Month-of-One-Pan Meals: Noodles Alfredo with Vegetables

Welcome to my annual Month-of Recipes on this blog. Go rummaging in the attic here and you’ll find past recipe months for appetizers, chicken, soup, mini-desserts, and more. The way it works is, for each day in February I post a recipe that fits the category. This month is one-pan meals, excluding pizza, most casseroles, and slow cooker recipes.

Meatless Mondays are a thing at my house. Although sometimes it occurs on a Thursday. You know how that goes, right? Still, eating less meat has been a goal of ours for years, so I have a number of vegetarian recipes I rotate through. This one is very hearty because of the noodles and the rich sauce, making it a perfect winter dish.

I buy whole-wheat noodles to make this dish more nutritious. I also cheat (for a fast meal at the end of a busy day) and use bottled Alfredo sauce, but I also have a recipe for homemade Alfredo for more leisurely cooking. Alfredo is versatile, so make up a batch for the refrigerator (recipe below) and use it on various foods, including this one.

Noodles with Vegetables (serves 6)

1 package whole-wheat noodles

3 cups broccoli florets, broken into bite-sized chunks

1 red bell pepper, cut into strips

½ medium onion, sliced

About 3 cups Alfredo sauce***

Extra Asiago for garnish

 

Cook noodles according to directions on the package.

While noodles cook, prepare the vegetables.

Two minutes before the noodles are done, add the vegetables to the boiling noodle water. At the end of two minutes, turn off the burner and drain the pasta and noodles.

Return to the warm burner and immediately add the Alfredo sauce. Mix thoroughly, sprinkle on Asiago, and serve immediately.

***Alfredo Sauce:

½ cup butter (1 stick)

8-ounce package of cream cheese

1 small garlic clove, minced

2 cups milk

¾ cup Gruyère cheese, grated

¼ cup Asiago cheese, grated (or Emmental or sharp cheddar cheese)

¼ teaspoon pepper

In a medium sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add cream cheese and garlic, whisking to make smooth liquid.

Add milk a little bit at a time, whisking between additions to keep cheese smooth.

Add cheeses and pepper, whisking all the time. When the desired consistency is reached, remove from heat and toss with pasta, or after the Alfredo cools, store in refrigerator for later use.

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up

He liked the different textures and flavors of this dish a lot. The colors of the broccoli and peppers also added to the appeal. You eat with your eyes first, chefs say. He is given to casserole-y dishes, so this one-pan/one-pot month of recipes is a favorite of his. Maybe that’s also tied to him being the dishwasher in the family. Hmmm.

Month-of-One-Pan-Meals: Leftovers Sloppy Joe Stuffed Peppers

Welcome to my annual Month-of Recipes on this blog. Go rummaging in the attic here and you’ll find past recipe months for appetizers, chicken, soup, mini-desserts, and more. The way it works is, for each day in February I post a recipe that fits the category. This month is one-pan meals, excluding pizza, most casseroles, and slow cooker recipes.

You’ve had those days, too. “What’s for dinner?” You open the refrigerator, and yeah, chicken is in there thawing, but chicken? Again? So you start scouring the leftovers. Hmm. What could I make with this mess? ***

We had leftover sloppy joe mix from sandwiches earlier in the week, honey-garlic glazed roasted carrots from a chicken dish, roasted kale from a steak dish, and leftover rice from when I made curry, so I put this together for dinner one night. By adding the extra veggies and serving this with a salad, we had a complete, relatively low-carb dinner that baked in one dish.

Leftovers Sloppy Joe Stuffed Peppers (serves 2)

For two peppers you are baking, you will need:

2 large bell peppers

1 cup sloppy joe mixture

1 cup cooked rice

½ cup leftover diced veggies (I had roasted carrots and kale)

Olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease baking dish.

Cut off tops of peppers and reserve. Clean out seeds and membranes and discard. Coat hands with olive oil and coat the outside of the pepper and the top lid. Place in lightly greased baking dish.

On a small cutting board dice the cooked vegetables. Mix together and spread evenly on the cutting board. Top with sloppy joe mixture and then rice. Knead all together.

Put half of the mixture in each pepper, packing tightly. Top with the lid of the pepper and put in oven.

Bake in 350 degree oven for 35-45 minutes or until peppers are softened. Serve immediately.

