Sauteed Vegetable Lettuce Wraps

Hello hello! 

This is another recipe from when I was back home. I have not done it in college yet, but only because I haven't been able to get my hands on full leaves of lettuce. 

This recipe is a take off of the Fridge Dump Lettuce Wraps. Originally, I was going to eat the veggies with a fork in a bowl, again considered a pita, and realized we still had lettuce! 

Without further ado...

The Recipe: Sauteed Vegetable Lettuce Wraps

• 1 tsp butter
• 3 medium carrots, chopped
• 1 cup frozen green beans
• 1 cup sliced white mushrooms

The Process: 

• Warm a frying pan on the stove (5-10 minutes on high)
• Once the pan is warm, add the butter and move the pan so that it spreads. Lower the heat to low-medium. 
• Add broccoli and green beans to the pan. 
• Add salt and pepper and mix with a spatula. 
• Add carrots to the pan and mix with a spatula. 
• Add mushrooms to the pan and mix with a spatula. 
• Allow the mixture to cook, covered, for 5-7 minutes. You will be able to smell when the vegetables are done, and they will be slightly browned. 
• Remove mixture and put in a bowl or on a plate. 
• Spoon mixture into lettuce leaves. 
• Wrap and enjoy! 

The calories: 

Carrots: 50 calories

Green Beans: 77 calories

Mushrooms: 68 calories

Butter: 25 calories

Salt/Pepper: insignificant calories

Lettuce: 6 calories

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TOTAL: 176 calories

This entire recipe is very low calorie and very high satisfaction!

What went right:
          It was all delicious and super healthy!

What went wrong:
          Nothing really...although for the sake of balance, adding rice would have made it even better.

Would I do this again?: 
          Yes, definitely!

Overall this was a great take off of multiple food ideas and I look forward to having it with rice and maybe cabbage in the future!

Baked Ziti with Sausage and Vegetables

Welcome to one of my family meal challenge dishes!

If you've read my blog description, you may have noticed each month I have more and more posts, rather than just a few per week. I've actually started cooking a few times a week for myself, baking at least once a week, and cooking a meal for my four-person household once a week.

The Recipe: Baked Ziti with Sausage and Vegetables

• 1/2 box of Ziti pasta
• 1/2 can of pizza sauce (or any desired pasta Sauce)
• Mozzarella, Alfredo, Parmesean, and Romano Cheese (again, use desired cheese)
• Four small frozen sausage links
• 1 1/2 cup halved mushrooms
• 1 zuchini

The Process:

• Boil about 1.5 cups of water in a covered pan
• Cook pasta to desired stiffness
• Broil sausage links in the oven on High. After about five minutes, turn the links and broil for another few minutes. They should be fully browned and bubbling, but not burnt.
• Slice zucchini and cut slices in half
• cut small mushrooms in half
• In an oven-safe container, cover the bottom layer with pasta
• Cover the pasta with sauce
• Cover the sauce with sausage and vegetables
• Cover the sausage and vegetables with sauce
• Cover the sauce with pasta
• Cover the pasta with sauce
• Cover the sauce with cheese
• Bake for 15 minutes at 375 degrees

The Calories:

Pasta: 400 calories
Sauce: 70 calories
Sausage: 267 calories
Mushrooms: 30 calories
Zucchini: 20 calories
Cheese: 180 calories
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TOTAL: 967

However, this was shared by three members of the family (the fourth deciding to only eat pasta and sausage links, plain), so each person ate approximately 323 calories :)

What went right:

          The pasta was good, although not quite baked. The sausage links were also cooked correctly. Everything tasted right together, and it was a very healthy dish.

What went wrong:
          Like I said, the pasta was not quite baked long enough to be considered baked, so I know I need to bake it longer. Also, the raw vegetables lacked the carmelization to really release their flavor.

What I would do next time:
         First of all, I would bake the dish for half an hour to really get all the flavors to cook together. Additionally, I would broil the zucchini and either broil or sautee the mushrooms as well, to get them to caramelize. I would also heat the sauce before adding it, and put more sauce throughout the dish to make sure it covers everything. To make it a special dish for each season, I could change or add vegetables, such as switching the type of squash. I might also try using different meats, although using frozen sausage links will be the easiest to accomplish in college than anything else.

Would I do this in college:
          Yeah I think I'd do this in college...it would be easy to scale down and even if I didn't, I don't see a reason the dish wouldn't keep and reheat well.

Overall, a tasty challenge dish that I will be doing again to get it just right...stay tuned!

Challenge 2: Veggie Pasta Salad

Hello Hello!

So last night I made myself some dinner and ended up with a lovely pasta salad that I'm sure I'll be making all the time...super easy and incredibly delicious :)

The Recipe:  Veggie Pasta Salad

• One large Red Pepper
• One Yellow Squash
• One cup of small White Mushrooms 
• 1.5 cups of Tri-Color Penne Pasta
• Olive Oil
• Garlic Salt
• Lemon Pepper
• Classic Pepper
• Salt
• Shredded Mozzarella

The Process:  

• Wash and dry all vegetables
• Set the broiler on Low 
• Cut the ends off the squash. Cut it in half the long way, and cut each half in small slices. 
• Put the squash in a baking pan with olive oil, garlic salt, lemon pepper, and classic pepper
• Shake the pan slightly so all the squash gets marinated
• Put in the oven to be broiled for about 15 minutes, shaking the pan every few minutes
• Cut the top off the pepper and remove the seeds
• Slice the pepper into strips
• Put the pepper in a baking pan with olive oil, salt, and pepper 
• Put in the oven to be broiled for about 15 minutes, shaking the pan every few minutes
• Cut each mushroom in half
• Put the mushrooms in a baking pan with olive oil, salt, and pepper
• Put in the oven until the mushrooms brown 
• Boil some water in a small pot
• Pour desired amount of pasta into the pot
• Cook to taste, which for me means slightly softer than al dente
• Strain the pasta
• Mix the pasta and all the vegetables in a bowl
• Serve with or without mozzarella sprinkled on top

The Calories:

The squash had 14 calories, the mushrooms had 44 calories, the pepper had 14 calories, and the pasta had 300 calories. The total dish, which filled about four large bowls, was 362 calories, 400 with cheese. So one bowl was about 100 calories. 

What Went Right:

All the vegetables were delicious, the pasta came  out great, it was really healthy and pretty quick! Only about 30 minutes to prepare because I put all the veggies in at once. 

What Went Wrong:

I put a bit much garlic salt on the squash, so some of the pieces were more salty than I liked, but once all the ingredients were mixed together it wasn't a big deal. I would still use less next time. 

Other Ideas: 

I would have liked to add zucchini as well, perhaps. I feel like that would be a nice addition, and potentially some tomatoes. I'm sure I'll experiment with other veggies as well. 

If I wanted to make it a main dish, I would add some sausage slices to it. 

This is going to be a favorite of mine in college :) It stores pretty well too, and it's nice and filling.