Roasted Red Pepper Pasta

I love pasta! It's so good, it's so simple. I make it a lot. My husband really doesn't like goat cheese so I don't use it too often. I love it, well I love any cheese. But he doesn't even know this has goat cheese in it! Well, I suppose he does now! This recipe was adapted from Maggie's Bites. 

2 whole red bell peppers
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp butter
1 cup milk
2 oz goat cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan, divided
1/2 lbs spaghetti

Start off by preheating the oven to 500 degrees F. Cover a baking dish with tinfoil (for easy cleanup) and put the bell peppers in the dish. Pop them in the oven for about 25 minutes.

When it's done let it cool for about 10 minutes.

Start to boil the water for your pasta. Cook it according to package directions. When it's done, just set it aside until the sauce is done.

When the peppers are cool enough to handle chop the tops off. Cut each pepper into 1/4 and remove the seeds.

Now, take the skin of the pepper and pull it away from the pepper. This will get rid of any char marks so you don't need to worry about them. Do this to all the peppers.

Next put the peppers in a blender.

Over medium heat melt the 1 Tbsp butter. Then add the garlic for about a minute then add the 1 cup milk and 1/2 cup Parmesan and stir until blended.

Pour it into the blender with the bell peppers.

Blend until smooth. Then add the other 1/2 cup Parmesan and blend again.

Pour back onto stove top and heat until desired temperature. Then you can either put the spaghetti into the sauce and mix it on the stove top or, if you're like me, you can pour it over the top of the pasta in individual bowls. 

 The reason I like to do this is because of left overs. The pasta just tastes better if it's not stored with sauce. If you're planning on eating it all at once than just mix it on the stove top.

Stir it up in the bowl

Top with goat cheese and there you have it!

Click HERE to print recipe

Delightful Zucchini Bites

When I was first learning how to cook, I would always try things that seemed simple but were unusual. I get tired of the same old, same old. This recipe is one of those. So easy to make and they look pretty, are fairly healthy and it's something you don't see every day. This recipe comes from The Curious Country Cook who adapted it from The Naptime Chef.

1 small zucchini                                                                                   
1 egg
1/4 yellow onion
1/4 cup Parmesan
1/4 cup bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste

First thing, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Then dice your onion.

Trim the ends off of the zucchini. Take a cheese grater and grate the zucchini.

It should look something like this when your done. 

Place it in a paper towel and squeeze out the extra water. You may have to use a few paper towels. The more water you can get out, the crunchier they will taste. Skip this step and they will come out soggy.

Once all the water is out of the zucchini, put it in a bowl. Add the 1 egg, 1/4 yellow onion, 1/4 cup Parmesan, 1/4 cup bread crumbs and salt and pepper to the bowl. Stir well to combine

Spray a mini muffin tin with cooking spray. Scoop out bite size pieces and put them in the mini muffin tin. Try to make them all the same size so they'll cook at the same rate. I like to make fun patterns ha ha 

Pop them in the oven for 15 to 18 minutes, take them out and enjoy! They don't save very well so be sure to eat them up. Not that you'll have a problem doing that! Also, this recipe makes about 12 to 14 bites but it scales easily so you can double it if you want more.

Toddler Busy Board

If you read my post on O's Fun Toddler Summer Bucket List, you know that she has "Get a Busy Board" on her summer bucket list. I wanted her to have a busy board to 1) keep her busy on rainy days but most importantly 2) help her practice her fine motor skills and satisfy her curiosity about the little things in the world.

I thought why not make my own. So I did! It didn't cost very much and I was able to customize it to what O likes to do most. Life is too short and they are only going to be interested in this type of activity for just a small part of their life, make their little years a little happier with a busy board made with love.

To start, you have to buy a board. I found this one at Home Depot for $2.50

Then I painted it. I had some left over paint from painting the trim around the house so I painted it white.

Then I added a bunch of hardware I found for cheap at Wal-Mart. It was all very cheap. These door stops are O's favorite to play with. And truthfully, I have fun pulling them as well!

I got these samples of wood for free at Home Depot! Add a hinge and a cabinet knob and you have a door! I'm thinking of adding something behind it, perhaps a mirror or maybe a laminated picture of her (she loves pictures of babies).

I added several kinds of locks. She loves flipping them back and forth!

I added a wheel. She really enjoys spinning the wheel!

I bought an "S" hook and an "eye hook". She loves to take the S hook and try to stick it in the eye hook. It's great for hand eye coordination and fine motor skills. I was a little nervous about having a loose piece but she hasn't lost it yet. When she has it in her hand she is very determined to hook it around the eye piece. We'll see if that lasts!

