Summer Pasta for Lunch

My trip to Libba's was absolutely fabulous....until two hours into the ride home when I got my first speeding ticket.  Grrrr--nothing like a $288 honest mistake (I really didn't know the speed limit had dropped!).  I had to listen to The Fish once I got in the listening area to redirect my mindset. However, it was great to see Lib, her new pup Indy and relax on the beach.

I am now watching Luna for my friend Ashley while she is out of town the country on a cruise.  I would be jealous if I didn't have a week long adopted dog to cheer me up!  What is especially nice about having the dog is it has made me exercise.  Today I walked her she walked me around the park and the night before around the neighborhood.

Today I went to lunch with my dad at the local airport and then came home and finished up some last minute school stuff- Unit 1 Word Wall and notes sheets to accompany the videos I'm giving for homework some nights (I am attempting a semi-flipped classroom this year).  I have the first four weeks planned out with 99.2% of all the tasks, notes, homework, etc. finished.  I hope my team likes what I have done so far because it has taken a lot of work but I just wouldn't feel comfortable walking in on the first day of pre-planning with nothing done for a brand new curriculum.  I wanted as many handouts made as possible so I can send them to the county copy center during pre-planning.  Can I get an Amen for not having to stand at the copier while it does ten different sets of 115 double sided stapled copies (THE WORST)?!

This summer when I was home at my apartment I always had the Food Network on in the background.  It was very relaxing and inspiring.  One thing they always do on shows like Giada at Home and Pioneer Woman is they make lunch.  Usually my lunch consists of a lean cuisine, soup, or left overs.  The most effort I think I have ever put into a lunch is a sandwich.  So during my last whole week of summer (last week-I go back to work Thursday this week) I decided I would give the idea of really truly  making a lunch a try.

I chose a summer pasta which I found in a Cooking Light magazine last summer.  It is very light for lunch because it doesn't have a true sauce or any meat.  Don't let that scare you away because it is still so flavorful!  It has tons of garlic, fresh basil, and burst roasted tomatoes.  Additionally, I just LOVE pasta. When I make this for Trey and myself I usually add chicken by getting the thinly sliced chicken breasts, and adding them to the cooking sheet with the tomatoes, olive oil, and garlic.  Don't forget to salt and pepper them and they finish cooking in the 12 minutes the tomatoes take to explode! Yummmmmy!

You'll need:

8-ish oz whole grain angel hair

1/4 cup olive oil (divided- 2 Tbsp and 2 Tbsp)

2 pints of multicolored cherry tomatoes (I couldn't find them this time but I do prefer the multicolored..gives it a little more somethin' somethin')

4 cloves of garlic

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp fresh ground peper

Basil and Parm for a tasty garnish

Start by slicing the garlic, preheating the oven to 450 degrees, and boiling the water for the pasta.

Then on a lined jelly roll pan, combine the tomatoes, 2 Tbsp of olive oil and sliced garlic.  These are going to roast in the oven for approximately 11 minutes or until they have burst and are lightly browned.

Then add your pasta to the water.  It should take about 6 minutes to cook.  When it's done cooking, keep a bowl under the colander when straining to save some of the starchy water. You'll need 6 tablespoons for the "sauce."

Then slice up some pretty basil to put on top of your finished pasta.  Take the leaves off the plant and roll them up. Slice the roll perpendicular to your knife (I am such a math teacher) and Ta-Da!

Take the 6 tablespoons of kept water and add it to the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Bring to a boil and boil 4 minutes.  CAUTION: Do this is a sauce pan and NOT a saute pan like I did.  My kitchen was a mess!  As you can kind of see...

Lastly, take the tomatoes out of the oven, add the "sauce" to the pasta and then the tomatoes.

Garnish to make a beautiful and semi-easy made lunch. :)

No Cook Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

I had a very productive day today getting ready for my mini vaca and school but now I am very tired. I got a surprise cheap oil change, shopped for school supplies and school clothes.  I went into Talbot's saying, "I am only here for pink capris," and five minutes in the store I had an armful of clothes (SALE SALE SALE!).  I then came home, unpacked packed (I at first put unpacked I wanted to show you how out of it I have been today) my suitcase, wrapped a late birthday present for Libba, and "baked" these cookies.

