Roasted Butternut Squash with Shrimp Pasta

This combination tasted so yummy. I am a big fan of roasted butternut squash and shrimp so that made it even better. I am always looking for new ways to eat fish and this option is a great one. The fresh green beans were a nice addition to add great color to the plate.

Ingredients:
1 Butternut squash (skin peeled and chopped in cubes)
2T oil
1 to 2 tsp salt
2 to 3 tsp oil
1 onion minced
5 cloves of garlic minced
2 T of fresh or dried thyme and marjoram minced* optional
1 red pepper minced
2 C water
1 T of Cornstarch or Ultra Gel * optional To thicken
lemon juice from 2 lemons*
12-16 oz of shrimp peeled cooked and deveined
salt and pepper to taste
12 oz pkg of cooked linguine pasta
parsley fresh or dried for garnish if desired
served with fresh cooked green beans

Directions:
1. Put cut up squash in a bowl toss in oil and make sure it gets all covered. Place on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for about 30 min or until cooked all the way through. You can toss the salt on at the end or in the beginning prior to cooking it. Turn the squash once or twice in the cooking process.

2. In the meantime put the oil in a frying pan and heat on med heat. pour in the onions and let cook a couple minutes. Then stir in the garlic, herbs and red pepper. Let cook together 3 to 5 min.

3. Stir in the water and let cook on low about 8-10 min. You can add thickener at the end to thicken it up.

4. Take off the heat stir in the lemon juice and shrimp and put lid back on the pan. Let the shrimp heat all the way through.

5. Cook pasta in boiling water if you haven't already cooked it. Drain.

6. Take the lid off the shrimp mixture and toss in the roasted squash. Serve some pasta on your plate and serve some shrimp mixture on top. Garnish with parsley if desired.

* I found a new trick to juice a lemon. Roll the lemon on the counter. Toss the lemon in the microwave for 20 to 30 sec. and take out and squeeze. It makes it easy to juice.          

Sun-Dried Tomato and Artichoke Chicken Fettuccine

Mom asked me to spotlight one of our favorite meals today. We like this recipe so much and eat it so often that we buy the Costco-sized jars of artichokes and sun-dried tomatoes. It's easy to make and delicious!

This recipe makes enough for us to have two big servings (and I do mean big--my husband loves this and eats a large portion) and two leftover servings for lunch the next day. It's one of our favorite leftover meals. So if you want to make less or more, that's an idea of where this starts you out.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts
12 oz. of your favorite whole grain linguine
1 c. sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
3/4 c. olive oil
1 1/2 c. artichoke hearts, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
3 tsp. basil


Directions:

1. Grill your chicken breasts and cut into bite-sized pieces.

2. Start your linguine boiling in a large pot.

3. Put your sun-dried tomatoes, olive oil, artichoke hearts, and spices in a large saucepan and simmer together, stirring occasionally.

4. When your linguine is done boiling, take your sun-dried tomato mixture off the heat and mix the chicken and pasta.

5. Serve and enjoy!


Possible variations:

1. Add some of your other favorite veggies. We've tried it with zucchini, peppers, and other veggies, and it is delicious.

2. Vegetarian: simply omit chicken for an even easier meal!

3. Add some chopped garlic! Delicious!

Chicken Rotini Pasta (whole wheat)

This meal came together quickly. It tasted good. You could try it with a different kind of pasta. It was fun to use something different than spaghetti.

Ingredients:

1 28 oz can whole tomatoes
1 6 0z can tomato paste
1/2 onion chopped up
1 small can of mushrooms
1 clove minced garlic
1 1/2 - 2 C cooked shredded chicken (had some in the freezer) =)
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1 tsp parsley
salt and pepper to taste
1 13.25 oz box whole wheat rotini
grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. In a pan pour tomatoes, tomato paste, onions, mushrooms garlic, and spices. Let cook together chop up tomatoes into smaller pieces. Cover and let cook 10-15 min. (The longer you cook it the better the flavor) Then add chicken cook another 15 min.

2. In the meantime cook pasta according to package directions. Cook till pasta is tender. Drain pasta, and add to chicken mixture. Cook together for a few minutes.

3. Pour grated cheese on top of the mixture and serve. You can put additional cheese on top of each individual serving. Yum! It was fun to use something different than ground beef. =)

* gluten intolerant you could substitute a gluten free pasta.