This was part of one of the locks. She hangs the S hook on it as well.

My favorite thing to watch her play with is the chain. I get excited when she tries to hook it on the little white hooks. It's really hard! But she gets such a sense of accomplishment when she does it. I bought the chain at Home Depot for $0.50 a foot and I got one foot. I used a 2nd eye hook to hold the chain. 

The colorful dots on the board are self adhesive mini reflectors I bought at Wal-Mart. She loves to touch them and try to pull them off (they don't come off). I hope you can come up with some creative stuff for your busy board! 

Tasty Beef Bulgogi (Korean BBQ)

If you've read some of my other posts, you may remember that my husband lived in Korea for a year and I went over to visit him for extended amounts of time during that year. I fell in love with Korean food! Beef Bulgogi (or Korean BBQ beef) was my favorite food to eat and the first thing I learn to cook while I was staying in Korea. After my Sweet and Savory Korean Chicken Legs post, my friend Linda (at Today She Loves) asked for my Korean BBQ recipe. I was glad too because it is so good! I also grilled some veggies and then threw it all on top of veggie fried rice. If you were eating this at a traditional Korean restaurant, you would cook the beef yourself on a little grill right at your table. It's fun to do, hopefully I'll make it back there some day. Life is too short to not try this tasty meal. Oh and this time I added a twist that will have your taste buds screaming for more. Bacon. But you can't go wrong with bacon can you?

This needs to marinade for at least an hour but best to marinade overnight.

1 lbs flank steak or top sirloin steak 

5 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp brown sugar

2 Tbsp honey

2 Tbsp minced garlic

2 Tbsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

4 strips of bacon (optional) (for 1 skewer of beef).

1 Tbsp Sesame seeds

For Veggie Skewers 

1 red bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper

1 orange bell pepper

1/4 onion (optional)

I used sirloin steak this time but I use both flank and sirloin steak. The first thing you need to do is to slice it very thin. You can ask the butcher at the grocery store to do it for you (even if it's already in a package, they will take it out and cut it for you) or if you forget to do that like I did, you can cut it at home.

I sliced it in half and than each of those pieces in half. You don't have to make it pretty, it's going to get cut up more anyway.

Once they are as thin as you can possibly slice it, cut each thin piece into little pieces, about an inch or so long. 

Now it's time to make the marinade! In a medium size bowl, add the 5 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp brown sugar, 2 Tbsp honey, 2 Tbsp minced garlic, 2 Tbsp Sesame seeds, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper.

Put the beef pieces in the marinade and put it in the fridge to marinade for at least an hour but best to do it overnight. 

(For the purposes of the picture the beef is on top but push them down to the bottom so they are fully submerged).

I let my beef marinade for about 4 hours. Right before I took them out, I started on the veggie skewers. To make them, cut each of the red, yellow and orange bell peppers into 4 pieces and remove the stem and seeds.

Slice the bell pepper into small pieces and put them on the skewer. I also added 1/4 of an onion to one of the skewers just for a little extra flavor.

Looks so pretty doesn't it? I wanted to eat it right away!

Now it is time for the bacon! If you're using bacon (which I highly recommend) than put 4 strips in the pan. Don't cook them all the way through. You want them to still be soft so you can wrap them around the beef. 

You can see that it's a little bit cooked but still flexible.

Tear it in half.

Take the beef out of the fridge and for non-bacon pieces slide the beef onto your skewers.

I only used bacon on 1 skewer. If using bacon, wrap the bacon around the beef and slide it onto the skewer. 

Make sure that the ends of your bacon are through the skewer to hold them on so they don't become unwrapped on the grill. The bacon tastes so good but I would do at least 1 skewer without the bacon so you can taste the real authentic flavors of Korea.

Looks so good! I can't wait to put them on the grill

Preheat your outside grill. Once it's nice and hot, add all your skewers. They should cook for about 5 to 10 minutes or until the beef is cooked through. Cook time depends on how thin you sliced your beef. The bacon skewer will take longer to cook, just be aware.

Ta da! They are done!

If your bacon still isn't cooked all the way but your beef is, you can throw the bacon back on a pan on and crisp it up a bit more. I had a few pieces that need a little more crisp to them.

I made some veggie fried rice and threw the Korean BBQ on top.

Top it off with your grilled bell pepper and enjoy! I couldn't stop taking pictures. It tastes just as good as it looks!