Girls’ Night fell through, so I stayed home this afternoon and continued to work on my computer and talk to Matt while he worked on his. Around 5:00 we broke to figure out what the heck to have for dinner. I have been doing a horrible job of meal planning! Part of that is that I don’t want to spend much at the grocery store, so I’ve been relying on inexpensive pantry staples for a few months now with a few prime ingredients making brief appearances. Next week I am going to make a solid plan with some real recipes assigned to days.
But tonight’s dinner was still a winner thanks to these two ingredients
This Mezzetta Napa Valley Bistro sauce was hands down the best jarred pasta sauce I’ve ever had!! It was restaurant worthy. I can thank the ingredients of cream and butter for that 😉 But a little went a looong way and the flavor was worth having a richer sauce.
Don’t clam up when you open the can of clams!! I almost did when I sniffed them. GROSS. But cooked into a sauce they looked just like any ole restaurant dish.
This recipe included (for TWO people)
- ~4 oz cooked whole wheat spaghetti (wish we’d had another shape on hand..)
- 1 can of whole clams, drained
- ~8 frozen/thawed brussels sprouts
- ~1/2 cup chopped peppers
- ~1 cup (plus more for Matt’s bowl) of the sauce
- Garnished with goat cheese and basil
After dinner we finished Revolutionary Road. Liked it a lot, but it left me kind of unsatisfied. I guess I like happy endings 🙂 Thought Kate and Leo did a fab job.
Just a few minutes ago I felt a little hungry again (thirsty?) and decided to drink the greens I skipped this morning. After seeing Ryan’s reaction this AM, I decided I wanted to try the Wheatgrass
Mix with about a cup of vanilla soy milk (I think in just water it would taste like the dog food smell it has)
Gulp. Not bad!!!! Soy milk is yummy, so this was yummy. It was surprisingly very refreshing on this hot night and my stomach feels full again. I’m not sure if I’m glowing or tingling yet…
me&goji Winner
Wow, you guys wrote such thoughtful, wonderful dedications to your family and friends this morning. I read each entry and narrowed them down to about 25 people who I thought needed the most sunshine in their lives. Then I could not decide!!!! So I let Matt pick a random number. I wish I could give a mix to each and everyone one of you.
The lucky winners are…
179. Molly | June 10th, 2009 at 10:34 am
My sister! Today is the 10 year anniversary of her first heart surgery, when she was only 14. Cereal is her favorite food and the only thing she can eat when her medicine makes her sick.
Congrats to Molly and her sister. Please send me an email to KathEats at Gmail with your name and email so I can forward that on to me&goji.
Those of you who did not win, I suggest we all write our deserving friends and family a nice note in the mail to brighten their days instead 🙂
Goodnight!
meg says
What a delicious looking dinner you guys threw together. I have been hesitant to try Wheat Grass. Maybe I will try it in soy milk like you did.
polly says
Kath, love the cute sundress and most of all your BIG heart! Thanks for the give away and I maybe need to just buy my sweet pregnant friend a box of cereal anyways. 🙂
Tomorrow do you want to join me for green smoothies???
Also… girl, I need MEAT. Today was ALL vegetarian. Not even eggs. Holy cow… I need a cow. 😉 I think I like 47 spoons of almond butter… maybe not 47, but still. I am so glad we can all find what works for us (minimal veggies please) and it’s a journey figuring it out I think! 🙂
CLAMS! never had them. I think I’m scared. 😉
brandi says
congrats to Molly – what a great gift for her sister 🙂
I love your dress or top or whatever it is – it’s super cute.
I have a hard time liking jarred pasta sauce, but that one does sound good!
polly says
I meant I think I ATE 47 spoons of almond butter. 😛
Heather @ Health, Happiness, and Hope says
What a great meal… especially considering it was unplanned! I can see where a different variety of pasta might have been nice, but it still looks amazing!
Haha, glad to hear that the soymilk did the trick in making it taste a bit better! Gotta love all those nutrients. 🙂
LK- Healthy Delcious says
I thought this sauce was pretty good too, but I preferred the plain marinara (which was healthier too). It’s exceptionally good baked.
Mara @ What's for Dinner? says
I just about freaked out the first time I opened a can of clams. They’re so icky looking… but they’re so delicious! I’ll keep an eye out for that sauce, it looks amazing!
K says
I really need to try my wheat grass!! I’m glad that it’s not that bad 😉
Dawn says
After reading about the ‘greens’ here and on Eat, Live, Run, I decided to pick up a few packets while I was at the store the other day. (Oh, how easily I’m sucked in…) This morning I gave it my first try – the same packet you had. I tossed it into the blender with some frozen strawberries, orange juice, a spoonful of honey, and a scoop of whey protein. Absolutely yummy. The greens really complemented the bright, acidic fruit flavors well. I was full for two hours longer than usual, although that’s probably due in part to the whey protein. I’d venture to say I also felt wonderfully energetic today, but who knows if that’s just a placebo effect. Nonetheless, I’m willing to give it a try for a few weeks and see what happens. Looking forward to hearing more about your experience!
