Garlicky Vegetable Pasta Salad

*Not sure why this was saved and not posted from a couple of weeks ago, but better late than never I suppose.  :)

I am a huge fan of leftovers.  Huge.  Between working 40+ hours a week and having 2 kids that NEED to eat by 6 and NEED to be in bed by 7:30, I don't have a whole lot of time to cook supper when we get home.  As soon as we walk in the door the little guy starts chirping.  Cheese stick!  Cheese stick!  CHEESE STICK!  Thankfully splitting one between the 2 of them tides them over for about a half hour. 


However, Rachael Ray I am not (and really, can anyone really make any of her meals in 30 minutes) but I do try my best to not used any processed foods.  Don't get me wrong, I throw a hot dog or two at the kids every once in a while (and feel less guilty about it after finding nitrate free dogs) but overall we are pretty healthy eaters here despite the fact I am having a huge craving for nachos at the moment.  Not sure where that one came from but they sound soooooo good right about now.


I had the leftovers from dinner the other night to play with but didn't really have any carbs to serve with it - Man Food Rule #4 - must have carbs with meals.  Since I didn't think I could get away with tossing another loaf of bread on the table (OK, reality was it was getting moldy), so I threw together this pasta recipe from the same Cooking Light issue. 

It reuses quite a bit of the vegetables that we grilled the other night, but was different enough that it didn't seem like we were eating the same thing again.  I tossed in some extra vegetables and some extra olives for the kids since they love them.  I mixed the cold vegetables with the hot pasta so it was room temperature when I served it with some leftover tenderloin.  Another supper where the kids cleaned their plates and another new recipe to add to the files.

Garlicky Vegetable Pasta Salad
Cooking Light, August 2002
Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 3/4 cups)  

4 cups cooked fusilli (about 8 ounces uncooked short twisted spaghetti)

3 cups Grilled Antipasto Vegetables

3/4 cup (3 ounces) crumbled feta cheese

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

1/4 cup Chile-Garlic Vinaigrette

3 tablespoons chopped pitted kalamata olives

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, tossing gently.

Nutritional Information:  calories: 405, fat: 12.5g, protein: 15.2g, fiber: 6.8g, carbohydrate: 60.1g

Tonsillectomy Times Two

Friday was the big day:  both kids were scheduled to get their tonsils and adenoids pulled.  We had an appointment earlier this month with an ENT and he had no qualms about taking them out in either child.  Surprising, since Christopher isn't quite two, but I suppose 6 bouts of tonsillitis in 5 months tipped the scales in our favor.  I was younger than he is when I had mine taken out, but that was back in the day when we rolled around in the back of the station wagon sans seat belts.  Back when we played outside in the summer all day long and only had to come home when the street lights came on.  The good ole days ... another whole post in itself.

I wanted it done as soon as they could schedule it and even better it could be done right before a long weekend since we were told there was a week long recovery period.  They were scheduled for 7:30 and 8 AM and we needed to be there at 6 AM for registration.  We arrived on time and they staff was really good with the kids.  They each got tiger pajamas to wear as well as a hat they could wear to cover their hair during surgery.  They were loaded up with stickers and each received a coloring book and some crayons to use while we waited.

I'll admit it, I didn't like that I couldn't go back with them and I couldn't be in recovery when they woke up.  We were stuck waiting in the little room until they were ready to be moved to the Woman's and Children's Center.  They were being kept overnight since Christopher had to given his age.  They both did really well and were pretty out of it when we walked over with them. 

I have to say the doctor was right when he said Christopher would be the fast recoverer.  Unfortunately that realization came at 3:30 this morning when he was jumping in the crib in the hospital room "I jumping mommy!  I jumping!"  Madeleine is having a tougher time of it but we are keeping on top of the Tylenol with codeine and she is coming along. 

Hopefully this will help with all the sickness that they have had over the last winter.  I'm betting it'll be hard to have tonsillitis if you don't have your tonsils anymore.

Tenderloin with Grilled Antipasto Vegetables

I've learned a lesson or two over the years.  Mother's Day was last Sunday and I really wanted to go to brunch at the local winery that isn't far from our house.  I knew, however, that request would be met with sighs and comments about how packed it was going to be, blah, blah, blah.  So, I bought myself a beef tenderloin roast with the thoughts of having a nice meal at home.

I've made this meal a few times in the past and it is very good.  I couldn't find a Serrano (hit or miss in these parts) so I subbed a jalapeno, making sure I scraped out all the seeds so it wouldn't be too hot for the kids.  I didn't have to worry though as it was a pretty wimpy jalapeno.  Both kids loved the tenderloin (of course they have expensive taste) and ate the vegetable with gusto.  I really am lucky to have kids that will eat pretty much anything I put in front of them.

Tenderloin with Grilled Antipasto Vegetables
Cooking Light, August 2002

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 pounds beef tenderloin, trimmed
Cooking spray
2 1/2 tablespoons Chile-Garlic Vinaigrette
4 cups trimmed arugula
8 cups Grilled Antipasto Vegetables
1/4 cup (1 ounce) shaved Parmesan cheese

Prepare grill.

Combine first 4 ingredients; rub over beef. Place beef on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 6 minutes on all 4 sides or until desired degree of doneness. Cover loosely; let stand 5 minutes.
Drizzle 2 1/2 tablespoons Chile-Garlic Vinaigrette over arugula; toss gently to coat. Cut beef across grain into thin slices. Arrange beef, 8 cups Grilled Antipasto Vegetables, and arugula on a platter; top with cheese.

Nutritional information:  calories: 343,  fat: 13.2g, protein: 33.5g, carbohydrate: 26.5g, fiber: 9.3g

What happened to Spring?

It was so nice here this past weekend.  Sunny and in the 70's with a nice breeze.  Saturday I pulled the kids around the neighborhood in thier wagon (75 pounds total thankyouverymuch) and we stopped to visit the horses that live at the end of our street.  Sunday we went out to breakfast, hit the farmer's market in a neighboring town and then played at the park for a while.  Absolutely beautiful.

Today when I got into my car after work the thermometer read 96 degrees and it is humid.  More of the same tomorrow and then it drops back down to the 60's.  Ah, Iowa.  Was that the extent of our Spring this year - two days?  Oh wait, I think it was nice one day last month too.

At least when I was living in Phoenix I could pretty much count on it being over 100 from May through October.  It's a dry heat though, right?