Perciatelli all' Amatriciana

I know it's a crazy name. And from the recipe it's just a simple pasta dish... I guess they just had to get all fancy with the name. Oh well. I did have to substitute and adjust the recipe. One day I swear I'm going to splurge and actually buy the real pancetta that recipes call for, and not go cheap and just use regular bacon. I liked this dish because it wasn't a "heavy" pasta dish that some can be. And of course with my love of mozzarella cheese, I had to fight not to want throw a couple tablespoons on the top and melt it in the oven (which I think would have topped this dish off). But it's good either way. I might just call it Bacon Tomato Penne next time.

Perciatelli all' Amatriciana (makes 4 servings)

WW pts: 5 pts. a serving

1 Tbsp Olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped finely

4 oz. Pancetta (I used Turkey bacon b/c it's what I had)

1/4 to 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 cup dry white wine (I used chicken broth b/c we didn't have the wine)

1 -28 oz. can of diced tomatoes, no salt added

1/4 tsp salt

6 oz. whole wheat penne noodles (it called for Perciatelli, but I only had penne)

1/3 cup grated parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese.

Bring a large pot of water to boil.

Meanwhile heat oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Add onion, bacon and red pepper flakes. Saute 10 minutes or until onion and bacon are golden.

Pour in wine (broth) and bring to a boil, stir in tomatoes and salt,. Bring sauce to a boil, lower heat, and simmer stirring occasionally.

When sauce has simmered for 10 minutes add pasta to boiling water and cook according to directions. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water.

Drain pasta; add to sauce in skillet and toss over medium heat 1 minute until pasta is well coated. Remove from heat, stir in cheese and reserved pasta water and toss well. Serve immediately with extra cheese.

I made a side salad so we could have some extra veggies for the day!!

Missing in action.

That is where I have been. We had Eggplant Parmesan, Smoke Boston Butt and Cajun Ratatouille and all have had so many leftovers that I haven't had a reason to cook for a few day!!! And I've had scrumptious leftovers for my lunches!!!

I do have to admit something. Last night my Mother-in-law called and asked if we wanted to go to 5 guys Burgers and Fries... so since we hadn't been out yet for the month of August... we decided sure we'd go and get some of their yummy fries... Which was funny because Tuesday at the gym the girls in the daycare and I were talking about good burgers, and 2 of us agreed 5 guys was A.W.E.S.O.M.E. But the one girl "L". asked if I had ever tried the Malt vinegar on the fries there... and I thought about it. NOPE never heard that one, I mean I see the bottles on the counters next to the ketchup dispenser, but never thought about putting it on my fries. So last night while I was there... I decided to actually try it, since she strongly suggested it. And YEP. they were even better. I can't explain exactly how, but they just did. My In-laws even agreed, although Michael wasn't a fan, but he doesn't like the Malt vinegar flavor anyways so no big shocker there. So next time you step into a 5 guys. You have to try the Malt vinegar sprinkled on your fries.

The downside to 5 guys. Even getting the little hamburger with fresh veggies... It's an 11 pt. hamburger.. and a 1/2 order of their fries is 7 pts. So basically I spent most of my daily pts. on 1 dinner. But luckily WW gives you the weekly pt. allowance that was dipped into. But it was so worth it!!! Will even ate a few fries, which surprised me.

Now onto a little chuckle from Will:

Today after lunch, Will was playing with his cars in the living room, so I snuck downstairs to check my e-mail. Yes, I'm a bad parent and don't sit in viewing sight of my child 24 hours a day. But he's a good kid, and has never gotten into stuff that he's not supposed to, he get so engrossed in his cars sometimes I don't think he even notices when I leave the room. So back to the story... I'm downstairs on the computer and I hear him come to the stairs and this is how it went...

W: "Momma, whatcha doin down der?"

Me: "Checking my e-mail."

W: Ohhh Okay.

M: "Will, what are you doin?"

W: "I'm gonna come down and see you"

M: Okay

About 2 seconds later I see my little brown headed boy pop his head around the corner of the door and smile... and all he says is Boo... It cracked me up. When did my little boy learn how to carry on a full conversation, and I understand him. It was beyond sweet, and shortly after that, he went to take a nap, where he slept for 2 1/2 hours.... yep. It's been a great day!!!

Another newbie.

I have now had to add another 3 ring binder to my kitchen... full of all the new recipes that I've found online, ripped out of magazines, and gotten in the mail. So tonight since we had fish on the menu, I thought I would flip through my binder and poof I found this recipe that I've had for a while, but never tried.... and wow am I sorry I hadn't tried it sooner.

Baked Tilapia with Corn and Tomatoes (makes 2 Fillets)

WW pts: 2 points per fillet package

2 cups frozen whole kernel corn, thawed

1 can (14.5 oz) Hunt's Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes with garlic

1/2 chopped onion

1/2 tsp dill weed

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cumin

2 Tilapia fillets, thawed

1/2 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine corn, drained tomatoes, onion, dill, cumin and pepper in a small bowl. For each packet, lay two sheets of regular foil on top of each other. Place about 1/4 of mixture on the foil, then place tilapia on top, then top with 1/4 of mixture. Bring up short sides of foil packet and double fold the top. Place packets on baking sheets and bake for 20-30 minutes until the fish is flaky. Once the fillets are done, I put the contents of the packets on a bed of brown rice.

