Homemade Spaghetti, Pasta and Sauce

Last week we went on vacation to see the MIL.  It was a much needed break from work but it is good to get home and back into our routine.  J had to work on Sunday so I decided to make a somewhat time consuming dinner to occupy myself during the day.  I find if I just sit at home with no pressing work to do I just end up watching TV, and if there is food in the house, eating.  Since we don’t have cable, watching TV for a good part of the day is actually pretty boring, but I somehow turn super lazy when I am home alone, not really sure why.  So I decided to make homemade pasta, spaghetti sauce, and rolls, which all turned out fantastic.  I also got quite a bit of housework done, and also watched some TV, so this didn’t take quite as long as I had thought it would.  I still wouldn't recommend this much work for a weeknight though.

Fresh Pasta Dough
2 cups all purpose flour
3 eggs
1 tsp salt
½ tsp garlic powder
Corn meal for dusting

Make a well with the flour on a clean work surface (optimally a warm countertop or cutting board, not stainless steel).  Crack the eggs in the well, add the salt and garlic powder, and gently whisk the eggs.  With your hands bring up the flour on the outside of the well into the egg, trying not to break the wall and letting the eggs spill everywhere.  Continue to incorporate all of the flour until it forms a ball.  Knead the dough until it becomes elastic and smooth.  If it doesn’t seem to be holding together well, add water to it, 1 tsp at a time, and continue to knead.  It should take about 10 minutes to knead it to the desired texture.  Flatten the dough into a disc, dust with corn meal and wrap in plastic wrap to rest for 30 minutes.  

Cut off the desired amount and wrap the rest up and store in a Ziploc bag, trying to evacuate as much air out as possible, and store in the freezer.  Work with about 2 oz at a time; flatten a piece out with your hands or rolling pin so the pasta will fit through the roller.  On the largest setting, roll the pasta.  Fold the pasta in thirds then roll again, repeat one more time.  Begin lowering the setting by one and rolling the pasta until desired thickness (for spaghetti roll to 2).  Set the rolled pasta sheet aside and continue to roll out the desired number of sheets for your recipe (1 oz of pasta is 1 serving).  Do not put the pasta sheets on top of each other or they will stick together.  When you have all your sheets rolled out, roll them through the cutter to make your noodles.  Set the noodles aside in mounds while you cut the remaining sheets and dust each mound with flour to keep the noodles from sticking together.
When ready to cook, put in boiling water and cook until the pasta is al dente, 3-5 minutes.

Yields about 15 oz (15 servings), 75 calories, 1 g fat


Spaghetti Sauce

6 lbs tomatoes, chopped
1 cup onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
½ tsp crushed red pepper (if desired)
1 tbs olive oil
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tbs fresh basil
1 lb ground turkey, 99/1
1 cup mushrooms, sliced

Preheat oven to 400 F.
Put the tomatoes, onion, garlic, salt, and peppers in a baking dish and drizzle with olive oil.  Cover the dish and bake for 45 minutes.  Remove the dish from the oven and mash the tomatoes to break them down.  Return the sauce to the oven uncovered and cook for another 45 minutes.  Remove the sauce from the oven, season with oregano, basil, and salt and pepper to taste.

Brown the turkey and mushrooms in a large skillet over medium heat.  Once the turkey is no longer pink, add the sauce and heat through.  Make sure both the turkey and mushrooms are cooked before adding the sauce, you don’t want to boil them.  Season with oregano, basil, salt, and pepper to taste if needed.

6 Servings, 200 calories, 5 g fat

I sort of forgot about pictures while I was making all this, so I failed you on that one, but I was very pleased with the meal.  It may be more time consuming than Ragu and store bought pasta, but there us a significant difference, well worth the effort.

Banana Nut Bread French Toast

I saw this idea on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives the other day and thought it was the most brilliant thing I had ever seen, so of course I made it as soon as I had a chance.  In the restaurant he made banana bread French toast bananas foster as a dessert, and that does sound pretty outstanding, but the idea of banana bread French toast really excited me.  I am embarrassed I hadn’t thought of it before myself.

2 slices Banana Nut Bread
2 eggs
¼ cup milk
½ tsp cinnamon
2 tbs butter, divided

Slice bread and place in refrigerator overnight to firm it up and dry it out some.  This will help keep it from crumbling when you soak it in the milk/egg mixture.
Beat eggs, milk and cinnamon in a bowl and soak the bread on both sides.  Melt 1 tbs butter in a skillet over medium heat and add the bread, one slice at a time.  Once the egg has cooked and browned some, flip the bread over and cook the other side.  Remove to a plate and repeat with the rest of the butter and other piece of bread.  Dust with powdered sugar and serve with maple syrup, or just eat without either, you can’t really go wrong.

The amount of calories in this is of course going to be determined by how large of a slice of banana bread you use.  If you do large slices (1/8 of a loaf) this will be about 550 calories and 32 g fat.  This is rather high in fat for a breakfast but it’s ok to allow yourself to indulge every so often, just don’t make it a habit.

Banana Nut Bread

When I was in college I experimented with a number of different banana bread recipes, looking for my favorite.  This recipe to me is the one and I have stopped my search.  For me the texture is key for these types of breads.  I want a large crumb, something fluffy but moist, not like a muffin or a bread crumb.  The way to create the crumb you want is through the creaming style, and the moistness is dictated by the fat and the sugar.  To me the combination of all of it is perfect, but you may like a different crumb and that’s ok.

2 ½ cups sugar
1 cup shortening
3 eggs
1 ½ cup mashed bananas
3 cups flour
1 ¼ cup buttermilk
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Cream the sugar and shortening until the shortening is no longer in chunks.  Add the eggs one at a time and mix well.   Mix in the bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla.  Mix in flour, baking powder, and baking soda and mix until just combined.  Stir in the nuts if desired.  Pour batter into 2 greased 9x5 loaf pans and bake 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Banana bread is another one of my weaknesses, so I will give you some ideas of calories and you decide on portion sizes, I’m not telling you how much I ate.


1 loaf, 3195 calories, 151 g fat
8 servings/loaf, 400 calories, 19 g fat
12 servings/loaf, 266 calories, 13 g fat

I usually end up making the 2 loaves and taking one to work because I cannot have 2 loaves of banana bread in the house, I must get rid of that temptation pretty quickly.  Most everyone likes banana bread so it is always appreciated when you show up with some.
I typically stay away from shortening, but I have tried banana bread with different types of fats, and this produces by far my favorite.  Since I make this only once or twice a year I feel that it’s ok to splurge.  Just make sure you aren’t splurging more often than not, we are trying to keep trim here!

Sweet Potato Macaroni and Cheese

I found this recipe on Delish.com and really liked the concept, but I had to adjust it to decrease the probability of giving my husband a heart attack.  I was very pleased with how this turned out, I do not think my adjustments resulted in anything lacking at all.  It was rich, creamy, cheesy and full of flavor, and saved a ton of calories and fat.  I think the type of cheese you use will definitely make or break this dish.  I suggest going for a semi-hard cheese with a strong flavor.  I found a chipotle Gouda that was very good.  I have tried making macaroni and cheese before with various types of cheeses and have found on occasion it turns out gritty like the cheese didn’t get creamy or melt fully or something.  This cheese turned out really creamy and the flavor was strong enough to add taste but wasn’t overwhelming at all.

5 cloves garlic

1 sweet potato, peeled and sliced into ½” rounds

1 tbs olive oil

1 cup elbow macaroni

1 tbs butter

2 tbs flour

1 ½ cup skim milk

4 oz cheese, like Gouda, cubed

1 tsp rosemary

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

1 tsp bread crumbs

Boil a pot of water big enough for the sweet potatoes.  Once the water is boiling add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes.  Remove the garlic and blanch in ice water.  Return the water to a boil and add the sweet potatoes, cook for 5 minutes to soften.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat then add the softened sweet potatoes.  Stir and turn regularly to prevent sticking.  Cook the sweet potatoes until they are caramelized and seared on both sides.  Remove from the skillet, dice and set aside.

Cook the macaroni to al dente and set aside.

