recipe: spinach & cheese manicotti

this was part 2 of my freezer cooking day, and surprisingly enough, the first time i've ever made manicotti. since these are still in the freezer, not sure what the final verdict is, but the prep was actually easier than i expected it to be. i used the recipe from allrecipes.com.

photo from seriouseats.com

ingredients list:

- 1 (15 oz) container ricotta cheese

- 1 (10 oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed & squeezed dry

- 1/2 cup minced onion

- 1 egg

- 2 tsp minced fresh parsley

- 1/2 tsp pepper 

- 1/4 tsp garlic powder

- seasoned salt to taste

- 1  & 1/2 cups shredded mozzerella cheese, divided

- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided

- 2 (26 oz) jars spaghetti sauce, or an equivalent amount of homemade sauce

- 1 (8 oz) package manicotti shells

- 1 cup water

recipe: baked ziti

photo from thepioneerwoman.com/

i needed some good freezer-friendly meals, so i took a Sunday and whipped up a mass amount of marinara sauce, then doled in out in a few small trays of baked ziti and manicotti. i'm usually not a huge baked ziti fan (i feel like it often has no flavor due to weak sauce or not enough sauce... it's just boring pasta), but i had a REALLY good batch of it a ways back by a gal who made it super-creamy, cheesy. that landed me at the Pioneer Woman's recipe, which was drowning in creamy cheese. 

i followed her recipe mostly verbatim, just cutting the amount of meat in half (1 lb instead of 2) and using turkey instead of beef + sausage. i also added a bit of sour cream to increase the cheese factor. 

i saved it a few small trays -- the tray i cooked up that night was pretty delicious, next test will be trying the freezer tray to see if it holds up.

ingredients list:
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1 can (28 oz size) whole tomatoes, with juice
- 2 cans (14.5 oz) tomato sauce or marinara sauce (or an equivalent amount of homemade sauce)
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 lb ziti, cooked until not quite al dente 
- 1 tub (15 oz) whole milk ricotta cheese
- 1 & 1/2 lb mozzerella cheese, grated
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 egg 
- 1 (8 oz) container sour cream (optional)
- fresh minced parsley (optional)

recipe: parmesan-roasted cauliflower

after having some surprisingly yummy buffalo cauliflower at a restaurant, we decided to buy a head of it and give it a go. we used half for a buffaloey recipe, the other half for this parmesan-roasted cauliflower recipe from BonAppetit.com during a quick week night meal. my cauliflower didn't come out as beautifully charey as the BA pic, but it came out surprisingly good (especially considering it's... cauliflower, which i'm still on the fence on), and something i'd make again. 

i followed the recipe mostly verbatim (after cutting it in half), tossing on some breadcrumbs for a lil extra crunch. 

photo from bonappetit.com

ingredients list:
- 1/2 head cauliflower, cut into florets
- 1/2 medium onion, sliced
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 2 garlic cloves, unpeeled
- 1.5 tbsp tbsp olive oil
- Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
- 2 tbsp breadcrumbs

to make: 
preheat oven to 425 degrees F. toss cauliflower florets on a large rimmed baking sheet with onion, thyme, garlic, and oil; season with salt and pepper. roast, tossing occassionally, until almost tender, 35-40 minutes. sprinkle with Parmesan & breadcrumbs, toss to combine, and roast until cauliflower is tender, 10-12 minutes longer. 

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recipe: london broil marinade

picture from Food.com

made this for a quick-prep din last week -- for a very easy thing to assemble (and inexpensive meat), this came out damn good. it was one of the better London broil's i've ever made -- not sure if that's attributed to this recipe, or a just-right cooking temp/time, but it's one i would definitely make again.

i used the "Ant" Kelly's London Broil Marinade from Food.com -- followed it to a tee.

ingredients list: 
- 1/4 c balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 c soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 c olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tsp rosemary
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp London broil beef

recipe: spicy roasted pumpkin seeds

after the carving up & roasting a pumpkin for my pumpkin muffin puree, i had a little treasure trove of seeds left. i went with the spicy roasted pumpkin seeds recipe from Natasha Sanz Caballero -- they came out crispy and spicy, exactly what you'd hope for. considering they were almost zero effort, they were a great lil snack. 

photo from Natasha Sanz Caballero

ingredient list:
- 2 cups pumpkin seeds
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (decrease this if you don't love spicy)
- 1/2 tsp Spanish paprika
- 1/2 tsp salt  

to make: 
preheat oven to 350 degrees F. heat olive oil in small pan, and add the spices. mix well. add the pumpkin seeds and stir to coat, cooking over medium heat for 4-5 minutes. 

transfer the seeds to a baking dish or cookie sheet, spread out in a thin layer, and roast for about 15 minutes. serve at room temp.

recipe: pumpkin muffins

i had picked up an organic pumpkin pie muffin without a plan... then after careful thought (cravings) landed on the classic old pumpkin muffin.

i followed The Pioneer Woman's instructions for turning the pumpkin shell into pumpkin puree, and used Lovely Little Kitchen's recipe for the muffins. they were SO good -- really moist (for lack of a better word), awesome flavor. they were sweet enough that i could probably get away with halving the sugar and not miss it. 

i followed the recipe verbatim from LLK, just subbing in fresh pumpkin puree for the canned puree it called for. (one small pumpkin pie pumpkin was enough for the 15 oz of puree this recipe called for, plus about 1/3 cup extra that i threw into some overnight oats with cinnamon and coconut sugar... mmm)

photo from Lovely Little Kitchen

ingredients list:
- 1 & 3/4 c flour
- 1 c sugar
- 1/2 c dark brown sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg 
- 2 eggs
- 15 oz pumpkin puree (canned for fresh)
- 1/2 c coconut oil, melted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract