Sausage, Kale, and Goat Cheese Pasta

As I was making one of my favorite dinners this week, I thought, "I don't think I ever posted this recipe on the blog." It's one of our go-to favorites whenever pasta is on the menu. You can pull it off with so many variations too. Sub the sausage for chicken...sub the kale for balsamic roasted Brussels sprouts...add more veggies...whatever floats your boat. We just love this one because...goat cheese. The best cheese there is (in my humble opinion). And that goat cheese, my friends, is pretty much all there is to this pasta's scrumptious "sauce."

Ingredients (makes 6 servings)

1 lb pasta (I used TJ's whole wheat organic rotini)

14 oz sausage (I used Tofurky because I love it!)

2-3 cups organic kale

1 8oz cherve goat cheese log (I used the one from TJ's that's seasoned with herbs)

Olive oil

Pepper and/or roasted red pepper flakes to taste

Directions

Boil pasta according to directions adding in fresh kale as the pasta boils.

In a separate pan, warm 1 tablespoon of olive oil and add sliced sausage.

Cook sausage fully while waiting on pasta to become tender.

Strain pasta and kale, and add in cooked sausage.

In a mixing bowl, add 1-2 tbsp olive oil and the goat cheese log to pasta mixture immediately -- while pasta is still hot.

Stir with a spatula as goat cheese melts evenly.

Season with pepper and/or roasted red pepper flakes to your liking.

Enjoy!

 Head over to meet Laura at The Ozinga Outlook...!

Honey Lime Sweet Potato + Black Bean Tacos

Y'all, this is going to be the newest staple in our house. Holy moly it's good. I won't waste any of your time chatting because y'all have got to makes these...now.

Honey-Lime Sweet Potato, Black Bean and Corn Tacos

Recipe Source: Cooking Classy

Yield: About 5 - 6 servings

Ingredients 

1 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled if desired and diced into 1/2-inch cubes

4 Tbsp olive oil, divided

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp ground coriander

1/8 - 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Salt and freshly ground black pepper (I omitted the salt!)

1 small yellow onion, diced (1 cup) (Left this out because I didn't have an onion & didn't want to run to the store.)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 (14.5) oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup frozen yellow corn, thawed and drained (I'm not a big corn girl, so I substituted with 1 can of chick peas!)

3 Tbsp honey

3 Tbsp fresh lime juice

2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro (Didn't have any of this on hand either but will make sure I do for next time! YUM!)

Corn or flour tortillas

Desired toppings (See below for the his/hers options I created for Mark and me!)

 

Directions

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil then place sweet potatoes on foil. Drizzle with 3 Tbsp olive oil and toss to evenly coat. Sprinkle evenly with cumin, paprika, coriander, cayenne pepper and season lightly with salt and pepper to taste then toss to evenly coat. Bake in preheated oven 15 - 20 minutes until tender, removing from oven and tossing once halfway through baking.
• Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat. Once hot add onion and saute until caramelized (golden brown on edges and tender), about 5 - 6 minutes, adding in garlic during last 30 seconds of sauteing. Reduce heat to medium-low, add in drained black beans, corn, honey and lime juice. Heat until warmed through. Toss in roasted sweet potatoes and cilantro. Serve over warm tortillas with desired toppings.

His

Honey-lime sweet potatoes + black beans on flour tortillas

Cheese

Avocado

Sour Cream

HersHoney-lime sweet potato and black beans on mixed greensAvocadoChipotle Salsa1 tbsp chia seedsGoddess Dressing (from Trader Joe's)

There ya have it! I loved the sweet potatoes so much that anytime I make sweet potatoes, I want to follow this procedure in seasoning them! Can't wait to turn back to this recipe for years to come.

Cheers to healthy food!

 

Pop on over and visit Nina -- because what girl doesn't love flowers in her hair? :) 

Happy Fall Bark

What is it about fall that makes my sweet tooth come out like whoa?! I saw the inspiration behind this recipe on Pinterest...and then found myself buying the necessary ingredients at Harris Teeter the next day.

Ingredients
1 package white chocolate bark/candy melts
Oreos
Candy Corn
Sprinkles (I used rainbow since I didn't have Halloween/fall colored ones!)
Anything else you want in your bark...pretzels, Reese's pieces, M&Ms...you decide!

