Vegetable Marinara over Spaghetti

One of my favorite things to eat is pasta.  My senior year in high school, I went to the same restaurant every week and ordered the same Pink Pasta dish every time.  I could not get enough of it.  When my husband and I were dating in college, the first thing I cooked for him was spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread.  He raved about the meal, so every time I cooked for him, I made spaghetti.  (by the way, now he tells me, "I don't really like pasta" ) 

So after having a bacterial infection that kicked my butt for three days, where my diet consisted of bread and french fries (really nutritious, I know, but I was sick and it was all I wanted to eat...)  the first real meal I wanted to have was ... PASTA of course! 

Now when I make pasta, I always try to add lots of veggies to my pasta dishes to make them healthier.  I make this dish a lot and the ingredients are always different depending on the vegetables I have in my fridge.  Some of my favorite veggies to use are zucchini, mushrooms, peas, onions, tomatoes, or spinach.



Vegetable Marinara over Whole Wheat Spaghetti

Serves two

Ingredients: 

One medium-large zucchini -  washed and chopped

Half of a large onion - chopped

1 scant teaspoon of minced garlic

Olive Oil

Handful or two of baby spinach

Half a jar of marinara sauce

2 servings of whole wheat spaghetti - cooked

Heat some olive oil over medium high heat.  Add onions and garlic and cook until onions begin to turn translucent.   

Then add the zucchini and continue to cook until all the veggies are tender.

Next add the spinach and cook until it is wilted

Finally add half a jar of marinara sauce (or as much as you like - depending on how saucy you want it) and cook until heated through

Pour over cooked whole wheat spaghetti and enjoy. 

Productive Afternoon and Go-To Meal

I had a very productive afternoon cleaning up my closet.  I purged about 4 bags of clothes that I haven't worn in forever to donate to Goodwill. 

My closet went from this:

(My half is the overflowing mess on the bottom.  My 6'4" husband gets the top rack)

I weeded out a lot of stuff

And ended up with this much space:

Yay!!

Then I tackled the mess in my armoire:

In the midst of cleaning Spot decided he would help direct where things go:

Hopefully I can keep it neat for a while....

Then it was time for dinner and I hadn't really thought about what we were going to have.  Sooo... I whipped up one of my go-to quick and easy meals. 

Panko Chicken with Roasted Broccoli and Baked Potatoes

I preheated the oven to 375 degrees, washed two potatoes, poked some holes in them, and threw them in the oven to bake.

Then I put some broccoli in a 9x13 pan, drizzled it with olive oil, salt and pepper, and put it in the oven as well. 

While those cooked, I cut chicken breasts into bite sized pieces and used a simple three step prep to bread them in panko breadcrumbs. 

I dredged the chicken pieces in flour, dunked them in a bowl of beaten eggs, and shook them in a bag of panko bread crumbs. 

Then I put them on a cookie sheet, drizzled a little melted butter on each piece, and cooked them for about 16 minutes, flipping once. 

Mine (the first plate) were plain, and for Jay's (the second plate) I added some Celestial Seasonings barbecue seasoning to the bag of panko breadcrumbs.

This is the seasoning that I added:

Jay puts this stuff on EVERYTHING.  He even puts it on his mashed potatoes...which I think is utterly gross... yuck!!

This is one of our favorite meals and we tend to have it often. :)