Shrimp and Bacon Alfredo

The night before a triathlon, my husband loves to have a big bowl of pasta. Hmm… a protein packed pasta dish the day before I HAD to go grocery shopping (I was down to eating pb&j’s for breakfast again) seemed impossible. In fact, I considered calling for take-out. Seriously. I had no chicken, no jarred spaghetti sauce or tomato sauce for making my own, and only 1/2 of a box of rigatoni pasta. Thank goodness it was whole wheat! I was… how do you say… in a pickle.

I dug to the back of the fridge and found two things that inspired this recipe. (I shouldn’t even call it that. A recipe? I don’t  even have measurements for the ingredients!) I found a jar of Alfredo sauce that had about 1/4-1/3 cup left and 1/3 of a container of low fat cottage cheese. The cottage cheese was leftover from a delicious veggie lasagna that I have yet to post… stay tuned for it. It’s really delicious!

The cottage cheese was a wild card but it worked out great. It melted into the Alfredo sauce and added the thickness and richness I was looking for, along with added protein!

Anyway, I basically just threw a bunch of ingredients together and tasted as I went along, adding a dash of this and that, until it was perfected. I you find yourself in a culinary pickle, don’t panic. Just throw some stuff together and see what happens. You might be surprised what you can come up with.

Shrimp and Bacon Alfredo

Servings: 2
Time: 20 minutes
Level: Easy

Turkey bacon, cooked and crumbles
Shrimp, cooked and peeled
Frozen peas, thawed
Rigatoni pasta, cooked and drained
Cottage cheese
Alfredo pasta sauce
Italian seasoning
Black pepper
Garlic powder
Salt

Mix all ingredients together in a pot over medium heat until warmed throughout. Play with the ingredient amounts until you get the right consistency, texture, and taste you want. Yum!

 

H.B.’s Lasagna – A TRUE family favorite

My mom has a great friend named Helen and Mrs. Helen makes the BEST lasagna in the world. No joke! She also makes the best face wiper in the world… but that’s another story for another blog.

For the amount of ingredients, time, and effort that you must put forth to make this recipe, this dish is a true winner. It’s easy and quick and it uses ingredients you already have on hand. Plus, it will happily feed your ENTIRE family.

Since it was just Jason and I, I used a small baking dish and  made 1/3 of the original recipe. I reduced the cook time to 40 minutes and it worked out perfectly. I only had two layers of noodles and it still fed us twice. The first night, I paired it with Brussels sprouts (my new favorite veg.) and a small green salad. The next night, we had green beans and bread.

H.B.’s Lasagna

Time: 1 hour
Level: Easy
Servings: 6-8

1 lb. ground beef, cooked and drained
1 jar (32oz.) spaghetti sauce
1 1/2 c. water
2 c. cottage cheese
3 c. Mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, shredded
2 eggs
1/2 c. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Lasagna noodles, at least 9, and uncooked

Mix cooked ground beef with spaghetti sauce and water.

Simmer, uncovered, for  a few minutes. Combine remaining ingredients in a separate bowl.

Pour 1 cup of sauce in a 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Place 3 strips of the dry lasagna noodles on top.

Layer the following in order:

1 1/2 cups of sauce
1/2 of the cheese mixture
3 more dry noodles
1 1/2 cups of sauce
The rest of the cheese mixture
3 more dry noodles
The rest of the sauce

Cover baking dish with foil and bake for 55 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand, uncovered, for at least 5 minutes before cutting and serving. Yum!

Tips
– If you run out of sauce before you can add the last layer, don’t worry! I ended my 1/3 of the recipe version with the cheese mixture and it turned out great!
– This recipe freezes well, with before or after you bake. If you have a ton of leftovers… freeze them in individual portions. It will make a quick and easy dinner later on.