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3 Min Read October 28, 2017 No Reply

Your next pasta dish to keep in the fridge for a tasty meal

Food, Recipes
kraft canada peanut butter noodles sponsored

Usually when I use peanut butter, I make a dessert. Or, in this house, it gets used up just by eating it plain. My kids have taken to eating PB and pretzels as an after school snack. But I love peanut butter in a savoury dish. Combine that with my desire to have easy meals ready to go and it’s not a surprise that this peanut thai noodle salad was a huge winner in my books.

Try this pasta salad with peanut butter the next time you need a potluck dish! via @bitofmomsense @kraftcanada

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It’s no secret that while I love cooking, my love for being in the kitchen and creating something new and tasty has to be on my own time. During the week, when we are rushed as a family and I can’t decide what to make that is nutritious and fast, it feels more like pressure and takes the joy out of it. When I have time, it’s a wonderful way to spend part of a day. When I don’t, it feels like a chore. I think that’s why I love having easy, go-to recipes that I can use any time during the week with limited ingredients. It’s definitely one reason I have turned to Kraft Canada recipes for years and years. I can alter them to suit my tastes, and to use what I already have in the pantry or fridge.

This Peanut Thai Noodle Salad is a cold pasta salad (I love pasta salads!) and was the perfect weeknight no-meat dish. I think next time I make it, I will keep it in the fridge for a tasty lunch for myself during the week.

I used bow tie noodles because I love them but a tighter, more firm noodle (like the original recipe calls for) would hold its shape and sauce better. I also omitted the snap peas just because I didn’t have any – that’s the beauty of these recipes, I can easily change them up. The sweet red peppers were a perfect foil to the saltiness of the soy sauce and because I used Kraft All Natural Crunchy Peanut butter, the only added sugar was from the honey. I probably could have reduced the amount of soy sauce just a bit and still had the flavours I wanted with each bite.

I think what I loved most about this dish was how easy it was to make. I can’t wait to make it again.

For more Kraft Canada Peanut Butter recipes visit their website!

Do you like to use Peanut Butter in dinner dishes? 

This easy pasta salad made with peanut butter is the perfect mid-week lunch bite via @bitofmomsense @kraftcanada

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This is post is written in partnership with Kraft Canada. I’m a What’s Cooking contributor and receive compensation. All opinions are my own.

1 Min Read September 19, 2017 2 Replies

Easy 10-minute meal: Pasta with lemon and sundried tomatoes

Recipes
easy-pasta-dish-with-sundried-tomatoes-and-lemon

It’s no secret that I love food, and while I enjoy getting creative in the kitchen, there are times when I just don’t feel inspired, or don’t have time. I’ve written before that dinner doesn’t have to be stressful. Sometimes, easy, flavourful meals are the way to go especially when our busy schedules doesn’t give us time to explore in the kitchen.

This is one of my favourite dishes to make. It uses pre-packaged pasta, and items that I usually have around. Swap out the cheese for your favourite – aged cheddar, parmesean, goat cheese all work. I love sundried tomatoes, but you can use olives or peas instead.

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll see that from time to time I live share my meal making via stories.

To make this dish it’s simple. Boil the pasta (I love tortillini) as per the instructions on the package, then strain. While the pasta is still hot, toss with olive oil, lemon juice. Plate, then top with cheese and the cooked veggie or accompaniment of your choice. Top with grated lemon rind and serve while warm. YUMMMMM

This 10 minute pasta dish is so easy to make any day of the week! via @bitofmomsense

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2 Min Read September 25, 2016 No Reply

Recipe: One Pot Pasta

Parenting

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Even when I plan ahead and grocery shop with care, there are far too many nights during the week that I just don’t know what to make for dinner. Or, more accurately, I just want a quick, easy recipe that takes little effort but tastes delicious. I think this is why I am so drawn to a one-pot pasta dish.

