Long time no post....

I've been spending so much time actually gardening (or weeding I should say) that I haven't blogged in a few months. So, this blog contains some special treats....some photos and a recipe!

<--- Here is a photo of a few things I picked from the garden. There are some baby carrots, green beans, garlic, onion, baby eggplant, basil, and parsley. Since I didn't have enough of the veggies to make a side dish for us, I decided to chop everything up and make a veggie skillet pasta.





Now for my recipe...... INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
• 1 shallot (finely chopped)
• approx 8 baby carrots (chopped)
• approx 10-12 fresh green beans (chopped into bite-size pieces)
• 1 baby eggplant (chopped into bite-size pieces)
• 1/4 cup both basil and parsley (chopped)
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp light butter
• 2 tbsp light cream cheese
• 1 tsp italian seasoning (oregano and thyme)
• approx 18 slices of turkey pepperoni (halved)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup whole wheat penne pasta
• 2 tbsp canned chopped tomatoes
  

HOW TO:

1. Boil penne pasta in salted water and set aside.
2. Blanch the green beans and carrots, set aside.
3. In a large skillet combine the olive oil and butter until butter is melted.
4. Crisp up the pepperoni in the oil and butter mixture and set aside on a paper towel.
5. In the same oil add the onion and garlic to saute.
6. Add the eggplant to the skillet to soften.
7. Next add the cream cheese, italian seasoning, tomatoes, basil, and parsley to the skillet to form a sauce. (save a pinch of the chopped basil for garnish)
   
8. Add salt and pepper to the sauce to taste.
9. Add in the blanched carrots and green beans to the sauce as well as the pepperoni and penne pasta.
10. Toss all ingredients in the skillet to coat with the sauce. Garnish with fresh chopped basil.

To the right is a photo I took of the finished product!--->
It was pretty yummy and still healthy. I have a bunch of tomatoes in the garden but, they are still green. Once I have fresh ones I would substitute them for the canned tomatoes. Also, it would have been good to sprinkle some grated parmesan cheese on top but I didn't have any :(

EXTRA SUPER BONUS!!!!: I boiled the penne in vegetable stock to give some extra flavor without adding calories! I cooked a bit more penne than I needed so I kept the veggie stock and some of the penne, I added the remainder of the can of tomatoes and some frozen veggies to make a soup out of my extras......yummy! I added a bit of garlic salt and italian seasoning to give it some flavor. I high fived myself on that one....good idea me!

So, as you can see things are growing in the garden. I may take a picture of my garden but, it's pretty embarrassing....sooooo many weeds.....crab grass I think it's called. Also, my soil is a tad bit crappy because it keeps cracking I Googled and it seems that I have alot of clay in my soil......um okay! Well, I've got yummy stuff to eat so I guess I'm doing ok for a first time gardener.