Quick and Easy Sausage Pasta Skillet

This is my go-to meal for a quick and easy dinner, with enough left over for hubby's lunch the next day. You can change out any or all of the ingredients so that it seems like a new meal, but the prep is easy as pie, no matter what the ingredient list.

Ingredients:

1 pound of pasta (bowties--my favorite, penne, or other pasta shapes that you like)
1 pound of your favorite bulk sausage (I like Italian Pork Sausage) or any other meat, chopped into bite size pieces
Fresh Vegetables like zucchini, baby carrots, tomatoes, broccoli, mushrooms, green beans, kale, spinach, or whatever veggie you like, chopped into bite size pieces the sae size as the meat.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Pitted Black Olives sliced or chopped(Optional)
Crumbled Goat Cheese

Prepare the pasta al dente and set aside to add last to the skillet.

In a large skillet, brown the sausage, remove the sausage to a bowl, and pour off almost all the grease from the skillet--reserving about 1 tbsp in the pan. Add a tbsp or two of EVOO, heat on medium high and add the chopped fresh veggies that take longer to cook (carrots, broccoli, green beans, kale, etc.) cook for a minute or two, and then add the softer veggies (zucchini, tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach, etc.). Sear the veggies until tender but still crispy, add the sausage back in and the black olives and add the pasta at the end. Stir and cook for a minute for the flavor to develop, but don't let the veggies over cook. At the very end, add the goat cheese, stir once, and serve. Dinner is done.

Ultimate Stuffed French Toast

I love breakfast, but I rarely have time to eat it at the beginning of the day.  Most of the time, my idea of breakfast runs along the savory line--eggs any way you can fix them, bacon, grits, hashbrowns, toast, etc. On more rare occasions, I have an urge for the sweeter side of breakfastdom with pancakes, french toast, fruity baked goods, fruit itself, etc.
I have probably made french toast once in the last 20 years, but today I woke up and got inspired to make it, and then I thought, "why stop at plain old french toast? Why not enhance it?"  So I started thinking about what would make it special, and here is what I came up with:

                                                     My Ultimate Stuffed French Toast



Mascarpone, Strawberry/Lime Stuffed French Toast with Pecan Syrup

Ingredients:

2 slices Egg Bread, sliced 2” thick

¼ cup mascarpone cheese

¼ cup ricotta cheese

¼ cup honey

¼ cup fresh strawberries, chopped

½ fresh lime with zest

1 large egg

½ cup of whole milk or ¼ cup skim milk and ¼ cup heavy cream

2 pinches of Freshly grated nutmeg

Butter for cooking

Pecan Syrup (or other syrup, but pecan has a hint of nuttiness that goes well with the fruit aspects)

Confectioner's sugar for sprinkling on top

Additional slices of lime and sliced whole strawberries for garnish

Preparation:

Mix together in a small bowl the mascarpone, ricotta, honey, fresh chopped strawberries, juice and zest of ½ lime, and a pinch of nutmeg

In a separate shallow dish, beat 1 egg, the milk/cream and a pinch or two of nutmeg until blended

Melt butter in a sauté pan on the stovetop on medium heat

Slice a pocket into the bread slices (from the side) and stuff the mascarpone mixture into the pocket and press shut (approx. 1/2 the mixture into each slice)

Dip one slice into the egg mixture on all sides to coat well, and transfer to the heated sauté pan.  If there is room, you can add the other, but make sure there is plenty of room to flip each.

Cook until the side is mottled golden brown, then flip and cook the other side the same

Transfer to plate, add a small amount of syrup, sprinkle a bit of confectioner's sugar, garnish with strawberry and lime slices if desired, and serve.

My Florida Summer Garden

 I have planted a garden, which is not a monumental act, but it is more exciting to me than a normal garden, because these are all seeds that I have saved from vegetables my husband and I ate last year.  Now, I am sure there are lots of people out there who have done this for years, but  I am one of those who (when I plant a garden) buys fresh packeaged seeds from the store or catalogue.  So I am so excited that ALL of my seeds sprouted!!  Yay!
The other thing I am proud of, and a little nervous about, as well, is that I am trying to make this an organic garden, drawing on the horse manure compost pile that is a result of my business, teaching and training Dressage.
I have transplanted them out into bigger pots now, so the second step is success, as well.  I will take pictures of milestones as we go along, and below are the first two milestones that I captured:
In the first picture are my herbs-- Rosemary, Chives, Marjoram, Greek Oregano, Lemon Balm, and Sage.

These are the herbs that I first planted last spring, that have survived past winter, and have started to grow again.  The Basil, which is an annual, died back of course, but I saved some of the seeds, and it is part of the seed flat, below......

Here is the flat of vegetables that I planted.  The Mini-Watermelons, Cantaloupes, Bell Peppers, Heirloom Red Beefsteak Tomatoes, Heirloom German Pink Tomatoes, and Basil sprouted quickly and easily, and are growing like gangbusters even after transplanting into their permanent plots.  I planted the watermelon and cantaloupes in the ground, and everything else in 7 gallon pots filled with organic compost.

The only thing that didn't sprout was the Eggplant, which makes me a bit sad, since Eggplant grows so well in my area and I love eggplant, but I can certainly trade for Eggplants with my Heirloom Tomatoes, Bell Peppers, Basil, and other herbs and vegetables.  What are you growing this season?