Mmm...Marinara!

Mmm...doesn't that look delicious?

I don't know about you guys but I definitely prefer to use homemade ingredients over store bought. Unfortunately, like most people, I simply don't have the time on a regular week night and pre-packaged wins. 

However, when I do have the time, I go all out. This week I found this delicious Turkey Lasagna recipe in Clean Eating magazine and part of making it is making the sauce! Since I had Monday off, I knew I had to try it! And you know what? It was really easy and really tasty! I'm really glad I ventured out and tried it because now I have this in my arsenal and nothing impresses more than saying "I made it myself".

What you'll need:

• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 large carrot, peeled & chopped
• 1 large celery stalk, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 28oz cans unsalted, whole tomatoes
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

What you'll do:

1. In a dutch oven(or large saucepan) heat oil on med-high heat. Add onion, carrot and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and lightly browned. About 10 minutes. 
2. Add garlic and oregano and cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Add vinegar and let bubble 10-20 seconds while you scrape browned bits from the bottom of the pan. 
3. Add tomatoes and stir to combine, breaking them up as you go. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium or med-low to maintain a steady simmer.
4. Cook for 1 hour, stirring every 10-15 minutes, until thickened. 
5. Stir in honey, salt and pepper.
6. Using an immersion blender, blend the sauce to your consistency liking. If you don't have one, carefully transfer the mixture to a food processor or blender and proceed. Just be cautious as the mixture is still very hot.

This sauce can be made up to two days in advance, provided it is stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. So you don't even need to have a whole day free to make this tasty meal! Just make the sauce the night before! Oh, and don't worry, the lasagna recipe will follow in a later post!

Stay tuned,
Lauren

Slow Cooked Brown Sugar & Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin

Now that I've got your attention, let me assure you that this pork loin was just as delicious as it looks. Actually, it's probably more because those Cinnamon Orange Glazed Carrots were pretty darn tasty too! 

Pork loins were on sale last week so I knew that the slow cooker was going to make an appearance at least once! I bought two but the other one is still sitting in the refrigerator waiting to become pork chops. *drools* Uh, sorry about that...Let's get on with it shall we? I also couldn't pass up a chance to use my new serving platter, a Christmas present from my grandma. I stole this recipe from Six Sisters Stuff, I love their blog, and have probably gotten a third of my food pins from them. Check 'em out!

Slow Cooker Brown Sugar & Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin

What you'll need:

•  boneless pork loin (2-3 lbs)
• 1 tsp ground thyme
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce

What you'll do:

1. Combine thyme, salt, pepper, garlic and rub over roast. Place in slow cooker with the water and cook on low for 6-8 hours. 
2. About an hour before the roast is done, combine remaining ingredients to make the glaze in a small saucepan. Heat and stir until mixture thickens. 
3. Brush roast with glaze 2-3 times during the last hour of cooking.
4. Serve with remaining glaze - I spooned the remaining onto my platter before transferring the loin to it.

Cinnamon Orange Glazed Carrots

What you'll need:

• 32 oz pkg baby carrots
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3 Tbsp butter, melted
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup Leinenkugel's Orange Shandy

What you'll do:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Place the carrots in a pot of water and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain.
3. In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients EXCEPT for the honey. Add in the carrots and stir.
4. Transfer mixture to a baking dish and bake 15-20 minutes.
5. Allow carrots to cool a few minutes before drizzling with the honey.
6. Devour.

Hope you guys enjoy this double feature! 

Lauren

Resolutions!

Wow! 

We've already seen a whole week of 2014 come and go! How does that happen so fast? I'll admit, I'm like most Americans in that I set a New Year's Resolution. However this year I only picked one. Why? We'll let me tell you! I read an article in Fitness Magazine that said you're more likely to stick to your resolutions if you only pick one or two. Which, when you think about it, is totally believable. Instead of spreading yourself thin and stressing over multiple rules you get to channel all your focus and energy on one. So, since I really want to commit to this change, I'm sticking with just one.

What is it you ask?

 I am giving up pop/soda/coke whatever you call it. In all forms, diet, regular, caffeine free or not. This is a change I've wanted to make for a while and while I could have started earlier, making it a resolution was just so convenient. I'm proud to say that I've made it the whole week without a sip AND without any cravings. I say that last part with a little apprehension because I usually turn to pop when I'm stressed or mad, and thankfully I have not been either of those(at least enough to trigger cravings).

All that being said, I'm still going to strive to keep up on my blogging. However, since I pay myself for writing them, I'm not considering it a resolution.

Good luck on yours, help keep me honest!
Lauren

A Real World Snow-day!

Well guys, I guess hell has frozen over. I couldn't make it to work today because of the weather. 

I get a snow-day!!! 

Seriously though, I never get the day off of work for something like this. 

I mean, I worked Thanksgiving and Christmas...

Don't get me wrong, I tried to go in. My roommate and I were outside at 4:45AM shoveling
 and scraping to get my car out of the parking lot. It took a little rocking but I finally made it out of my spot. Then I drove 30-40MPH for 40 minutes to get to my halfway point. At this point I'm thinking

"Well, I made it this far, who cares if I'm late?!?!" 