*** Other leftovers stuffing for peppers: How about my honey-garlic glazed chicken (coming up this month) diced up with rice? Or diced brats with cabbage and mashed potatoes? I always look at my leftovers with an eye to what can I stuff them into (like peppers), top (like baked potatoes), or combine into a casserole. Same food, already cooked, so cooking time is reduced and the leftovers take on a whole new look and taste.

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up

I make stuffed peppers fairly regularly, but with regular ground beef or chicken, most of the time. He liked the flavor that the sloppy joe mix brought. Also, the sweetness of the carrots was another nice flavor layer as well as upping the veggies (Hello, kale!).

Month-of-One-Pan Meals: Mexican Steak and Veggies

Welcome to my annual Month-of Recipes on this blog. Go rummaging in the attic here and you’ll find past recipe months for appetizers, chicken, soup, mini-desserts, and more. The way it works is, for each day in February I post a recipe that fits the category. This month is one-pan meals, excluding pizza, most casseroles, and slow cooker recipes.

Living in the desert Southwest and marrying an Arizonan, I had to up my repertoire of foods from tacos and canned refried beans to some more interesting and varied meals. I am always deconstructing dishes when we eat out and on the search for Southwest foods and seasonings. I trust my tastebuds and always figure I can suss it out!

 I like experimenting with combos of ingredients and seasonings. It's one place I get my kicks!

Interestingly, I discovered the “McCormick’s Grill Master Mojito Lime” seasoning mix in a cooking class in Alaska! Go figure, right? I use this seasoning a lot, and it makes the best ever fajitas, as you’ll see later this month.

 

Mexican Steak and Veggies (serves 4)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon tarragon

2 long carrots, quartered lengthwise

10 small red potatoes

1 bunch of kale

1 can whole baby beets

Medium size Flank steak, about 1-1 ½ pounds

2 tablespoons Mojito Lime seasoning

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Large baking sheet lightly greased.

Press 1 tablespoon seasoning mix into each side of the flanks steak and let sit while preparing the veggies for roasting.

Mix oil and tarragon in a zipper bag and mix together. Add carrots and potatoes. Coat and remove to baking pan leaving room in the middle for other ingredients added later.

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove pan from oven and add meat to the middle. Around it put the baby beets and kale, moving veggies to make space.

Bake for 15 minutes-20 minutes, or until desired doneness. Remove from oven and tent meat for 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up 

He really loved this dish, even the kale which he normally disdains. I think that, like brussels sprouts, which he always claimed to hate, when roasted they take on a whole other flavor which he does like. He’s also not a beet fan, but he cleaned his plate that night!

Month-of-One-Pan Meals: Ginger-Pineapple Shrimp Stir Fry

Welcome to my annual Month-of Recipes on this blog. Go rummaging in the attic here and you’ll find past recipe months for appetizers, chicken, soup, mini-desserts, and more. The way it works is, for each day in February I post a recipe that fits the category. This month is one-pan meals, excluding pizza, most casseroles, and slow cooker recipes.

We need Friday night easy, right, and what could be easier than a one-pan/one-pot dinner? And since it’s also Fishy Friday, Ginger-Pineapple Shrimp Stir Fry hits all the right notes. It looks and tastes as if it took all day, but, nope!

I served it over leftover pasta, but you could use leftover rice. Plopping the stir fry on top of that makes it even heartier. Or serve it low-carb on the plate as is without a starch. This recipe serves two, but it is very easy to double or triple it to serve the family. Time to completion? About 20 minutes!

Ginger-Pineapple Shrimp Stir Fry

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 small onion, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 teaspoons ginger, minced

1 cup pineapple, cubed

1 cup mushrooms, sliced

16 shrimp (raw or pre-cooked; see note below)

3 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

3 tablespoons Asiago cheese, shredded

2 tablespoons fresh cilantro

On medium high, heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, pineapple, and mushrooms. Sauté until onion and mushrooms soften, about 5 minutes.

If using raw shrimp, add now and cook for about 3 minutes or until shrimp are opaque.

Stir in the soy sauce and rice vinegar. Mix thoroughly while cooking for 2 more minutes.

Serve topped with Asiago cheese and cilantro.

NOTE: Even though raw shrimp cooks very quickly, you want to make it even faster! In that case, purchase large pre-cooked shrimp. Thaw and remove the tails. Keep refrigerated until adding to the stir fry. Add the shrimp right after you add in the soy sauce mixture. Stir well to distribute sauce. Then serve as above.

