Meatless Monday - Leftovers to the rescue!

Last night we had a delicious Meatless Monday dinner! I was unprepared (as per usual) so I had to rely on the pitiful contents of the pantry and refrigerator. Luckily I had one last leftover from the weekend - about two cups of homemade olive tapanade. I boiled some pasta (angel hair and regular spaghetti) and tossed it with the tapanade, along with some of the reserved pasta water. Topped with fresh shaved Parmesan, it was a real treat!

To go along with the pasta, I cooked up some carrots with a bit of butter and sugar for some caramelized goodness.  The kiddos got plain pasta with Parmesan, which they gobbled up along with the carrots. I never know what they'll eat - they've turned up their noses at this exact type of carrots before, but this time they would have gladly eaten more - to bad for them I didn't make very many anticipating that they wouldn't eat them!

A big win on Meatless Monday

Wow! Last night I made a mushroom spinach lasagna that was out of this world! Of course Gabi turned up her nose at it, but Papi and little Buddy ate it right up and asked for more. I was pleasantly surprised at the way it turned out; I had a vague idea of what I wanted, but once I started cooking and throwing things together that strange alchemy occurred that transforms a mess into magic.

Follow me below the fold for the recipe . . .

Monday

Mondays are busy days around here - there's preschool in the morning and ballet in the afternoon, plus the usual re-adjustment to the work week - they always seem to be a bit bumpy. I had grand plans this morning that were out the window by noon, but I did manage to get a few things accomplished.

I've been trying to stick to the theme of "Meatless Mondays" for our Monday dinners, and I did have success with that tonight - we had stuffed red peppers which were quite tasty. I mixed cooked white rice with feta cheese, olives, cherry tomatoes, parsley, red pepper, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, stuffed the peppers, and baked them in the oven. Gabi helped me a lot, which was nice, although I don't think she ended up even tasting any once they were done. She did eat all her fries though, plus mine, so there's that (I guess that worked out for both of us!)