Pasta with Garlic and Oil

Simple ingredients - amazing taste. I was totally blown away by this dish. I was expecting it to be good, since it came from America's Test Kitchen, but I wasn't expecting it to be that good. But when you stick to the basics - garlic, olive oil, a little lemon juice and parsley, you can't go wrong. This was sooo tasty, especially with some good leftover Italian bread (doctored up with a little butter, Parm. cheese, and garlic) and a big salad; it made the perfect comfort food meal. Definitely put this one on your list of recipes to try! Just don't do it for a dinner party, because your breath with smell very strongly of garlic. :)

Pasta with Garlic and Oil (Pasta aglio e olio)

1 lb. spaghetti

salt (sea salt or table salt)

6 T. olive oil

20 garlic loves from 1-2 heads, minced (4 T. total)

3/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

3 T. chopped fresh parsley

2 tsp. juice from 1 lemon

1 oz. grated Parmesan cheese (1/2 cup) (optional - but very good)

Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Add pasta and 1 T. salt and cook, stirring often, until al dente (see package directions). Reserve 1/3 cup of the pasta cooking water; drain pasta and transfer it back to the pot.

Meanwhile, heat 3 T. oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-low heat until just shimmering. Add 3 T. garlic and 1/2 tsp. salt and reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring constantly, until the garlic foams and becomes sticky and straw-colored, 10-12 minutes (you may need to turn your heat up a bit depending on your stove). Off the heat, add remaining T. garlic, pepper flakes, parsley, lemon juice, and 2 T. pasta cooking water to the skillet and stir well to keep the garlic from clumping.

Transfer the drained pasta to a large serving bowl (or throw back in your pot if you'd like). Add remaining 3 T. olive oil and remaining pasta cooking water and toss to coat. Add the garlic mixture and 3/4 tsp. table salt (or 1 tsp. sea salt flakes) to the pasta. Toss well to combine. Serve immediately with optional Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Source: America's Test Kitchen

Italian Bread

I told you I've been on a roll lately! I'm enjoying this last week of cooking before the baby comes. I tried this bread awhile ago and it was very fun! It's similar to french bread, but it has a little thicker crust and it's a little more dense and chewy. It would be great for a very saucy pasta, soup, or something else with juices you want to soak up. We had it with some Greek Chicken Salad and then again later with some yummy pasta. It requires you to start it overnight, and then it has a lot of rising times, but the actual time you spend doing something is very minimal. It was fun for a change!

Blackberry Crisp

I am aware this picture is crummy, but I assure you, this dessert is not! I love crisps in all varieties, in fact, this recipe is very adaptable to whatever fruit you like. I will give you the recipe for the topping and give you some guidelines on your fruit of choice, and it works great! We had some blackberries in our freezer so I decided to make this last weekend and it was soooo delicious. Served warm topped with vanilla ice cream and it makes one amazing dessert.

Grilled Marinated Flank Steak

It may still technically be winter, but not for long! We fired up the grill on Sunday and made this delectable flank steak. Yum! I'd never made flank steak before, but I will surely be making it again! I got this recipe from the America's Test Kitchen magazine (given to me by my mother-in-law - thank you!) and therefore it is of course a no-fail recipe. The marinade took a couple minutes to prepare, then it just sits in the refrigerator for awhile, and then it literally took 10 minutes to cook. So easy! It had lots of flavor and made for some excellent steak fajitas with the leftovers! Yummy.

Moo Shu Noodles

This is a great, quick weeknight kind of meal and it's tasty and healthy too! I've made this several times, but I hadn't made it in a long time until last week. I had forgotten how delicious it was! This is definitely going to make it into the rotation more often from now on. My hubby loved it as well as my 2-year old, so it's a winner! It's super easy and really flavorful.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Bars

Yum! If you love oatmeal and chocolate, you will LOVE these bars. They're kind of our new favorite thing ever. Soft, chewy, buttery, and delicious. They are super easy to whip together and they taste so good!

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

If you saw my last post (does anyone read this blog anymore? i don't blame you if you've given up), you knew this was coming. I decided to try some pulled pork the other day and it did not disappoint! I bought a huge pork roast a couple weeks ago, because it was cheap, and I stuck it in the freezer while I decided what to do with it. I saw this recipe for pulled pork on a blog and I decided to give it a go. Of course it made a ton, so I froze the leftovers in ziploc bags - so we can have this a few more times! This is the real deal here. The pork is ridiculously tender and the sauce has so much flavor. Give this a try! It was soo delicious.

French Bread Rolls

I have been seriously missing in action lately, but I have lots of good reasons. We're selling our house, I'm having a baby in 2 weeks, my grandfather passed away, and life is just all around busy. But I'm still cooking! I haven't been making too many exciting things, but just the other day I thought that I wanted to make some yummy things in the next few weeks before the baby comes while I still have some time on my hands!