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up

“This is different. You’ve never made shrimp stir fry like this.”

“Unh huh. So what did you think of it?”

“Very different. But in a good way. You can make it again.”

“You betcha!”

Guest Post: Janet L. Greger--May You Live in Interesting Times

We’ve all heard the Chinese curse: May you live in interesting times. Although many of us like a calm personal life, I suspect most of us like more excitement in the novels we read. But the problem for authors is: what makes novels, particularly mysteries and thrillers, exciting?

Many authors believe mysteries and thrillers need only a victim, a protagonist, one villain, one investigator (sometimes the protagonist), and a couple colorful sidekicks. They argue that books which include a number of additional characters are confusing. Perhaps these authors are correct. Their books are fast reads and often sell well.

But I think formulaic mysteries are not satisfying or interesting for several reasons. 

·      The end is too predictable. I like mysteries in which I’m not sure of the finale until the end. That’s unlikely if there is only one clear-cut villain. BUT the “red herrings” as well as the real villain need to be well developed, probably somewhat sympathetic, characters.

·      Formulaic stories are not realistic. Life isn’t straight-forward. We all face continual distractions and make decisions based occasionally on misleading or ultimately unrelated information. These details and subplots add color to a novel, provided they don’t overpower the plot.

·      Most problems aren’t solved by a single person in virtual isolation. Detectives work in teams and consult with crime labs and experts in various fields. Thus, it’s hard to imagine a modern mystery solved by a single detective.

I think you’ll find my new mystery/thriller The Flu Is Coming is interesting. It’s based on reality and asks the simple question: What would happen in a small community quarantined to stop the spread of a new deadly flu virus. There is a subplot created when the protagonist, an epidemiologist studying the flu uncovers secrets about the criminal past of several residents in the isolated community. The characters all have good and bad features. The tidbits of science included in the novel are accurate. Why don’t you read The Flu Is Coming?

Paperback version available at: https://www.amazon.com/Flu-Coming-Science-Traveler/dp/0578423251; Ebook version at: https://www.amazon.com/Flu-Coming-Science-Traveler-Book-ebook/dp/B07KX3J37W.

Blurb: In The Flu Is Coming, epidemiologist Sara Almquist tries to stop the Philippine flu from killing half of those in a walled community, while police try to prevent criminals from escaping the quarantined enclave.

Bio: J.L. Greger is a scientist turned novelist. She likes to include tidbits of science in her award-winning thriller/mystery novels: Murder: A Way to Lose, Riddled with Clues, and others. To learn more, visit http://www.jlgreger.com

The dog in the picture is her Japanese Chin Bug. He’s also a character in The Flu Is Coming.

February is Almost Here!

February is almost here, and you know what that means on "Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time!" A month of recipes in a specific category is coming soon to a blog near you! Yes, it's time again for my "Month-of Recipes."

Typically, I ask my readers to vote on what they'd like to see me post recipes for, but this year, I am indulging myself, and my new passion that you see everywhere. February will be one pan/one pot meals to make your life, and mine, easier.

Prep and forget/bake. Clean up one pan only. Makes for a much simpler life when life needs simplification.

Come back here in one-week for the fun to begin. A special treat to kick off the month will be a guest post by J.L. Greger, an author whose medical mysteries are enlightening, informative, and a good puzzle to solve.  So February 1st is a two-fer! Lucky you!

I am not going to do some of typical one-dish meals you may already be cooking such as pizza, slow cooker pot roast, or traditional casseroles like vegetarian lasagna. If I share a casserole, it will be different, I promise.

So do drop in on February 1st to read about Janet Greger's book, The Flu is Coming, and her take on what happens when flu sweeps a small community. And on that same day, in a different post, get the first of the recipes for the month. See you then!

Guest Post: Jane Risdon

I am so happy to welcome Jane Risdon to my blog today. I've been following her posts for sometime. If you're active on Facebook and the mystery/crime scene, you no doubt have seen her postings, too. She is very visible, with interesting commentary and a wide-range of interests and materials. Please be sure to let her know what you thought of today's post in the comments below! Welcome, Jane!

Writing Only One Woman with Christina Jones (Accent Press) heralded a change of genre for me. I’m a crime/thriller writer and when I came up with the idea for the novel I seriously intended to write a crime story set in the music scene of the late 1960s.