Thanks for sharing your great food and great personality!!
jenna says
Hah! If you tried it because of Ryan’s reaction then you might have been off your rocker. It must be better with soymilk!
Adi (oatonomy.com) says
Clearly I need to get over clam-fear. That’s the second time I’ve seen them today!!
Congrats to the winner!
Meghan@traveleatlove says
What a creative and delicious looking dinner!
Oh She Glows says
Oh you’re definitely glowing! ;p
Lisa says
I had a lot of fun reading the stories, too. Congrats to Molly!
Katherine says
Congrats to Molly and congrats to her sister on her 10th anniversary!
JENNA says
the pasta looks amazing!! I’m very impressed with the looks of that sauce!! yum!
Priyanka says
Congrats to Molly and i love that thought!!
Great looking pasta!
Melissa @ For the Love of Health says
Your dinner looks really good. I don’t know if I could do the clams but I am willing to try anything once.
Congrats Molly! What a nice post about your sister 🙂
Have a great night!
Tammy says
What a great person to win! Thanks so much for doing this contest . . . I was playing on the web site and want to order some anyway!
april says
I’m glad Molly and her sister won! They deserve it!
Emily L. says
Bummer, I hate when fun nights fall through.
Looks like you made up for it clamingly though.
Menden (Skinny Menny) says
Looks like you’re doing a great job of getting creative with using what’s in your pantry! That paste dish looks yummy!
Jenn (j3nn.net) says
I LOVE spaghetti and clam sauce!! Your bowl looks fabulous! I always keep a few cans of chopped clams on hand and it’s been awhile. Sooo, I can see what’s on my menu in the near future lol.
Jenn
Genie says
I slacked on menu planning a couple months back. The site www.myrecipes.com has helped a TON! I have found so many Cooking Light recipes, and many are already or are easily adapted to whole foods. You just pick your recipes and print your shopping list from there! Love it! I have found MANY great recipes on there. My two favs from the site (so far!) are Black Bean, Corn, and Zucchini Enchiladas and Grilled Goat Cheese Sandwiches with Fig and Honey (I used Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin for this, but you have access to tons of great bread)!! Okay, a bit of a ramble… sorry! LOL!
Shannon says
Clams really scare me for some reason! I can only eat them if they’re fried lol… which is pretty bad.
Goat cheese looks great in that meal 🙂
Amy C. says
It’s funny you mentioned the goji cereal today. I’m going to a farmers market on Saturday and they have a booth! I guess it’s a New England company. Hopefully I can get some there!
Bec says
mmm that pasta looks amazing now I am craving carbs!
Help Meghan Run says
I’ve gotten away from meal planning, too. :/ But we’ll be back on track soon, right?!
Check out the Adora Calcium giveaway on my blog!
HelpMeghanRun.com
Ali says
what a deserving person for the cereal 🙂 wow that wheatgrass looks crazyyzy.. would you recommend it? I’ve been wondering whether it’s worth it or not..
Emily says
Love that close up of the goat cheese curl–that looks amazing! Congrats on getting into the kitchen to cook tonight, and good luck with the meal prep next week.I did awesome and cooked three nights in a row at the beginning of the week, but we’ve just had leftovers ever since 🙂
Nanette says
Hi Kath! Was wondering if you’d be willing to share your menu/meal plans and recipes. I’d love to try some of the things you eat and compare notes!!
Dinner sounded fabulous as usual!
emily says
Kath, You already Glow!
Elizabeth says
What a heartwarming giveaway… I’m sorry to have missed it yesterday. I’ll have to go read some of the dedications now…
I pink puffy heart that sauce too! 🙂
Kath says
Thanks glowers 🙂
polly ,
Go eat a juicy burger girl!!
Ali ,
Not sure I recommend it quite yet. Ask me again after 2 weeks of greens 🙂
Nanette ,
Well you’ll see all the meals and recipes here. I don’t like putting up a meal plan in advance because it spoils the blog surprise! And we often change things around day by day, so it probably wouldn’t be very accurate. But I will try to share as many recipes as I can.
Kath
Sarah W. says
I hear ya on the meal planning!!! I’ve been winging it these past few weeks with no real meals planned or being cooked. thankgoodness for the several boxes of Annie’s mac and cheese I won earlier this month! been eating those too – not good!
finally sat down today to write out a full dinner menu for next week utilizing pantry ingredients and recipes in cookbooks I’ve been wanting to try 🙂 yay.
Erin says
Kath, that dinner looks supa. I have a can of clams that stare at me from the pantry, waiting to be used. I’m always at a loss!