I also had some steamed broccoli. So our whole meal was 5 pts and it was really good. We will be keeping this recipe!!

Iheartfaces Challenge Week 32: Surprise

When I saw this weeks challenge theme, I knew exactly which photo I had that had to go into this week's challenge.

For my little William who loves trains. We were given tickets to take him on a real train ride. So when that first train whistle blew this is what he looked like, well actually for the entire train ride. William was so excited, jumping up and down every time he heard that train whistle blow.

Check out more Surprise entries at:

An Oldie but goodie!!

I love this recipe that we had. We actually had it last night, but we had my In-laws over for dinner, so I forgot to post the recipe, and forgot to get a picture of the whole dish. So for this recipe you are going to have to accept a picture of some of the leftovers and a day late....

Besides all that, it's a great easy recipe, and REALLY budget friendly. Which in my book makes it even better. I wish I could remember where I found it, but it's been so long. The recipe itself says to serve over rice, but we never do. B/C it's usually enough by itself with a salad.

Sausage and 3 Bean Bake (makes 8 servings)

WW pts: 7 pts a serving

1-2 links of Kielbasa (I used smoked Turkey sausage by Erich this time)

1 onion, diced

1- 15 oz can great northern beans, drained and rinsed

1- 15 oz can low sodium pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1- 15 oz can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup water

1/2 cup ketchup

2 tbsp spicy brown mustard

1 tbsp brown sugar

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat the Oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9x13 pan with PAM. Slice kielbasa and onion. Then saute in a pan until the onions are slightly caramelized. Add beans to pan. Mix water, ketchup, mustard and brown sugar together. Pour mixture into beans, kielbasa mix. Stir together.

Then pour whole mixture into the baking pan, sprinkle with cheese and bake 30-45 minutes.

Remove it from oven and let stand for 5-10 minutes, so the sauce will thicken.

This recipe is usually better the next day, b/c the sauce will thicken up even more and just makes it yummier.

Monte Cristo... and not the Count of.

Has anyone ever seen that movie: The Count of Monte Cristo... I love it. It's one of those, I've seen dozens of times, but still watch it anytime it's on. Not sure why. It's definitely not the normal type of movie that I would choose.

Basic plotline: James Caviezel plays Edmond D. who is falsely imprisoned by his jealous friends where he meets an old priest in prison. After escaping, he go on a hunt for hidden treasure that the priest talked about, after finding it, he uses the new fortune to get revenge on his enemies.

All of this brings me to my topic for tonight. I found a WW sandwich for a Monte Cristo, which made me think of the movie. I've never had a Monte Cristo sandwich before, but have seen them on T.V. from different cooking shows. It sounded interesting so we decided to add it to our menu for the week.

Monte Cristo Sandwich (makes 2 sandwich)

WW pts: 6 pts. per sandwich.

4 slices whole wheat bread

2 oz Pepperjack cheese (it called for some expensive cheese, so I went with this and it was good and A LOT cheaper)

4 oz. Shaved Turkey (I usually get it sliced fresh as the deli counter, so I know exactly how much we have, and we don't have to worry about leftover meat in the fridge)

Brown Mustard

1 egg, beaten

Heat a skillet and spray with PAM. Take the bread, put dijon mustard on sandwich. Then layer the cheese and turkey. Combine bread to make sandwich. Then dip in beaten egg and put in hot skillet. Flip gently until done, then serve immediately.

*I added a slice of tomato, b/c we have like 14 tomatoes (not exaggerating). Next time I would probably toast the bread before making the sandwich, b/c the bread was so fresh that it was almost a little soggy.

We served it with potato fries (baked in the oven) and a side salad.

Crock pot Tilapia... who woulda thought.

I certainly wouldn't have thought of putting fish in aluminum foil and in the crock pot. But thanks to Eat at home cooks.com... we tried it. And it was surprisingly good. I did notice that 2 of the pieces sauce was a little thinner than mine, but the one I had was A.W.E.S.O.M.E. it was something different, but I'm thinking you could do it in the oven in the Aluminum foil quicker. But since I'm at home I put the fillets in there frozen and let them go. And a great point bargain! Our whole dinner was 4.5 pts... which if you can see from our plate, was a lot of food.

Crockpot Tilapia (makes 4 Tilapia fillets)

WW pt: 3 pts per Fillet

4 pieces Tilapia (thaw if your going to do oven, or you can do frozen for crockpot)

1/4 cup light mayo

1/3 cup Cheddar cheese

2 Tbsp Parmesan Cheese

3 Tbsp Lemon Juice

sprinkle of salt and pepper

Mix everything but Tilapia in a bowl. Then get four sheets to place Tilapia in. Spread a spoonful of mixture on the A. foil, then place Tilapia, then another spoonful on top. Fold the A. foil up like a little pouch. Repeat with remaining fillets. Then if you are going to do it in the crockpot, place them in there, and turn on low for 3-4 hours. If you do it in the oven, I would think 375 degrees for 30 minutes would work.

We served it with Broccoli, Summer Squash (from our garden) and a small potato. Fresh, delicious meal. The only thing that would make that meal better... would be to have a scoop of ice cream for dessert.... Ho Hum.... probably a good thing I don't have any ice cream in the house.