It has changed my world knowing that I can make dry pasta into something tasty without boiling it first. I have used the Kraft Canada lasagna recipe for years now, and more recently started making one-pot pasta dishes. I like that the recipes are easy to follow (like this one-pot penne pasta recipe that uses bacon, although really, you could add a variety of flavours!) and that they are all done using only one dish.

Do you keep a jar of pasta sauce in your pantry like I do? Or maybe you have some homemade sauce in the freezer at all times? This is when that sauce is really great to use. It’s already seasoned and all you have to do is at meat if you want (unless your sauce already has it!).

one pot pasta

For my latest one-pot dish, I used a Spicy Tomato and Parmesean sauce from Classico. It had a little hit of heat which was really flavourful. When cooking, having ingredients on hand that are easy to use and ready to go can be really helpful. While homemade is always the way to go when possible, I like keeping some handy pantry helpers at the ready.

My one-post dish:

Brown hamburg meat.

Add garlic and onions

Add one jar of sauce

Add one jar plus 1/3 jar of water

Add 3 cups of dry bowtie pasta and let it cook until it was done!!

one pot pasta

TIP: Keep an eye on the liquid content. Add extra water as needed to cook the pasta, depending on pot, heat etc. it may require more than originally called for.

 

Disclosure: I am a Kraft Heinz What’s Cooking Ambassador and receive compensation for this post. All opinions are my own. I truly believe that any meal that can be made with only one dish to dirty is a bonus for me!

 

3 Min Read February 6, 2015 No Reply

Recipe: Sundried Tomato and Asparagus Ravioli

Recipes

While I love cooking, and being in the kitchen, it doesn’t mean that there are days when I am so over it.  Weekdays especially tend to feel more like a chore than I want it to.  I get tired of deciding what to make, or the afternoon ends up becoming a more difficult endeavour than intended. Whatever the case, I always have a few trusty meals in my back pocket ready to be made when I get like this (at least when I want to avoid using pizza delivery).

However, not all I-don’t-want-to-cook meals are created equal. Sometimes, quick and easy end up being some of the best bites we eat all week.

Take for example this recipe.  I bought pre-made, fresh ravioli at the grocery store.  I try not to buy too many things that are ready-to-go because the sodium levels usually are too high and the ingredients questionable, but this package of vegetable ravioli didn’t look too bad at all. I made sure to get goat cheese too.

From the antipasto bar I picked up some sundried tomatoes and artichoke hearts.

When it came time to put dinner together, on a miserable Thursday night, after Andy messaged to say he was leaving work late, it went smoothly. The end result is this recipe.

Cooking from scratch doesn’t have to be a chore, but I prefer to do it when I feel leisurely about it. I’m a slow food baker when I have time and love a quiet, Saturday afternoon in the kitchen.

On nights like this, these ‘cheater’ components of a meal make for a less stressful dinner time when I just need a push.

Enjoy!

ravioli with sundried tomatoes

Sundried Tomato and Asparagus Ravioli

Ingredients:

1 package of prepared ravioli

6-8 skinny asparagus stalks, chopped

1/4 -1/3 cup chopped sundried tomatoes

1/3 cup chopped cooked artichoke hearts

1/4 cup olive oil

1 garlic clove

1/4 cup goat cheese

ravioli collage

Directions:

In a small bowl, grate or press the garlic clove into the olive oil. Set aside.

Follow the directions to boil the ravioli as indicated on the package.

When the ravioli is cooked and heated through, set the pot aside.

Add a frying pan to the hot element where the ravioli was just sitting on. Add the garlic oil.

Toss in the asparagus and heat until beginning to soften. Add the tomatoes and artichokes.

Carefully remove each ravioli, straining a little, and add them to the pan. Continue until all the ravioli are in the pan. Shake the pan along the way to keep the ravioli from sticking.  Cook until the asparagus are cooked, and some of the ravioli is crisping up just a little.

Plate and top with fresh pepper and pieces of goat cheese (which will melt against the ravioli and make a gorgeous cream! NOM!)

 

 

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