Matt blogging here while Kath does the dishes! Usually don’t have a problem cleaning up the kitchen after dinner, but tonight I felt like if I cleaned just one pot my soul would be sucked out.
We made a medium-delicious but muy-satisfying pasta dish tonight. Here’s the breakdown:
- 2 small eggplants, chopped into chunks
- 1 pint whole mushrooms, cut into wedges
- ~20 small shrimp (frozen/thawed)
- 1.5C jarred pasta sauce (some Bertolli kind I think)
- 3oz WW angel hair pasta
- salt, pepper, oregano, basil, red pepper flakes to taste
- Parmesan for garnish
Start by cooking the eggplant and mushrooms on medium-high heat with a solid drizzle of oil. I used canola, and it really made the veggies have a buttery texture and flavor. Sprinkle your seasonings on while cooking. The heat should be a little higher than you normally cook veggies because both of these have lots of water and you’ll wanna get that out. In the meantime, start boiling your water for the pasta.
Since we love our shrimp to be crispy, we cooked them in a separate pan over medium-high heat, with a very thin layer of oil. They only took about a minute per side.
Once everything’s done, combine it all into one pot, add your sauce and warm through. If using any fresh herbs, now is when you should add them. Serve and sprinkle with parmesan!
If the sauce we used had been better, this would get an A+. Even still, it was so satisfying that it was a very enjoyable meal.
As Kath says, “from above:”
Hers
I’m back!! Doing the dishes was fun. I actually really like cleaning the kitchen at night – it makes me feel super organized when I walk in and it’s spotless and there’s nothing on the counters. But I hate cleaning the kitchen if I have to blog afterwards and study and go to bed. So thanks for the extra help tonight husband!
As he reported, we both really enjoyed the Shrimp-Veggie Spaghetti. I loved the Bertolli sauces we got in the pouch from BlogHer, but this kind was jarred and wasn’t that great. I think it was even Cabernet inspired? But otherwise, a fantastic dish. The eggplant really absorbed some of the canola oil flavor and for me, that made the dish.
This afternoon I came home to find a loaf of Great Harvest Dakota bread ready to be gobbled down! Everyday the husband works he gets to chose a loaf and a “sweet” (cookie, bar, muffin) to bring home. This could be dangerous!!
The Dakota bread is A.mazing. Nutty, really, really soft and slightly sweet.
But before I dug in, the two of us went for a walk in the neighborhood to return our Office DVD from this weekend. While on our walk the sun went into hiding, and I think it’s supposed to stay there for the next 5 days 😥
After working up an appetite, I had some Dakota bread with Sabra hummus that we picked up at Harris Teeter on the walk. We definitely can only afford this stuff from Costco! The HT size was almost the same price as the GIANT tub I got last week! I only had half a piece because it was 5:30 and you guys know how I ruin my dinner appetite.
Not sure what the evening plans are. I was planning to get in bed at 8:30 tonight to get LOTS of sleep, but then I remembered the debate…. we shall see.
OH and edited to add the husband just brought me a peanut buttery slathered bite of banana chocolate chip bread he thawed from our frozen loaf of a few weeks ago! Mmmmm!
Marianne says
Good choice on the shrimp – that’s what I’ll be cooking up for dinner in about an hour. The pasta looks pretty tasty.
caitlin (seebriderun) says
aww hi, matt!
i want your bread-baking job! it sounds awesome.
Foodie (Fab and Delicious Food) says
The pasta looks yummy, as does the bread! Yum!
the husband says
The bread’s amazing, but before anybody asks I wanted to say I won’t be able to give any recipes for Great Harvest breads. Sorry!
Ingredients, however, are no problem! You just need a bit of specialized bread making knowledge to figure out how to best use each ingredient.
Fancy says
Hi Kath!
I have been reading your blog for months but have never commented. I just commented on Jenna’s blog for the first time and just couldn’t do that without saying hi to you, too! Your blog is great, thank you so much for writing it! I love, love, love your baked banana oatmeal recipe. It’s so nice to finally say hi to you!!!!! 🙂
magpie says
Love the pasta dish! I like to use sesame oil to give things a nice flavour 🙂
Glad to see the husband is enjoying his new job! It’s so awesome when you love what you do 🙂
Have a great night!
