Creamy Shrimp Pasta

I don't know what has come over me because I am now eating shrimp. I used to hate shrimp. I do buy it frozen, precooked and ready to heat from Costco. Super simple.

 This is an adaptation of a recipe from my Clean Eating Magazine.

This is a wonderful pasta dish that leave you feeling very satisfied you didn't give up all the creamy, heavy pasta meals you once loved. Best part of all, you don't feel bloated and tired afterwards. 

Creamy Shrimp Pasta

Ingredients:

• 8 ounce box of pasta (I used Corn/Quinoa Ancient Harvest)
• 1-2 tsp Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 3-4 cloves of garlic minced
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 2/3 cups of Classic Rice Milk (Or plain Coconut Milk would work great too)
• 1 Tbps Cornstarch (* see notes below)
• 3 Tbps high quality Parmesan cheese or Pecorino Romano(+ a little more for garnish)
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 15 ounce can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (BPA-free is best)
• 10 sun-dried or oven dried tomatoes, drained, and sliced (The Costco brand is great)
• 2 cups of chopped spinach
• 3 Tbps fresh chopped basil

Directions:

1) Cook pasta according to package. 

2) Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan on low-medium saute the EVOO with the garlic, thyme, oregano, and pepper flakes (if using)until garlic begins to soften (about 30 seconds).

3) Add the milk to the pan and stir.

4) Add a cornstarch "slurry" to the mixture and stir over medium constantly until the mixture has began to thicken. 

5) Add in the cheese and stir. Add in salt and pepper. 

6) Add in frozen (or even thawed) shrimp, beans, tomatoes and spinach. Stir until well mixed.

7) Add in cooked pasta, stir.

8) Mix in chopped fresh basil. 

9) Sprinkle with cheese and serve.

NOTES: Create a cornstarch "slurry" by mixing the Tbps of cornstarch with about 1 Tbps water and mix until it dissolves before adding to your mixture. This will insure there are no lumps in the recipe. :)

{clean} Tuscan Herb Pasta Salad

This recipe I created rather quickly with things I had on hand in my kitchen (or garden). It was so simple that I can remember the ingredients to make again and again just off the top of my head. I know, impressive! 

It was very good too! Using garden fresh vegetables made it even better. YUM! Before going clean I would have reached for a Soybean/Canola Oil Italian dressing with preservatives and additives to make this. I am glad I didn't because this is even better.

{clean} Tuscan Herb Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

• 2 boxes Gluten Free Pasta (Cooked and Chilled)
• Tomatoes, chopped
• Cucumbers, chopped
• Mild yellow peppers, chopped
• Fresh Basil, chopped 
• 2 Tbps Rustic Tuscan Herb Blend (Found at Costco or online)
• 2 Tbps Bragg Vinaigrette Dressing (Found at Kroger or other stores)
• 1-2 Tbps Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• juice of one lime (or lemon will do)
• sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1) Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Chill for 1-2 hours or longer before serving. 

NOTES: Do not overcook gluten free pasta it will start to fall apart. This is my favorite brand: Tinkyada. I have found it many places, but the best selection is at Super Target or online. For this image I used this brand: Deboles.

If you choose not to buy the Rustic Tuscan Herb Blend (which I do suggest, it's good), then you can look for one similar or make your own. Here's a screen shot of the ingredients. Also, add any veggies you want (and you choose the quantity) and even olives would be a great addition to this pasta. Enjoy.

Spaghetti Squash

I will pretty much try ANY new vegetable or fruit on this {clean eating} journey.  I figure, what do I have to lose? You can't go wrong with too many vegetables or fruits to choose from to create unique healthy meals.

Spaghetti squash is something I hadn't tried before, until now. It's time to start caring about every single calories I take in so I can drop these dreaded last 10lbs! I usually eat whole grain pasta but then I'm left with an upset and bloated stomach and exhausted from the carb crash. This is not the case with spaghetti squash. It has a mild sweet taste that is different from regular spaghetti.

Spaghetti Squash

My daughter thought it tasted great! She thought it was really cool as I showed her the magic of the squash turning into "spaghetti". Next time I'm serving it to my 3 year old too (I wasn't in the mood for an argument this time around). If I can pass this as spaghetti to him I will be impressed.