Directions
1. Break apart Oreo cookies and spread across a baking tray.
2. Add candy corns. (I saved a few to put on top so not all of them would be covered in white chocolate!)
3. Melt bark according to instructions.
4. Using a spatula, spread melted bark on to the baking tray to desired thickness.
(Optional: add sprinkles/candy corn on top for more color!)
5. Cool in refrigerator until hardened. Use a knife to break apart into pieces.

It's that simple. It didn't take me more than 10 minutes to make. And I honestly didn't even look at a recipe since the method is pretty self-explanatory.

I kinda think it looks cute too. Such a fun treat.
But don't get me wrong. This stuff is dangerous.
So dangerous that I had to do this...

Yep. Owning it. I liked loved it so much that I had to give it away in fear of consuming the whole container to myself. Plus, Mark and his sales team deserved the Saturday work day sugar high pick me up, right? :)

P.S. In that note I was (obviously?) kidding about the healthy part. It's a fall treat. Mark texted me from work asking how it was healthy. I thought I was being funny...sigh. Oh well. #storyofmylife I tried!

Happy Fall [Bark], Y'all!

Pop on over and visit Nina -- because what girl doesn't love flowers in her hair? :) 

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

 It's officially fall and officially October. Pumpkin flavored everything has taken over every store. And today...I'm going to contribute to that madness.

This past weekend, my brother (our family's best baker) and I made pumpkin snickerdoodles. They were Pinterest inspired, of course. And they did not disappoint! The original recipe is from this lovely blog, and now I'm going to share it with y'all! She conveniently formatted the recipe in printable and PDF version [seen below]. Cheers, Sarah!

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Recipe adapted from Recipe Girl
Makes about 4 dozen

Ingredients:

Cookies:

• 1 cup {2 sticks} salted butted, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened pumpkin puree
• 1 large egg
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 & 3/4 cup bread flour {or all-purpose flour if you don't have bread flour}
• 1 & 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

Sugar Coating:

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• Dash of allspice

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
2. Beat in pumpkin until well combined.
3. Add egg and vanilla extract.
4. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
5. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
6. Cover the dough and refrigerate for one hour until firm. {Or overnight.}
7. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
8. In a small bowl, mix all ingredients for the sugar coating.
9. Roll dough into 1 & 1/2 inch balls, then roll in sugar mixture, and place on cookie sheet.
10. At this point, you can flatten the dough with the bottom of a cup, but I prefer mine to be thick and fluffy.
11. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Via High Heels & Grills Blog

Eric (my bro!) and I followed the recipe to a t. The only thing we did a little differently was make the cookies ginormous. :) My mom looked at our cookie pan and told my brother they were way too big. Like dough-bigger-bigger-than-a-golf-ball sized. But as our resident baker, he didn't care and knew they would be even better jumbo sized. Yep. Go, brother, go!

Here was our result! Hello! Big, thick, soft...almost like a muffin top and a cookie had a baby, and this was it.

So good? So good that I had three that night and one for breakfast on Sunday morning. With a cake bite. Which I raved about yesterday in case you missed it. Breakfast of champions, folks. As a self proclaimed salty over sweet girl, I sure have had a major sweet tooth lately. Sorry bout it. Not really though.

Happy fall baking!

Pop on over and visit Nina -- because what girl doesn't love flowers in her hair? :) 

Fall Recipe Roundup (+ Share Your Favorites!)

From the top: Crock Pot Chicken Florentine Lazy Lazagna | Pumpkin, Kale, and Cheese Pasta | Crock Pot Sweet Potato + Quinoa Turkey Chili | Lizzie's Crock Pot Vegetarian Chili (and the secret ingredient for ALL chili!) | 5 Ingredient White Chicken Chili | Pumpkin Linguini | My Go-To Eating Solo Chili

Yes, yesterday was the first official day of fall. But it was more than that excitement that had me daydreaming of these recipes all day long. No really...all day. Rain plus temps in the 60s meant that I was contemplating: "What for dinner? Pumpkin, kale, and cheese pasta? YES. But I'll have to go to the store for that. If Mark's soccer game isn't called off, I'll have my go-to solo eating chili...with an avocado grilled cheese. But I reeeaalllly want that pumpkin pasta. Maybe I'll wait till tomorrow to see what the Teets puts on VIC special."  Yep. An invigorating peek inside my mind.

What are some of your favorite [easy!] fall recipes?! It's no secret that I'm not a pro in the kitchen. I'd love to try more! Please feel free to share your favorite links or your own recipes below. You can use the link-up or the comment section! YAY!

Cheers to fall comfort food!

Pop on over and visit Nina -- because what girl doesn't love flowers in her hair? :)