feed me friday: pasta and veggie toss

I feel like every week I claim to reveal my family's "FAVORITE" recipe!  Is it possible to have twenty "FAVORITE" recipes? 

If it is, we do! 

Truthfully, though this recipe is probably my favorite of all of the recipes I've shared.  It is not my husband's favorite or my daugthers' favorite, but it is definitely mine.  I could probably eat this two or three times a week . . . easily!!!!

Pasta and Veggie Toss

Here's what you need:
~1 box of whole grain pasta (I like to use Barilla medium shells or bow ties.)
~1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (divided in half)
~1 garlic clove pressed or 1/2 tsp of minced garlic in a jar
~1 carrot peeled and thinly sliced into coins
~2 cups broccoli floret
~2 cups green peas (I recommend frozen not canned)
~1 cup sweet red or orange or yellow pepper chopped
~1 cup grape tomatoes sliced
~1 cup water
~5 basil leaves chopped
~1/4 dried oregano
~1 Tbsp parsley chopped
~1 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese
~salt and pepper to taste

Here's what you do:
1)  Cook pasta according to package directions.

2)  Saute garlic in 1/4 cup of olive oil for two to three minutes.

3)  Add carrots, broccoli, green peas and sweet peppers to olive oil and saute three to five minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4)  Add cup of warm water and summer until veggies are tender.

5)  Add tomatoes.

6)  Drain pasta and toss into veggie mixture.

7)  Add herbs, remaining olive oil and Parmesan cheese and stir together.

DELICIOUS!!!!

Cook on!

This post is sponsored by Arise Shine Designs.  Visit Arise Shine Designs for beautiful Scripture-inspired jewelry:

feed me friday: glazed carrots

How has your garden harvest been?  We don't have our own garden.  It's one of those "someday" dreams.  However, until my dream becomes a reality, we have a few family friends who pass on a garden goody or two now and then.  I'm always trying to come up with new things to do with veggies because I seem to mostly steam or roast them, throw on a little seasoning and serve them up.  Here's a super easy and yummy carrot recipe that is sure to please your family as much as it does mine. 

Glazed Carrots



Here's what you need:
-1 t. olive oil
-1/4 cup Catalina Dressing
-1 1b. carrots chopped into short sticks or baby carrots
-2 T slivered almonds or cashews

Here's what you do:
1) Heat olive oil in skillet.

2) Add carrots to the skillet.

3) Pour dressing over carrots and stir to coat.

4) Cover and cook on medium heat 12 to 15 minutes or until slightly tender. Stir regularly while cooking.

5) Add cashews or almonds and cook for two to three more minutes until desired tenderness.

I first shared this recipe over at A Vision to Remember during the 30 Day Food Challenge. 

Cook on!

I may linke to a few of these great parties.  Check them out either by clicking below or on my "i like to party" page.
Weekend - a little lovely, Craft Envy, Under the Table and Dreaming, Be Different Act Normal, A Vision to Remember

Monday - Keeping it Simple, Craft-O-Maniac, The Girl Creative, The Trendy Treehouse, CRAFT, Making the World Cuter, Mad in Crafts, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Between Naps on the Porch, Tools Are For Women,  It's So Very Cheri, Skip to My Lou

Tuesday - All Thingz Related, Sugar Bee, New Nostalgia, Creative Itch, Lucky Star Lane, Hope Studios, These Creative Juices, My Delicious Ambiguity, Today's Creative Blog-Get Your Craft On!

Wednesday - It's So Very Cheri, Beyond the Picket Fence, Blue Cricket Design, Trendy Treehouse, Tea Rose Home, Someday Crafts, My Backyard Eden, Sew Much Ado, Night Owl Crafting

Thursday -  Fireflies and Jellybeans, Life As Lori, House of Hepworths, Somewhat Simple, Seven Thirty Three, The Train to Crazy, PonyTails and FishScales, Black Kat's Design

Friday - The Sabby Nest, A Little Knick Knack, Fingerprints on the Fridge, It's Fun to Craft!, It's a Hodgepodge Life, Kojo Designs, Amy Lou Who, A Few of My Favorite Things, Simply Sweet Home

sunday kids' craft: fresh fruit freats

My oldest daughter has been asking me for weeks to make fresh fruit freats (that's my made up name for frozen treats).  We experimented with these last summer because they fit my criteria for cooking with kids.  What are my criteria for cooking with kids?  Well, I'm glad you asked!  Anything I do with my children in the kitchen must be:

1) Messy

2) Stain clothing

3) Messy

4) Fun
Oh and . . .
5) Messy

Not the criteria you were expecting . . . right?

Well, I guess these aren't my cooking-with-kids criteria so much as they are the four things that seem to happen anytime I try to cook with my kids.  We make a crazy mess - i.e. when we made our own chewing gum.  We stain our clothing.  And we have a ton of fun! 

Now, I'm going to be honest, it's not in my nature to like making messes or stains on clothing.  But when I hear the giggles and see the smiles that result from these messy stains, I can't help but feel as happy as they do.  

So . . . I promised my oldest daughter that on the 4th of July we would make our first batch of fresh fruit freats.  We made four popsicles and two dozen ice cubes.  

Grab the following crafty ingredients or a variation and make your own freats:
-3 to 4 cups of fresh fruit (washed and cut up)
-2 cups of orange juice or white grape juice (White grape juice will make sweeter freats and OJ freats are a little tart.)

 
1)  Frist things first . . . scrub those hands.  This craftipe (ooo . . . I just invented a new word for recipe and craft!) is hands-on - literally.

2)  Divide your bowl of cut up fruit putting 3/4 of the fruit in one bowl and leaving 1/4 of the fruit in the other bowl. 

3)  This is the fun part . . . start squashing.  That's right . . . smash, squeeze, pound - whatever it takes to make smashed fruit.

4) Mix juice and smashed fruit.

5) Pour juice/fruit mixture into popsicle molds and/or ice cube tray.  (We used a mini-muffin tin because, oddly, I could not find our ice cube trays anywhere.  I also couldn't find one of the popsicle tops.  Where is everything going in our house?)

6) Put a few pieces of the unmashed cut-up fruit into each popsicle mold and/or ice cube mold.

7) Cover molds and ice cube tray (or mini-muffin tin) with plastic wrap and freeze.

**To easily remove ice cubes from tray dip the bottom of the tray in a sink of warm water for a few seconds.

My girls drink plain old fashioned water pretty well, but they drink it even better with a few of these ice cubes plopped into the glass.  Or use these ice cubes in a pitcher of lemonade, sangria or punch for a party or shower. 

Delicious and pretty!

Craft on!