Creamy Rotini and Salmon

Here's another great recipe from Family Circle. This one is pretty good for you to with the salmon, enriched pasta, and fat-free half and half! It's pretty easy too!

Creamy Rotini and Salmon

Makes 6 servings

1/2 pound Salmon Fillet (1 piece)

1 box (14 1/2 oz) omega-3-enriched Rotini Pasta

2 c Fat-Free Half and Half

2 t Cornstarch

1/4 t Salt

1/4 t Ground Nutmeg

1/8 t Cayenne Pepper

1 box (10 oz) Frozen Peas, thawed

1/2 c Parmesan Cheese

1/3 c Toasted Walnuts, coarsely chopped

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Coat a small baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Add salmon to pan and bake at 450 for 12 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Keep warm.

2. Meanwhile, cook pasta following package directions. Drain and return to pot.

3. While pasta is cooking, whisk together half-and-half, cornstarch, salt, nutmeg, and cayenne. Place in medium-size saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer on low for 1 minute until sauce thickens.

4. Add peas and simmer for an additional minute, until peas are heated through. Remove from heat; stir in 1/4 c of the Parmesan cheese

5. Stir sauce into drained pasta.

6. Remove skin from salmon and discard. Flake salmon into bite-size pieces and gently stir into pasta. Top with remaining 1/4 c cheese and the nuts and serve.

Beef Fajitas

This recipe from Family Circle makes a lot and is pretty easy. I served the Fajita's with Spanish Rice and it was a really good meal!

Beef Fajitas

1 pound Flank Steak

3 t Fajita Seasoning Mix (in with regular spices)

1 T Canola Oil

1 medium-sized sweet Red Pepper, Seeded and Thinly Sliced (there were no red peppers at the grocery store so I got a green one instead)

1 medium-sized yellow Pepper, seeded and Thinly sliced

1 large Onion, thinly sliced

1 T lime juice

8 fajita-size flour tortillas, warmed

1. Cut steak across the grain into 1/4 inch wide strips; toss with seasoning.

2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add peppers and onions; cook for about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add steak and cook 5 minutes or until cooked through. Stir in lime juice.

4. Serve in tortillas.

Pork Marinade

This is a super easy and great marinade for pork.  My aunt Carrie passed this along when I got married as a Pork Tenderloin marinade but I used it for Pork Chops recently and they turned out splendidly!

Pork Marinade

1/2 c Oil

3/4 c Soy Sauce

1/2 c Worcestershire

2 T Mustard

3 t Salt

1 T Pepper

1 1/2 T Dry Parsley

2 Garlic Cloves, minced

1/2 c Lemon Juice

This makes a lot of marinade so, per Carrie's intsructions, I halved the recipe and it made plenty to marinate the pork chops in.

Enjoy!

Jason's Birthday Cake

And now, here is the cake.  It took almost four hours to make yesterday but I think we all agreed last night that it was worth it.  I got the recipe from this post of Bakerella's.  I used the 12 layer cake recipe that she used.  I also chose to frost the cake a second time with the dark chocolate buttercream icing.  I'm just so glad that I passed my glucose test last week and don't have gestational diabetes so that I could partake of the cake! :)