Pasta Alfredo

The sauce has a bit of a nutty flavor from the nutmeg, a bit of tangy flavor from the lemon, and combined with the other ingredients is a filling main dish "comfort" food.

 Ingredients:
 (Start cooking both pasta and sauce on separate burners at the same time)

• 16 oz pkg of bow tie pasta

Cook to Al dente (usually 2 minutes less than indicated on the package) in boiling salted water, drain.

Alfredo Sauce:

3/4 cup half and half 

3/4 cream cheese

1/2 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp. garlic

1/2 tsp of garlic salt

1/4 tsp  pepper 

• Garnish - Ranch Tortilla Chips (optional)

Put all ingredients in a saucepan and cook on medium heat for approximately 15 minutes until thickened.  Pour over pasta.   If desired, garnish with Ranch flavored tortilla chips (which can be crumpled on the top to add texture and flavor) then serve.

Linking up to Presto Pasta Night which is hosted on 8/17/12 by Simona at http://briciole.typepad.com/.
Be sure to check out all of the other wonderful pasta creations by other participants:)

BABY SPINACH OMELETTE

Great way to sneak something healthy into a breakfast! I really didn't taste the spinach nor did it have an overly crunchy texture - just a bit wee bit of spicy cheese flavor and brings a lively blend of yellow and green to the breakfast table.

It is based on the following recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baby-Spinach-Omelet/Detail.aspx This is for 1-2 servings

• 4 medium eggs
• 1 cup torn baby spinach leaves
• 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Non-stick cooking spray
• Fork
• Frying pan
• Spatula

Beat the eggs in a bowl with a fork.

Add in the torn baby spinach leaves, parmesan cheese, onion powder, nutmeg, salt and pepper.
Mix together until well blended. Spray the frying pan generously with the non-stick cooking spray, then pour mixture into the frying pan and cook on medium heat for 3 minutes.

Use the spatula to flip the omelet over and cook the other side 2-3 minutes (mine was done at this point). If it is still too runny for you, reduce heat to low and continue cooking 2-3 minutes, or until it is done to what you like.

Cinnamon Banana Nut Muffins and Midget Bread

It is still chilly here so to warm up the place a bit and to try to make a bakery type treat without the bakery type price, I made Cinnamon Banana Nut Muffins and Midget Bread (what I call Midget bread is whatever batter you have left over from making muffins that is not enough to make a full loaf).

To save time I used a box mix and added spices and nuts.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Pour all of the following into a bowl to mix:

1 box Banana Bread Mix (I used Betty Crocker 13.9 oz box - on sale for $1.39) 2 Eggs 3 tbsp Vegetable or Corn Oil 3/4 Water

1/2 cup nuts (I used hazelnuts)

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg Mix together for approximately 50 strokes Pour into baking cups and and pre-greased baking pan (I used PAM spray)

Bake for 25-30 minutes, then put on a plate to cool for a few minutes before serving. Total time: 35-40 minutes, including baking

Approx total cost for 6 muffins & midget bread: $2.00