Spinach Fettucine with Stephe's Red Sauce

This recipe is a family favorite. The red sauce is the creation of my husband Stephe's. This is a very quick and easy meal to put together, and you can make variations on the red sauce by adding different vegetables. Our favorite is simply with onions and mushrooms.

The sauce can be paired with your favorite pasta. Today we opted for the spinach fettucine. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

1 28 oz. can tomato sauce

2 6 oz cans tomato paste

2 Tbsp. dried basil

2 Tbsp. dried oregano

3/4 Tbsp garlic salt

4 + Tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 8 oz. package of mushrooms, sliced (button or baby bellas - I prefer the baby bellas)

Prepare your choice of pasta per package directions.

In a large skillet, heat 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil. Saute the onions and mushrooms for 2-3 minutes. Then add all of the other ingredients to the pan and simmer until heated through.

This is a thick, hearty sauce. If you wanted to thin it out a bit, you could add a little more tomato sauce. In our house, we like it thick and hearty!

If your family is like mine, and you have both meat eaters and non meat eater to feed, you could simply fry up some ground beef in a separate pan, and the meat eater can simply add it to their sauce when it is served. It keeps everyone happy!

This worked really well for us when we we're at my mother's house. She couldn't imagine spaghetti without meat in it. Funny thing is, even when I was a meat eater, I hated meat in my spaghetti sauce :) Life is funny.....

Chocolate Cake w/ Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting

This recipe was adapted from a cake recipe that my mother always made when I was growing up. The original recipe just happened to already be vegan friendly and now I tweaked it and made it gluten-free as well. The frosting is also vegan and gluten free. Unfortunately, it is still full of sugar. But remember, deserts should not be the mainstay of our diets. Just a nice treat every now and again :) I hope you enjoy!

Chocolate Cake:

2 tsp baking soda

3 cups gluten free flour (I used quinoa flour. Brown rice flour would probably work too)

1/3 cups cocoa

2 cups white sugar

2 Tbsp white vinegar

2 tsp. vanilla

3/4 cup canola oil

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together into a 9" x 13"cake pan the dry ingredients and make three holes. Add the liquid to each of the three holes. Then pour 2 cups of water over it all and stir. I use a whisk.

That's it. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting:

1/2 cup natural peanut butter

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup nondairy milk (I used almond milk because I had it on hand)

2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

Cream together the peanut butter and cocoa. Add the milk and beat until smooth. Add the confectioners' sugar, salt and vanilla, then add a little more milk if needed to get a good spreading consistency.

Enjoy!

Double Chocolate Waffles

Sometimes you just need to treat yourself to a little chocolaty goodness. What a great way to start off the weekend, than with Double Chocolate Waffles!

We did have these for breakfast in our house, and decided they would make a great desert. A scoop of vanilla ice cream, some berries and a couple of guest to share in the enjoyment is all that's needed!

Enjoy!

Parmesan Summer Squash Spaghetti

This is just a simple pasta dish I decided to throw together. It is inspired by my friends daughter, Lindsey who likes to make up some pasta and simply add some parmesan cheese to it (maybe butter too, I can't remember). Thanks for the inspiration Lindsey.

I added my own twist and decided some summer squash would be a nice addition.

Parmesan Summer Squash Spaghetti:

Ingredients:

Whole wheat pasta

Summer squash, cut into half moon pieces (I use about 1 small squash per serving)

Canola Oil

Butter or butter spread of your choosing. (I used Earth Balance buttery spread as I have a vegan in my home)

Garlic cloves, (1-2) minced

Salt and pepper

Fresh parmesan cheese

To Prepare:

Prepare pasta per package directions.

While the pasta is cooking, prepare the summer squash. In a skillet, put 1 Tbsp canola oil and 1 Tbsp butter. Add the garlic and simmer for 1-2 minutes over medium heat. Add the summer squash and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Let it cook over medium high heat for 5-7 minutes, just long enough to cook through, but still be tender crisp. Do not let it overcook and get mushy. (Don't prepare the squash until the pasta is on its last five minutes of cooking and this will help you to not overcook the squash.)

When the pasta is cooked, drain. Once drained, put in back in the pot, and add another tablespoon of butter spread to the pasta. Then add the summer squash and gently combine. To complete the dish, add a small handful or two of fresh parmesan cheese and combine.

When you plate the pasta, season with additional and black pepper and parmesan if you desire.

This is such as easy dish to prepare, and is another great way to use up all the summer squash that is so abundant at the farmers market!

I hope you enjoy!