Day this past weekend.  It was special to celebrate Jamie's first Father's Day.  I planned a dinner out and one of our church friends watched little James.  We went to a Cajun place called Broussard's.  It was so nice to get out and spend some alone time together!!!

 

 

I've been wanting to do a blog post about our weekly food prep and go into further details on how we budget and make things work for us. 

 

First, we set a $50 grocery limit for each of us.  Jamie is doing a keto diet right now so we have totally different nutrition needs.  He spends most of his money on protein.  I spend most of mine on fresh produce. 

 

Next, we make out a weekly menu so we can plan ahead before going shopping.  Jamie is perfectly fine with eating the same three meals every day for an entire week.  I however like to have several different choices each week for at least my lunch and dinner. 

 

This week I decided on oatmeal and blueberries for breakfast, cottage cheese w/ strawberries and carrots for snacks, and chicken pot pies, grilled chicken & couscous with baked veggies, and skinny chili for my lunch/dinner options. 

 

 

Since I'm a nursing momma I am suppose to eat around 2,300 calories a day.  Which means I could eat all that you see above easily and stay within my calorie goal. 

 

 

Chicken Pot Pies

 

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts (cooked and cut up)

2 cups of frozen peas and carrots

2 cans of cream of chicken soup

1 cup of Bisquick

1 egg

1/2 cup of skim milk

 

Preheat oven at 400 degrees.  Combine your chicken, soup, and frozen peas and carrots.  Mix together and divide between 6 oven safe bowls.  In a small bowl whisk together your egg, milk, and bisquick.  Pour mixture on top of each bowl.  Bake for 35 minutes. 

 



 

This recipe is a family favorite.  I make these ALL the time in the winter.  For some reason I had a craving for these this past week.  This is a weight watchers recipe my mom gave me a while back.  I've experimented with this recipe and this is just my favorite combination.  If you wanted to add potatoes or other veggies you could certainly change it up.  These taste just as good the next day as they did when they came out of the oven!!!

 

Skinny Chili

 

Ingredients:

1.25 lbs. ground turkey or beef

2 bell peppers

1 can of corn (drained)

1 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes

1 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes

1 can of pinto beans (drained)

1 can of red kidney beans (drained)

1 large onion (diced)

1 cup of chopped celery

2 tbsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. garlic salt

1 tbsp. stevia

1 jar of salsa

 

Combine all ingredients except for ground beef and onion into a crockpot.  Cook ground beef and onions in a skillet until browned.  Combine with the remaining ingredients in crockpot.  Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours.

 





 

There is a reason I call this "skinny" chili.  The reason is you can eat this till you're going to explode and it has hardly any calories!!!  This makes 10 huge servings at only 212 calories.  But don't worry...once I add my shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream on top the calories start to climb. Ha!!! :)

 

This is a great dish I can make for my vegetarian and vegan friends.  You could substitute the ground beef for morning star beef crumbles or a couple cans of black beans.  This freezes beautifully which makes it ideal for meal swaps, pot lucks, and large get together where you have to feed a lot of people.  My husband says this reminds him of taco soup but a lot thicker and heartier. 

 

That's basically it for this week.  Very simple.  Very frugal.  I will try to do more weekly food prep ideas in the future.