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat.  Add the flour and stir frequently, cook for 3 minutes.  If you don’t cook the flour long enough your sauce will taste like flour, but be careful not to let it burn either, that also won’t taste good.  Slowly add the milk to the flour while stirring continuously.  You are now stuck at your stove, don’t stop stirring.  Stir the milk to dissolve the flour in the milk and keep the milk from burning on the bottom of your pot.  After some time the mixture will start to thicken then boil, once it boils reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for 2 minutes.  Add the cheese and stir to melt it.  Mince the blanched garlic and add to the cheese mixture.  Add the seasonings, diced sweet potatoes, and the pasta and stir to combine.  Dish the macaroni and cheese out into a small greased baking dish or 4 ramekins and top with the bread crumbs.

Broil in the oven to brown the bread crumbs and heat everything through. Enjoy a rich, cheesy, flavorful macaroni and cheese without the guilt.

Servings, 4 sides, 370 calories, 15 g fat

Date Night Pizza

Since we went out to a really nice restaurant on Friday and are now over budget with a week to go, we decided to stay in on Saturday and have our date night at home and cook something together.  Our kitchen is really pretty tiny, and it is a little difficult for two people to be cooking at the same time, so we have to make something where one person preps and the other is at the stove so we aren’t bumping into each other.  So for us the most logical conclusion to this predicament was pizza, our favorite food ever.  I let J cook the toppings and marinara sauce while I made the pizza dough.  I found yeast that is specifically for pizza dough that doesn’t require rise time and was able to make dough for two pizzas in no time at all.  I just used the recipe and followed the directions on the package and was pretty pleased with the results.

Pizza Dough, 1 12-inch pizza

1 cup flour plus additional ¾-1 ¼ cup flour

1 ½ tsp sugar

½ tsp salt

1 package Fleischmann’s pizza crust yeast

2/3 cup very warm water

3 tbs olive oil

J’s Sausage and Black Olive Pizza

1/3 – ½ cup marinara sauce (made from canned basil and oregano tomatoes, pureed and seasoned to taste with garlic powder, oregano, salt, pepper, and basil)

10 oz sweet Italian sausage, removed from casing, minced and cooked in a skillet

¼ cup black olives, diced

½ cup mozzarella cheese

Taylor’s Artichoke and Ricotta Pizza

½ cup ricotta cheese, nonfat

4 oz goat cheese

1 cup mixture of artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes and black olives (my HEB has this with the cheese)

½ cup sliced mushrooms, browned in a skillet with a little olive oil

1/3 cup tomatoes, diced

Preheat oven to 425 F.

For the pizza dough (I made one at a time), mix 1 cup flour with the salt, sugar and yeast then stir in the warm water and oil.  Mix until you have a ball of sticky dough and all the liquid is absorbed.  Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and begin adding additional flour ¼ cup at a time while kneading.  Once the dough gets to where it is only slightly sticky and is elastic, knead it for about 4 minutes then roll it out on a greased pizza stone or cookie sheet.   You can roll this out nicely with a rolling pin but I actually just pressed it out with my hands.

For J’s pizza he topped with sauce, sausage, black olives and cheese then baked for 15 minutes.  For my pizza I mixed the cheese together then spread my cheese and topped with the vegetables.  I used what the package called select tomatoes, or something like that, which was basically a mixture of different types of small tomatoes, so I had a few different colors which was pretty until hidden by the artichokes.  My pizza I baked on a cookie sheet and so I think I ended up rolling it out thinner and I cooked it for closer to 20 minutes so mine was more thin and crispy while J’s was thicker and softer. 

I was really pleased with my pizza, the dough was pretty good and very easy.  You could easily start adding seasonings to this to make some pretty good crust.  The mixture of ricotta cheese and goat cheese was awesome and complimented really well by the artichoke hearts.  Pat on back for that one.

When it comes to pizza neither of us have much self control at all, so I will tell you how many calories were in the entire pizza and you can decide for yourself what is a reasonable serving size because I don’t want to tell you how much I ate (hey at least wasn’t the whole thing, lay off me I’m starving).

Sausage and Black Olive Pizza

1926 calories, 80 g fat

Ricotta and Artichoke Pizza

1851 calories, 77 g fat

A big help to get the calories down on these pizzas without forfeiting much flavor would be to make one batch of dough and cut it in half.  This will make 2 thin crust pizzas and save you a whole 650 calories per pizza, then you could come a lot closer to eating the whole thing and not feel near as terrible.