I was looking through some of my musician husband’s memorabilia and diaries – for research – and began to make notes. An idea formed and I began to write, but somewhere along the way I realised I was writing ‘women’s fiction,’ and there wasn’t room for a murder - which was a surprise for me.

Only One Woman is somewhat of a social commentary on the late 1960s in Britain, and how life was changing for those growing up at the time, the way in which world events and the Cultural Revolution shaped their lives; when Britain influenced the world with music and fashion.

At its heart there is a complex love-triangle which takes the reader deep into the world of live music, record making, and the lives of musicians on the road in the grooviest decade of the 20^th century. My character, Renza, is a lonely teen who meets and falls in love with lead guitarist, Scott, on the eve of her family’s move overseas soon after he arrives in England for his first tour with his band, Narnia’s Children, and to record his first record.

I soon realised that another character’s point of view would help the story and sent it to Christina to consider, as my co-author. She agreed and added her parts (Stella) into the novel – not easy to do – and once she’d finished we sent it to our publisher who loved it and asked for additional chapters. Considering it ran to 130,000 words already, we were surprised, but managed to bring the final total to 160,000 – 500 pages – which, our readers tell us, is a fast read.

Christina Jones and I go way back. She was fan-club secretary for my then boyfriend’s band and a rock/pop journalist and short story author. We share a love of fashion, music, and most things 1960s, and have always wanted to write together but when I eventually managed to find time to write (crime/thrillers) – I’d been working with my husband in the international music industry and the opportunity hadn’t arisen - she was writing Bucolic Frolics and was an award-winning, best-selling author by then. Never the twain we thought - until Only One Woman.

We didn’t meet to discuss writing; I’d already finished the book from Renza’s POV. Christina had to get inside my characters and plot and write her character, Stella, with everything which had happened in mind. Not easy. In fact the whole book was written in a very 21^st century manner – via email, text and Facebook messages.

I’m sure that our shared past, our love of music and fashion helped us no end. We knew how life was back then, the food, the perfumes, the clothes and the music – we’d lived it after-all. We just happened to have been teenagers during the most exciting, intoxicating era of the 20^th century, when everything and anything was possible, when the fashions were outrageous and the music innovative.

It was fun to write but we both cried too. It is a work of fiction but we both drew upon our experiences and some events in our book are based ‘lightly’ upon real situations; the venues, the charts and some of the bands at that time, the political events and the Moon Landings are, of course, real.  That’s why guys and musicians love it too.

Jane Risdon writes mostly crime thrillers often set in the music business or with an organised crime or espionage element. With a former career in the international music business managing songwriters, singers, musicians, and record producers, she often draws upon her experiences in Hollywood and SE Asia for her plots.

She is also the author of short stories which have been included in 15 anthologies to date, as well as in magazines and online newsletters. She also contributes articles and writes flash fiction.

In November 2018 Jane publishes her first collection of short stories – Undercover: Crime Shorts – via Plaisted Publishing House.

Jane is married to a musician and with author Christina Jones has co-authored Only One Woman, set in the UK Music Scene of the late 1960s using her experiences married to a musician in the sixties, and her subsequent career in the international music business, as background research. This is Jane’s first outing into writing Women’s Fiction and the paperback was published 24^th May 2018. It is also available on most good digital platforms as an e-book and in Waterstones branches.

Iconic rock singer Graham Bonnet has written the foreword to Only One Woman which was written for The Marbles in 1968 by The Bee Gees.

Jane’s Links:

Jane’s Amazon Author Page with all her books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B00I3GJ2Y8

Author Blog: https://janerisdon.wordpress.com/

Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/JaneRisdon2/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jane_Risdon

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janerisdonwriter/

Only One Woman: UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Only-One-Woman-Christina-Jones-ebook/dp/B075D88JBP

USA: https://www.amazon.com/Only-One-Woman-Christina-Jones-ebook/dp/B075D88JBP

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/d/Only-One-Woman-Christina-Jones-ebook/B075D88JBP

Waterstones Paperback: ISBN: 9781783757329

YouTube Ghostly Writes Anthology 2018: https://youtu.be/4W2t9sLhW0A

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ghostly-Anthology-Plaisted-Publishing-Presents-ebook/dp/B07JMHWMZN (pre-order until 31st Oct 2018)