Now, on to the awesome news. An average spaghetti squash has 165 calories. That's for the ENTIRE squash and it makes a lot of "spaghetti". Just ONE cup of regular spaghetti contains around 220 calories versus 42 calories a cup of spaghetti squash. If you were to just replace one cup of pasta with squash once a week for a year, that would be 8,544 calories (2 lbs weight loss per year). These numbers are for those that actually eat ONE cup of pasta. I am sure many people eat way more than one cup per serving. 

There are many techniques to cook spaghetti squash. One way is to microwave it. Here's a great video explaining that method.

I, personally, choose to cut it in half lengthwise and removed the seeds and pulp. Then I placed the squash rind side up in a baking dish and baked it at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

I am happy to report that this vegetable experiment was a success. I will be using spaghetti squash instead of spaghetti pasta many times this coming year.  That alone should help me with my weight loss goals. Plus, my daughter is excited to share the news of how cool spaghetti squash is to her friends. 

PIZZA PASTA

What better way to use up all the leftover pizza toppings than to make PIZZA PASTA. It's super simple and yumm-o!

Pizza Pasta

Ingredients:

• Leftover vegetables from pizza night (I used red peppers, mushrooms, black olives, tomatoes, green olives, and sliced turkey pepperoni)
• Fresh Mozzarella cheese (sliced)
• Grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
• Leftover Mama's Pizza Sauce (if you didn't use fresh basil, I suggest adding some to the pasta)
• one box of Whole Grain Pasta 
• Olive Oil

1)  Saute the leftover vegetables until tender in approx. 1 Tbps of olive oil.

2)  Mix vegetables, olives, sliced pepperoni, sauce, and cooked pasta together.

3)  Transfer to a baking dish, add mozzarella cheese. Stir.

4)  Cover and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until heated thru.

5)  Top with grated cheese.

NOTE: I usually use regular pepperoni on my pizzas now (and just add a small amount), but I thought I would add turkey pepperoni to the pasta dish to cut down on calories. It seemed to work well. If you aren't watching your calories, I say go for the real deal. It's soooo good! And you can even get the cute little bite size pepperonis. And, for those of you wondering, pepperoni probably doesn't fall into the {clean} food group but we all can't be perfect! Moderation people. 

KID APPROVED??? yes, but they had a separate batch with just cheese and pepperoni. 

SUNSHINE HUMMUS PASTA with peppers and broccoli

If you like hummus, then you will have to give this recipe a try. I took this budget recipe from my Clean Eating magazine. It's an easy meal that is budget friendly, healthy, and low maintenance! The magazine states that the full recipe price is $8.19. (I'm sure my total cost was under that)  

Sunshine Hummus Pasta with Peppers and Broccoli

Recipe Source: Clean Eating Magazine

Ingredients:

• 8 oz whole grain spaghetti or linguini
• 1 15-oz can Organic Garbanzo (aka Chickpeas) Beans, drained and rinsed
• Juice 1 lemon
• 1 small clove garlic, cut into quarters
• ¼ cup unsalted sunflower seeds (raw or roasted)
• Pinch sea salt
• 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 lb broccoli, stalks removed and discarded, florets quartered (i used organic frozen broccoli florets from Costco)
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced into long strips

1.    Prepare spaghetti according to package directions; drain and set aside.
2.    Meanwhile, prepare hummus:  Place beans, lemon juice, garlic, sunflower seeds, salt, and oil into a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.  If hummus seems too chunky, add 1 tbsp water and process again.
3.    Fill a medium pot with water and bring to a boil.  Add broccoli florets, reduce heat to medium and gently simmer for 3 minutes.  Add pepper and continue to simmer fro another 2 minutes.  Drain vegetables.  Toss pasta with vegetables and hummus and serve.

Nutrition facts per serving (4 servings per recipe):  426 calories, 10 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 4 g monounsaturated fat, 4 g polyunsaturated fat, 72 g carbohydrates, 6 g fiber, 4 g sugar, 17 g protein, 91 mg Sodium (WOW!), and 0 mg Cholesterol

Nutritional BONUS:  This recipe is meatless; however the grains and seeds provide all the essential amino acids to make it a complete protein!  Also, it contains 162% Vitamin C and 136% Manganese of your daily value!

CF NOTE:  I had to add a couple of tbps of water to the hummus.  I am in need of a larger food processor so I am guessing that is to blame. That's probably why my sauce wasn't as smooth as it should be(hence, the chunkier looking pasta pix)

KID APPROVED??? NO