Honey Mustard Potatoes

Potatoes! Delicious!

Ingredients:

• 9 or 10 red potatoes, cubed
• 1/4 large white onion, diced
• 1 tbsp butter, melted
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp mustard (Bavarian)
• dash of salt
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

Process:

1. Lightly coat cooking pan (I used 9x9) with spray. Cover bottom of pan with single layer of potatoes.
2. Spread onions over potatoes.
3. Mix butter, honey, mustard, salt, onion powder, and garlic powder together. Pour over potatoes. Stir mixture in pan to coat potatoes.
4. Cover with foil and bake at 375F for 25 minutes.
5. Stir, remove foil, and continue baking for another 10 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

This was so delicious. I adapted a recipe I found online, and my big problems were that my pan was too big for the amount of potatoes I made; and the butter and honey mixture did not make enough. I think next time I will make more of that mixture, and mix everything together in a bowl before pouring into the pan to ensure that all of the potatoes are evenly coated.

I went ahead and ate this along with some yellow corn and one of Morningstar's Chik'n patties. Yummy!

The finished potatoes (looking very small in their pan)

Final meal

Shells with White Kidney Beans

Okay, so I make a lot of pasta. I'm okay with that, because I love pasta. I also love how you can basically cook the same thing every time, but there are an infinite number of little flavors that you can change.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 medium green pepper, chopped
• 1/4 large red onion, chopped
• 1/2 can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tbsp oregano
• 1 tbsp basil
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• dash of salt
• 2 servings whole wheat shell pasta
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

Process:

1. Put water and salt in a pot; bring to boil. Add shells and cook as directed (6 minutes or so for al dente). Drain and return to pot.
2. Heat olive oil in skillet. Add pepper and onion. Cook over medium heat for 2 minutes.
3. Add garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, and basil to vegetables. Cook for another minute.
4. Add kidney beans to mixture. Lower heat to medium-low. Stir and cook for another 1-2 minutes, then remove from heat.
5. Add vegetable mixture to drained shells in pot. Stir. Add mozzarella and stir until everything is well mixed and the cheese is melted.

I liked this a lot better than the last dish, probably because I wasn't afraid to throw in more flavors with the herbs and powders. All of the above measurements of spices and oil are guesses; I tend to just add variable amounts until I think it smells/looks good. I almost didn't add the cheese at the end, but I'm glad I did - I love cheesy pasta!

The peppers, onions, beans, and spices - yum!

The final product.

Fettuccine alla veggies

Threw this together after my riding lesson tonight. I love fettuccine but I'm not the hugest fan of spaghetti sauce. So I figured I'd leave that part out altogether!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 medium green pepper, chopped
• 1/4 large red onion, chopped
• 1 small tomato, chopped
• garlic powder, to taste
• oregano, to taste
• 1/2 package fettuccine
• dash of salt
• extra virgin olive oil

Process:

1. Put water and salt in a pot; bring to boil. Add fettuccine and cook as directed (10 minutes or so for al dente). Drain and return to pot.
2. Meanwhile, heat up 1-2 tbsp olive oil in small to medium nonstick skillet. Add green pepper, onion, garlic powder, oregano. Cook for 2-3 minutes over medium heat.
3. Add tomato to peppers and onions. Cook another 1-2 minutes over medium or medium-low heat, then remove from heat.
4. Add 2-3 tbsp olive oil to fettuccine in pot. Use just enough to cover fettuccine. Stir.
5. Stir veggie mixture into fettuccine. Enjoy!

Allover, not too bad for a first attempt. A little bland for my tastes. I think in the future I will add fresh garlic in addition to the garlic powder, as well as some onion powder and basil. A lot more oregano as well. I might also want to add some mushrooms to the mix, and maybe some yellow/orange or red peppers. The colors were so pretty!

Pretty vegetables!

Dinner! Yum!