Pirate Pasta from Parents mag- big hit with the kids..very easy

Pirate Pasta

---

Nutrition Facts Servings Per Recipe 8

---

• Amount Per Serving
• Calories 231
• Protein(gm)12
• Carbohydrate(gm)36
• Fat, total(gm)5
• Cholesterol(mg)55
• Saturated fat(gm)1
• Monosaturated fat(gm)3
• Dietary Fiber, total(gm)5
• Sugar, total(gm)2
• Vitamin A(IU)1166
• Vitamin C(mg)9
• Thiamin(mg)0
• Riboflavin(mg)0
• Niacin(mg)1
• Pyridoxine (Vit. B6)(mg)0
• Cobalamin (Vit. B12)(µg)0
• Sodium(mg)136
• Potassium(mg)64
• Calcium(DV %)30
• Iron(DV %)3

---

Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Ingredients

• 1 13 1/4 ounce package dried whole grain pasta shells
• 2 4 ounce package frozen cooked tiny shrimp
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 5 ounce package fresh baby spinach
• 1 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• Sea salt and pepper

Make It 1. In a large pot, cook pasta according to package directions, adding the shrimp the last 1 minute of cooking. Drain and return to pot.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic; cook and stir for 30 seconds. Add spinach. Cook, tossing with tongs, for 1 to 2 minutes or until wilted. Remove from heat. Stir in lemon peel and juice.
3. Add spinach mixture to pasta mixture in pot. Toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Drizzle each serving with additional olive oil, if desired.

 

Makes: 8 servings

Start to Finish: 25 mins

---

YUMMY BLACK BEAN SOUP RECIPE

Here's a basic recipe riffed off The Silver Palate

Black Bean Soup with Chicken Sausage

Ingredients:
1-pound bag of black beans
(Follow above prep, or somehow soak and cook the beans in a stock you like. What you will need is a pot full of cooked beans with about four inches of broth above the beans.)
Or you could skip all that and crack open four or five cans of black beans. Rinse them and then add to your favorite stock.
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
1 red or yellow pepper, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 zucchini or a hand full of green beans, chopped small
1 large can diced tomatoes
5 links chicken sausage, cut into very small pieces
2 teaspoons cumin
pinch of dried oregano
crushed red pepper, or cayenne
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon sherry
1 tablespoon brown sugar (or white if you don’t have brown, or suconot)
For garnish bowls
Cilantro, finely chopped
lime wedges
grated cheese (cheddar, Monterey jack, or your favorite)
sliced jalapenos
sour cream
Start with the beans and broth in a big soup pot. Add the tomatoes with the juice and put on simmer.
In a deep frying pan pour olive oil to coat bottom. When the oil releases a fruity smell add the crushed red pepper, then the garlic. Let it release, then add the onion. Let it sweat a little, but not brown. Then add the other veggies. Let them sweat a bit. Add cumin and oregano.
Move the veggies over to the side of the pan and add the chicken sausage. Let the chicken sausage brown a bit, then stir it in with the veggies.
After it has cooked a bit, dump the whole load into the soup pot. Cook for about an hour. Add the sherry and the sugar. Cook for another 45 minutes. (If you don’t have this much time, just add the sherry and sugar with everything else.)
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with quinoa, which is delicious scooped right into the bowl, and garnish dishes so people can dress the soup themselves.
This soup is even better the next day.

MY FIRST BORN SON'S SURGERY

Gabe was SOO brave today- I am so proud of him! All the doctors and
nurses couldn't believe how amazing he was- not once did he cry or
complain- he was VERRY laid back- we woke up at 5- headed to the
hospital (just gabe and I, as daddy stayed home with harry to let him
sleep a little) got him checked in- headed to pre-op to get
settled..and then i walked with the whole team as they wheeled him in
his bed into the operating room.. And that's when I lost it- this team
was amazing- one girl in the front is blowing bubbles for gabe to pop
as we walked down the long hall- everyone was holding a hand, leg, arm
of his, rubbing it- telling him how amazing he was- then we got into
the room- and they put the mask over his face (he chose root beer
flavor gas) and he took a few breaths, gave my hand one BIG squeeze-
and he was out! - and so was I- back the waiting room- for over an hour-
but luckily daddy and harry came and soon after the doctor came and
told us that everything went great

Melissa Coleman :: Author :: This Life Is in Your Hands

Melissa Coleman :: Author :: This Life Is in Your Hands

WHAT A GREAT BOOK...
if anyone is looking for a amazing book that you cant put down-
Set on a rugged coastal homestead during the 1970s, This Life Is in Your Hands introduces a superb young writer driven by the need to uncover the truth of a childhood tragedy and connect anew with the beauty and vitality of the back-to-the land ideal that shaped her early years.
this is what i wrote on her facebook page

OMG.... i felt like i was reading about my own childhood..BUT not quite..
I was so moved by your writting, your beautiful story telling- and the way that you captured it all and put it into such an amazing memoire... I immediatly told my mom- dad, sister, friends to read it because it moved me so much..my heart just connected and ached for you all- as a mom, and a daughter- i empathasixed with everyone..and ehen i read about that the guy who did the burt and I stoires was at your place- i even more was freaking out b/c my father (who had a very similar upbringing as your dad and mom) tells me those funny stores with his nose plugged ll the time "bert and i..." just so many parallels to my upbringing- except ours was in vermont at the end of a dirt road and eventually accepted some modern advances- such as a washing machiene- and one day- maybe 10 - 15 years later- even HEAT-
anyway- i wont go on and on
I just wantes to let you know how amazined i was by your book- how beautiful writen it was- how i thought you did such an amaziog job of telling your story. I would love to know how everyone is now

Soup's On!

Soup's On!


This is SO yummy- SO easy- very cheap- I didn't even have to go to the grocery store
(although i did omit the celery)
and best of all ... everyone in the family LOVED it