Stuff I Eat Lately . . .

So this blog has been pretty dormant. Someday I'll do catch up or whatever on life and such, but, in the mean time, I'll share some of my favorite new recipes I've made lately. I have something to admit here . . . I joined Pinterest. That's right. I caved and joined. I've found that it's actually helpful! My recipes are organized. My design ideas are focused. And when I'm researching a purchase, I can just pin the pages with the information I need and come back to them easily instead of having to search again and again and again.

I have rules for myself though. No pinning willy nilly. I am not allowed to pin anything that I don't think I'll be using in the near future, and I don't pin any recipes that I can't see myself making within the next week or month. This has been working awesomely for me. I make about 1-2 new recipes a week, and we have been loving it! I found myself making the same things over and over again, so being able to pin and return to new recipes easily has diversified our dinners. Now all I need is a tablet so I don't have to lug my laptop into the kitchen :)

Anyhoo, here are my favorite recipes as of late that I've made. They are all 100% Mark and Sarah approved . . . if that means anything to you.

Italian Herb Bread 

So yummy and so easy! It has turned out perfectly every time I've made it. Mark made this for me for Mother's Day and we had it with roasted tomato basil soup and balsamic vinegar and olive oil for some dipping sauce. The perfect side to any Italian dish.

Roasted Red Pepper Pasta 

Mmmmm . . . Mark loved this one and it came together really easily. If your basil is out of control this summer, throw it into this dish in place of the parsley. You will not regret it.

Basil Chicken Coconut Curry 

Creamy and delicious. And now I'm craving it again.

 One Pot Wonder Pasta

I cannot rave about this recipe enough. I made it for the second time tonight and it was so stinking good! And the best part? One of the easiest recipes I have ever made! You cut up a few things, throw everything into the pot and let it cook. I recommend subbing in 1/2-1 cup of heavy cream and/or milk for a little extra creaminess. Mark cannot stop raving about this recipe. He wants me to make it all the time.

Veggie Lasagna

This lasagna was so good that I didn't notice there was no meat in it. Mark said it was one of the best lasagnas I've ever made too. I just used the vegetables I had on hand (didn't have mushrooms or red peppers so I subbed canned tomatoes and extra broccoli and zucchini) and it turned out amazing. I also used cottage cheese in place of ricotta because I prefer cottage cheese in my lasagna. And the leftovers were even better.

Parmesan Garlic Quinoa

I made this for lunch one Saturday. It was so simple and so delicious. Didn't hurt that it gave me a way to use my quinoa. Always on the prowl for a good quinoa recipe ever since I bought a bag from Costco. I used chicken broth and milk in place of water for more flavor. I'm sure it could work with other cheeses too. Yums.

Pinterest. Not just a place where you pin a bunch of stuff that you will never ever do. For reals people.