Megan says
I love the Dakota bread from Great Harvest. Dinner looks amazing. Have a great night guys!
VeggieGirl says
Scrumptious-looking pasta and bread!!
madison (follow my weigh) says
omygoodness that bread looks amazing!
Ali says
Your dinner looks delicious! What a great fall meal!
jenner says
idk if i would have guessed it was Matt blogging if he hadn’t announced it… well maybe from the technical details of dinner assembly. lol Kath, the post is tagged as breakfast…
that bread looks incredible. SO disappointed there isn’t a great harvest closer to me than Greensboro. 🙁
jenner says
oh Kath, sth i tried tonight which was surprisingly good was sabra hummus with some cottage cheese mixed in for a protein boost. if the chunky texture bothers you, i suppose you could give it a whirl in the food processor, but that seems like too much bother.
and i have GOT to recommend a Costco product to you– Food Should Taste Good multigrain tortilla chip crackers made with: stone ground corn, sunflower and/or safflower oil, brown rice flour, flax seeds, turbinado cane sugar, oat fiber, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, quinoa, soy flower, sea salt (that’s the whole ingredient list!). 1oz/140kcal/6g fat (.5g sat)/80mg Na+/18g cho (3g fiber, 1g sugar)/3g pro. soo good!!!! went really well with the sabra-cc dip.
Grounded Fitness says
hey hubby!
the only time i can get the boy to do the dishes is by buying him dinner. and that only works sometimes.
Kelly Turner
www.groundedfitness.com
Justy2003 says
Banana chocolate chip bread?! I don’t remember this. Going to search for recipe 🙂
emmy says
I’m not sure if having a good camera somehow ‘enhances’ it, but the presentation of your meals is always so nice! All of your food is asthetically pleasing, which is important too.
sarah says
“if i cleaned just one pot, my soul would be sucked out” — ha! i think my husband feels like that all the time, but he’s never put it into words so descriptively.
the bread looks amazing — somehow seeds on top get me every time. YUM!
zestycook says
WOW – this is a hearty tasty meal!!! Love it
zestycook says
WOW – this is a hearty tasty meal!!! Love it
Sidi says
I miss eggplant and you came up with this great idea. Thanks! I’ll have it friday night.Yummm…
Kath says
Fancy ,
Lovely to meet you!! (I just wrote MEAT ahahaha!)
jenner ,
That is one breakfast combo I would NOT want to eat before noon!
Thanks for the recommendations!
emmy ,
Thanks 🙂
Kath
Andrea (Off Her Cork) says
The comment about having to wash dishes again cracked me up only because I know that feeling all too well. LOL I usually think my hands will shrivel up and fall completely off.
Dinner looked awesome! Question, when you get premade hummus, once it’s open how long does it usually last? I figure a while but then I end up getting a bit nervous and toss mine if it doesn’t get eaten quickly.
DM says
Kath,
Your dinner looked really yummy! Do you decide that night what you are going to have? Need non-thinking things to prepare as I get bogged down with child and assisting other family members.
Not even sure, I know if my comments are actually making the blog board. This is what happens when you reach a certain age and technology continues to go at lightning speed.
I asked about beans…don’t like them AT ALL! What would you replace them with and still keeping in mind weight loss. Are you a VEGAN?
Love reading your board…thank you my precious daughter..she speaks very highly about this blog.
Peaceful day …
dm
runjess says
Nice job perk!
That dish looks fantastic. Like a faster version of ratatouille.
Biz says
Matt, could you mail me a loaf of that bread?
Thanks!
Yes, that is definitely dangerous!
Kath says
Andrea (Off Her Cork) ,
I don’t know how long store-bought hummus lasts because I rarely buy it. I’ll have to see how long our next tub of Sabra from Costco lasts.
DM ,
I plan my meals usually a week in advance and put them in a calendar. That way I can prep things like beans on the weekends and have them ready on busy weeknights.
I answered your bean question…not sure where!
And no I’m not a vegan – I had shrimp in the dinner!
Kath