Sadly, it was not meant to be. I got stuck on the small side of a major snow drift blocking my one route

to work. I really wasn't sure I was going to get out of it by myself. But with a little determination 

I was able to rock myself back and forth until I finally broke loose! 

The fun part came next when I had to back about 150 feet down the road until I could turn around in the nearest driveway. At that point I called my boss, apologized and headed home. 

So now I'm just bumming around, trying to be productive on this rare extra day off. 

Honestly, if I get some blogs pre-written, I'll consider it a productive day!

In the meantime, I hope everyone is smart and stays safe indoors! 

Enjoy your snow-day!

Lauren

My commute ending snowdrift! 

                                        

You're Gonna Miss This

Wow...October 4th was the last time I was able to sit down and post a blog. Where on Earth did nearly two months go? It almost feels like I've been on autopilot just getting through each day so that the next one can start. Which sounds really horrible when I stop and think about it.

Work has been crazy busy, and we keep having employees come and go. Seems like we no sooner get a new guy trained than we have two more people quit and we're once again down a man. Makes for some long days.

On top of that, by the time I get home from work and then go to the gym, it's pitch black outside. Makes you feel like the day is over, even when it's not.

Driving somewhere the other day a song came on the radio that really put it all in to perspective for me. Hearing it really made me stop and consider that even though my life is crazy and hectic right now, it's not that bad. I need to find ways to enjoy it because I'll never be able to go back to yesterday or last week. It goes like this:

"You're gonna miss this

You're gonna want this back

You're gonna wish these days

Hadn't gone by so fast.

These are some good times

So take a good look around

You may not know it now

But you're gonna miss this."

December is here and as my favorite month of the year, I want to make sure I enjoy it. So this month I'm going to strive to make sure that I don't have any more "autopilot days". I'm not sure yet how I'll pull that off but I'm going to give it my all. I'll try to get back to posting what you all come here for anyways too, RECIPES!

Love,

Lauren 

Meeting my newest cousin Wyatt!

 

Penne with Pumpkin & Sausage

Well, it's official: the internet in my apartment hates me. Why do I say this? Well, it's rare that I can sit in my room at my desktop and blog but for some reason I can sit in the living room on my roommate's laptop and I have great signal. Life is hard. 

Enough complaining, time for pumpkin. I told you that I would have more pumpkin posts and I wasn't kidding. I found this recipe on the back of a box of whole wheat penne and knew that I was going to have to make it. It was super easy and pretty tasty. I really liked it because the sauce has the consistency of a cream sauce(think alfredo) but uses pumpkin so it has WAY less fat! The next time I make it I will be playing with the seasonings a little as it was overpoweringly hot from the red pepper and yet a little lacking in the flavor department. 

What you'll need:

• 8oz whole wheat penne
• 12oz ground Italian sausage - I bought the low-fat, regular sausage and added Italian seasoning
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
• 12oz pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
• pinch ground cinnamon - I used a bit more...
• salt & pepper to taste
• grated Parmesan or Romano cheese 

What you'll do:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions while frying up your sausage. Set both aside when done.
2. In a skillet over medium heat, and oil and saute garlic.
3. Stir in broth, pumpkin, cream, and seasonings. 
4. Reduce heat and simmer 8-10 minutes to thicken. 
5. Stir in penne and sausage.
6. Serve with grated cheese and enjoy!

Like I said, next time less crushed red pepper. Definitely more cinnamon and probably some nutmeg and cloves as well. Try it out!

Lauren

Overloaded Oatmeal Cookies

Do you want to know a secret? 

Okay, it's not really that exciting but here goes: 

Before this recipe, I had never hand made oatmeal raisin cookies. 

Looking back on my life, I can't exactly blame myself.

 I have avoided oats in almost every form up until this last year or so.

 Let's just say that being forced to eat oatmeal left some bad memories and leave it at that.

One look at this recipe on the back of the Raisnets bag and I knew I had to make them.

Of course, I needed some way to justify the caloric monsters so I made some of them "jumbo" sized

to give to my dad for his birthday this past week. 

I made the rest of them smaller and surprisingly, there are still some in the kitchen.

These cookies are really, really tasty. 

Writing this blog is really making me want to go get one and a glass of chocolate milk.

Must. Resist. Temptation.

What you'll need:

• 1.25 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup coconut oil
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 large eggs
• 3 cups oats
• 1 bag of Raisinets - I used dark chocolate
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

What you'll do:

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Combine first 4 ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
3. Cream butter, sugars and vanilla. Add in eggs one at a time.
4. Gradually beat in flour mix.
5. Stir in oats, Raisinets and walnuts.
6. Drop cookie dough onto baking sheets according to your preferred size.
7. Bake for 9-11 minutes, cool on sheets for 2 minutes and then transfer to wire wracks to cool completely.

There you have it folks, a seriously delicious recipe for Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.

If you need to justify making them, just tell yourself that they're okay because they have 

wheat flour instead of white, coconut oil instead of butter and that oats are good for you!

Happy baking!

Lauren