Spinach and Sun-dried Tomato Pasta

I came across this recipe on the Tasty Kitchen site, realized that I had just about everything I needed to make this, and so I did. I enjoy the Tasty Kitchen site, but there are so many recipes on there that not many of them have reviews. So other than the recipe itself, there isn't a lot of feedback. That being said, I was very pleased with these results!

A few of my changes, none really on purpose, just me not wanting to go to the store! I thought I had Cannellini beans, turns out I have about five cans of pinto beans in my cupboard. Who knew? My mom advised me against substituting pinto beans, so I went with out. After having tasted the pasta, I don't think I'd add the beans in next time. I also used frozen spinach instead of fresh, it's what I had on hand. I'm sure the fresh would have tasted a bit more, shall I say fresh? But the frozen sure was easy. Also, next time I think I would use red pepper flakes instead of cayenne pepper. I think the flavor of the red pepper flakes is a better compliment to the pasta than the cayenne pepper.  Lastly, I added a little more olive oil once I had the noodles in there and about 1/2 cup of the pasta water. I wanted to make sure every piece of penne was coated with flavor. The lemon flavor was a nice touch. The taste reminded me a little bit of my lemon chicken pasta recipe, one of my favorites.

Penne with Spinach and Sun-dried Tomatoes

Fajita Marinade

Today, or this weekend rather, has been unusually hot here in Orange County. It was hotter today than I think it's been all summer. Anyway, I had to take little brother Jeff to the airport tonight, but promised him I'd make him dinner before we left. So in the heat I wanted to whip up something fast so didn't have to be in the hot kitchen longer than necessary. For me that of course means chicken and rice of some sort, or clean out the fridge fajitas/burritos. Today the fajitas won out. I wanted to do a new seasoning for the fajitas, so I searched out some options on Tasty Kitchen. The first one that came up looked good, so I gave it a try. The actual recipe is supposed to be used for a marinade, but I just made the sauce and poured it on top and cooked it for a while. (I'll link to the actual recipe below and you can try it her way too if you'd like.)

For my fajitas I added a bit of olive oil to a pan and cooked 1 red onion and 1 green pepper until softened. Then I added one can of chicken (did not grocery shop this weekend due to my bronchitis)and some fresh corn from the cob. Mixed up the marinade and poured it over the top and simmered for about 15 minutes. Served up in the ready made, but bake at home tortillas with salsa and sour cream. Huge hit. Brian said the smell was so strong it woke him from his nap, not necessarily a bad thing. Little brother was not only satisfied but impressed with how fast the meal came together. For sure going to use this one in the week night meal rotation. Keeper!

Fajitas Marinade:
2 whole Limes, Juiced
¼ cups Tequila (optional)
¼ cups Olive Oil
¼ cups Chopped Fresh Cilantro Or Parsley
1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
2 cloves Garlic, Minced (optional)
½ teaspoons Dried Oregano
1 teaspoon Cumin

Original Recipe on Tasty Kitchen

Pineapple Zucchini Cake

Our generous friends Jennifer and Andy, who gave us the tomatoes to make salsa, also gave us a very large zucchini they grew in their garden. They are currently remodeling their house and do not have a kitchen. So I thought I'd put my kitchen and their zucchinis to good use and whipped up a zucchini cake. I started searching around for zucchini recipes and was amazed at how many recipes there were for sweet treats made with zucchini. And most of them incorporated some kind of cream cheese frosting, which is a total bonus in my book. I found a lot of good looking recipes on the Tasty Kitchen Blog, and one endorsed by The Pioneer Woman, so I thought I'd give it a go.

I followed the recipe almost as written except I used vegetable oil instead of canola oil, it's just what I had on hand. I think I might add some nuts next time, and there will be a next time. I cut the recipe for the frosting in half, I just wanted a thin layer, and half a recipe was more than enough. As she suggested I put some pineapple juice in the frosting, it was a great addition! Definitely add this recipe to your zucchini collection.

Pineapple Zucchini Cake Recipe
Pioneer Woman step by step instructions

Coconut and Chocolate Fudge Bars

So the no posting thing has been because of the no cooking thing! And oh how I've missed it. I've had my eye on the school year ending and looking forward to summer where I can devote more time to cooking, baking and other things I love. This week was the last week of school, and while my students were being entertained by projects I would not be grading, I had some time to search around the internet for new food blogs and recipes. I happened upon The Pioneer Woman's blog and her Tasty Kitchen blog. Both of these are filled with recipes and pictures that will want to make you drop everything and get in the kitchen. If you're not familiar with these two blogs, just real quick, The Pioneer Woman is quite amazing. She blogs daily about food, photography, her daily life and homeschooling. The Tasty Kitchen is a separate page, she created, where anyone can post up a recipe to share. (But I'm sure most of you know who she is, she's wildly popular.)

So I happened upon a recipe for coconut and chocolate bars over at the Tasty Kitchen. In the introduction to the recipe the author compares to them to Almond Joy candy bars. Sold! And lately Brian and I have been loving us some coconut. The recipe is simple to follow. It only makes a 8x8 pan, so not a huge serving. But that's ok because they are really rich. I cut them into pretty small pieces and they go well with a tall glass of milk or water. Also, it says prep time is 20 minutes, and cook time is 45 minutes. But in there you have to wait about an hour for the crust to cool and another two hours to cool after baking the fudge, before cutting, so be advised. (I actually made some other bars while I was waiting. I'll post those tomorrow!) I made these Saturday afternoon and we didn't cut into them until about midnight. We were out and about for a while, but mmmmm, what a great late night snack!

Here are some pictures from my baking, and a link to the recipe. Try these, I'm pretty sure you'll be thanking me! I've got rave reviews from everyone who has.

Making the crust:




Making the chocolate fudge:




Chocolate & Coconut Fudge Bar Recipe