Tomorrow I am getting up bright and early to go and visit my BFF from college Libba.  Libba and I met in an accidental rooming situation in the sorority house.  We bonded as we wondered around Bed Bath and Beyond with two of our other roommates the first week after moving in exchanging looks of "Are these people serious?!" 

Any who, she moved to Myrtle Beach a couple years ago and became a famous news anchor.... now Gayle King (that's me) gets to go visit Oprah (that's Libba) at the beach.  Libba always brings goodies for me when she comes and visits so I thought I would make these cookies for her us.  I will have to put them in the back seat though so they make it through my trip and I don't just end up with an empty Tupperware.

These cookies take very minimal steps but do not take a minimal amount of sugar.  They're sweet and soft but still have a nice chewiness to them from the oats AND once again I get to pretend like they're good for me and ignore the other ingredients. My mom used to make these often and she says they are my dad's favorite cookies.  I got this recipe from-you guessed it-food.com but of course had to swap some ingredients to make them sliiiiiggghhhtttllllyyyy less guilty.

Nom nom nom:

1 stick of unsalted butter (when I read 1/2 cup I thought 1/2 stick hence the picture but then I came to)

2 cups of sugar

1/2 cup of milk

4 Tbsp cocoa

1/2 low fat creamy peanut butter

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups of quick-cooking oats.

Then:

Bring the butter, sugar, milk and cocoa to a rolling boil for one minute.

Then take off the burner and add the vanilla and peanut butter.  Mix until the peanut butter has melted.

 

Add the oats.

   

Scoop onto parchment paper and let cool.

Too too good (trust me I sampled about two)!!! 

I can't wait to take them to Libba! Beach and Lifetime movies here I come....in my new hat!

Banana Pudding as a Suprise Dessert

I must be a product placement executive's dream.  While walking through the grocery store to get the things for my fish I walked by a display of Nilla Wafers and bananas and I couldn't resist!  I quickly got on my iPhone (what was done before smart phones?!) and googled a recipe for banana pudding!  Banana pudding reminds me of preschool lunches (why/how do I remember that???) and more recently (but not too recently) living in the sorority house. Our cook would make this for dessert when the whole chapter would be over for dinner on Mondays.

Now, we have gotten in a very bad habit of always finishing dinner with some type of dessert.  I am not much of a baker-I prefer to cook-so when I get dessert it is usually store bought slices of cake or brownies.  Trey usually brings ice cream (he LOVES ice cream) or Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  When I told Trey that I made a surprise dessert he said he wasn't worried about what it was because he knew it would involve chocolate (that is usually what I want my desserts to be centered around) but boy was he wrong!

The recipe that I found on food.com was 20 servings and I don't know about you but dessert that could feed 20 people is the last thing I need laying around in my fridge.  So, for this reason, I apologize for my weird quantities of ingredients.  Once you get over that, it is absolutely delicious- this from a girl who is not really a banana person!  The pudding is sweet and fluffy and the layers Nilla cookies give it a soft crunch.  The layers would look very pretty in a clear dish if you have one!  As a matter of fact, writing this has made me want to go get a bowl while I finish this post!!

If you're interested in nana puddin, you should get:

Seven Small bananas OR three Large ones (I got 7 large ones and I am in banana overload now!)

1 cup of milk

1/2 of a large box of no cook vanilla pudding

1/2 box of Nilla wafers

1/2 a 14 oz can of fat free sweetened condensed milk

1/2 a 8 oz container of lite whipped topping

1 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract

Put the pudding mix and the milk in a bowl and whip for 2 minutes.



Add the sweetened condensed milk and mix until combined.

Then add the vanilla and mix until combined.

Fold in the whipped topping.

 Slice the bananas...

then layer..

 and repeat!

Viola!

I mean, please, who can resist these layers??