Monday Menus

Monday: Spinach & pea risotto & fresh salad

Tuesday: Italian Squash & Bean Soup, Panzanella salad & fresh bread

Wednesday: left-overs

Thursday: Egg Noodles w/tofu, broccoli & red peppers & a peanut sauce

Friday: Veggie Tamale Pie

Saturday: Veggie Soup

Sunday: Spinach & artichoke pesto w/ whole wheat pasta, tapenade & fresh bread

Okay I posted this super late-sorry...it was a crazy week and I never got a chance to get to this, but here it is. I am going to post two recipes this week. The first is the Spinach & Artichoke pesto.
I found this recipe on the Food Network website while looking for a healthy & fast recipe to use up a lot of spinach that I have, so this is what I decided to try. I have to say right now that I am not a big fan of Rachel Ray so I have never tried any of her recipes, but this one was good and the kids LOVED it! It was excellent with a loaf of fresh bread and some tapenade to eat on the side or even mixed right in.
So here is the link... http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/spinach-artichoke-whole-wheat-penne-recipe/index.html

I will say this though...I did not add all of the cooking water at the end, I only added about 1/4 cup because we like our sauces thick rather than thinned out. I also used the mint which was nice, but I think next time I will not and see how it is. This dish tastes very fresh and healthy which is nice at this time of year!

Another variaton that I tried with this was to do the pesto w/basil not the mint. I then sauteed onion, carrots & garlic in olive oil and added some toasted almonds in a large stock pot. I then mixed in the pasta, pesto and added the parm and some cream, salt and pepper. MMMM....SO much better this way, although not quite as healthy!



This next recipe that I am going to post is one of our FAVORITE soups and we eat it often during the winter. I will get it up soon!