Baked Ravioli

I happen to LOVE Real Simple magazine, if I could only have (heaven forbid) one magazine subscription, Real Simple is the one I would have! It has fashion, organizing, life, recipes, everything I need in a magazine. This is a recipe from the Real Simple website, and it's a good one! Super easy (or should I say simple?) and tasty too. I halved it and baked it in two individual sized ramekins. The original recipe has chicken sausage in the ingredients, which I didn't have so I made my version even simpler. Three ingredients: mozzarella cheese, marinara sauce (buy a good kind, or make your own, you don't wanna go with the cheap watery kind here), and ravioli. Mix it all together, bake it for 20 minutes and there ya go. Dinner is served!

Baked Ravioli

adapted from Real Simple

Makes 4 servings

2 cups marinara sauce

1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

16-18 ounces fresh or frozen ravioli

Cook ravioli according to package directions, drain and return to pot.

Toss with marinara sauce and about 1/2 - 3/4 cups of cheese. Transfer to a shallow, 2 quart baking dish, or divide among individual ramekins.

Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and bake for 15 - 20 minutes, until bubbling and beginning to brown.

Real. Simple.

Linking to Foodie Fridays, Friday Potluck , Paisley Passions, Friday Favorites, Tater Tots and Jello, Sunday Showcase, and Tidy Mom

Crockpot Salsa Chicken with Whole Wheat Penne Pasta

This week I was having a few friends over for dinner on an evening that I knew I was going to get off work late. I also realized the night before that I really hadn't planned anything for dinner and I had almost no ingredients on hand.... what's a girl to do? Turn to that fabulous invention known as the crock pot. I threw in a jar of salsa, a few chicken breasts and set it on low and slow! When I arrived home that evening, I was greeted by the glorious smell of the chicken cooking. All I had to do was boil some whole wheat penne pasta and serve it up with some Monterrey jack cheese and a green salad on the side. Such a delicious, savory meal! My friends thought I had been slaving away over a hot stove all evening.... little did they know I had spent about fifteen minutes total pulling the meal together... but that will just be our little secret ☺

Crock pot Salsa Chicken with Whole Wheat Penne Pasta

Ingredients

3 good sized chicken breasts, frozen

1 jar of your favorite low-sodium salsa, I like Green Mountain Gringo Fire Roasted Chili Salsa (try and select the lowest sodium salsa you can find or else your chicken will turn out too salty!)

1 lb whole wheat penne pasta

Ingredients to top:

Monterrey jack cheese (shredded)

Sour cream

Coat inside of crock pot with non-stick cooking spray. Place frozen chicken breasts in crock pot. Pour one jar of salsa over chicken breasts. Place lid on cooker and set on low. Cover and allow chicken to cook for 8-10 hours. I did ten and mine turned out perfect. After chicken is completely cooked, boil pasta until tender. Remove chicken from crock pot and shred with two forks. Toss pasta with chicken and left over cooking liquid from the crock pot. Sprinkle with cheese and spoon on a dollop of sour cream if desired.

Veggie Pasta

Happy Friday! Looking through my past few blogs, I noticed that I've been posting lots and lots of sweet recipes, so, I decided it's time for something healthy! I got this recipe for 'Raw Vegetable Pasta' from the Whole Foods website. I love eating squash raw dipped in ranch so I thought this was a genius idea, so fresh and delicious! Even better I got to utilize fresh herbs from my little back porch garden! The original recipe uses oil-packed sun dried tomatoes which I didn't have, so I cut a bunch of cherry tomatoes in half, drizzled them with olive oil, sprinkled on a bit of sea salt and basil and roasted them on a tray in the oven. I then sprinkled the roasted tomatoes over the finished salad and drizzled it with the oil that remained in the pan. This is now one of my favorite vegetable dishes! SUPER easy and flavorful. Perfect for those summer nights when cooking is not on your list of things to do. It would be delicious served with some crusty italian bread to soak up every last drop of that yummy olive oil dressing! So take the night off from cooking and enjoy this beautiful light salad!

Vegetable Pasta

Adapted from Wholefoods.com

Ingredients

2 zucchini squash, shaved thinly lengthwise with a vegetable peeler

2 yellow summer squash, shaved thinly lengthwise with a vegetable peeler

Sea salt and pepper to taste

1 tblsp extra virgin olive oil + more for drizzling

1 1/2 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

2 tblsp fresh chives, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon finely chopped basil

1 teaspoon finely chopped oregano

1/4 cup shaved parmesan cheese

Method

Combine squash, basil, chives, oregano, garlic and about half of the tomato halves in a large bowl.

Take remaining tomato halves and place in a small bowl. Sprinkle with 1/2 tblsp basil, sprinkle with black pepper and salt. Drizzle 1 tblsp of oil over tomatoes and toss. Spread out onto a rimmed baking tray and brown on top rack of oven on boiler setting for 1-2 minutes (watch closely). When softened and sizzling, remove from oven, add to squash mixture, add parmesan flakes and toss. Drizzle with remaining olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Nutrition: Average Per serving (about 6oz/169g-wt.): 70 calories

Have a wonderful weekend!