Pasta with Roasted Sausage and Broccoli Recipe

Pasta with Roasted Sausage and Broccoli

From Real Simple Magazine, November 2010

Hands-on time: ~10 minutes

Cooking time: ~20-25 minutes

Serves 4

• 8-12 oz pasta (Calls for rigatoni, I used shells.  We actually used 16oz and that was way too much!)
• 1 "bunch" or 16 oz of broccoli
• 1 small onion (I used yellow)
• Olive oil, as needed
• Cooking spray, as needed
• Salt and pepper, as much as you prefer
• 1 lb Italian sausage links, (I used Lightlife brand=fake sausage) casings removed and meat broken into 1-inch pieces
• Parmesan, shredded, as much as you prefer

Heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

On a rimmed baking sheet, spread out broccoli, onion, and sausage.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Spray with cooking spray.

Bake for 8-10 minutes.  Flip/toss ingredients.  Bake for another 8-10 minutes.

During baking, cook pasta according to the package directions.  Drain pasta and return it to the pot.

Combine all ingredients.  Add olive oil to make the dish moist.  Sprinkle with Parmesan.  

Easy and Fast Recipe: Penne w/ broccoli & chickpeas

Penne w/ broccoli and chickpeas (An altered recipe from All You, 10/22/10)--Serves ~5

1 lb of frozen or a head of fresh broccoli, cut into florets

~12 oz. whole wheat penne, or other smallish pasta

1/4 cup olive oil

4 cloves garlic (or substitute garlic powder)

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/4 cup lemon juice

Parmesan as wanted (vegans could add nutritional yeast)

Boil pasta and cook until tender, following directions on box, for the last 4 minutes of cooking, add broccoli to the pot.  Meanwhile, warm oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add garlic and crushed red pepper, saute for ~ 1 minute.  Add chickpeas and cook until heated through.  Drain pasta, add it to the skillet.  Add in lemon juice.  Add olive oil as needed to make it moist.  Sprinkle on parmesan/nutritional yeast as wanted individually.

Homemade blueberry muffins

I made homemade blueberry muffins tonight, using a recipe from the back of a box of Ener-G Egg Replacer and frozen blueberries. Here's the recipe!

Egg-Free Blueberry Muffins

1 2/3 cups flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer beaten in 2 tbsp water (or use 1 egg)

1 1/4 cups milk (I used plain soy milk)

4 tbsp oil (I used vegetable oil)

8 oz frozen blueberries, thawed following directions on bag

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Combine all ingredients except the blueberries, and mix well.
• Add the blueberries, stirring carefully to not squish the blueberries.
• Put mixture into greased muffin pan.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes until just lightly browned on top.

Makes 12 muffins.

Cookies

I made peanut butter cookies from a mix and banana/oatmeal cookies from scratch last night. I found this recipe for the banana/oatmeal cookies on www.allrecipes.com and modified it to my liking. Here is my recipe:

Oatmeal Banana Cookies

Makes 24-48 cookies, depending on size

• 1 1/4 cups margarine (I used a butter substitute)
• 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten, or substitute for 1 egg (I used Ener-G egg replacer)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 cups rolled oats
• 3 very ripe bananas, mushed
• 1 1/2 cups raisins (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Grease cookie sheets.
3. In a large bowl, mix everything together to form a moist mixture.
4. Create cookie balls and place a dozen on each cookie sheet.
5. Bake for 11-13 minutes in preheated oven until underside is browned.
6. Allow cookies to cool before eating.
7. Enjoy!