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Meals/ RECIPES

Oven Roasted Veggies On Pasta

This is a guest post from Kendra at Our Homemade Happiness

This recipe is one, healthy; two, super easy; and three, delicious enough to serve to guests. A rare trifecta! It’s awesome because you can throw in whatever veggies you have on hand. Definitely use tomatoes. The tomato juices have so much flavor when they are roasted in the oven with a little olive oil and salt. It’s like a homemade chunky marinara sauce. Some other veggies that taste great in this dish are onions, zucchini, bell peppers, squash, mushrooms, carrots, eggplant, kale, spinach, . . . and the list goes on and on. 


OVEN-ROASTED VEGGIES ON A BED OF PASTA RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:
4 medium tomatoes + veggies of choice, chopped
2 garlic cloves, pressed
extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
whole wheat pasta or quinoa pasta
fresh basil, chopped

DIRECTIONS:
Cook pasta and drain. Cut up tomatoes and whatever veggies you have on hand. Place chopped veggies on baking sheet. Throw on some pressed garlic. Drizzle with olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. I mix it all together with my hands to keep dirty dishes to a minimum. (Or you can mix in a bowl and transfer to pan if you prefer.) Cook for 20 minutes in the oven at 425°F. Serve on a bed of pasta. Add some chopped fresh basil. Serves 4.


Underneath that hoard of veggies is a silicone baking mat I got for Christmas from my sister-in-law. It makes clean up a breeze because nothing sticks to it. I went a little overboard and used more veggies than normal for this batch (pictured above) because it was for the blog. Had to be blog worthy, ya know? I used 4 large tomatoes, 1 onion, 4 cloves of garlic, 1 zucchini, 1 banana squash, 8 oz. mushrooms, 1 orange bell pepper, and 2 leaves of kale (don’t use the tough stalk in the middle). I could barely fit all the veggies on the pan! Leftovers lasted a couple of days, but I’m not complaining!

Hi, I’m Kendra! I have a passion for all things homemade, especially cleaners, skincare, and healthy eating. Going back to simpler times and natural ingredients, all while sticking to a budget. 


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FAMILY/ How-Tos/ Meals/ Parenting/ RECIPES

Saucy Asian Meatballs & Getting Your Kids To Help In The Kitchen

I will get to this awesome recipe of Saucy Asian Meatballs in just a minute.  It made my whole family VERY happy and I enjoyed the sauce with veggies and rice.  But first let me tell you how it came about that this recipe even made it into our family favorites.

I am reading a book on parenting (whose title I will share with you soon when I remember it…I am sitting in a coffee shop and it is at home).  Anyway…it is an awesome book that has my wheels turning when it comes to parenting and what I expect out of my kids.

It has challenged me to challenge my kids. To expect more out of them and to encourage them to do things they don’t think they can or don’t want to do.

My oldest who will be 13 in a month, REALLY does not like to cook.  At least I thought she didn’t like to cook.  Every time I would try to pull her in the kitchen, she would shuffle, moan, groan & we would end up frustrated with each other.  I have decided that learning to cook is a non-negotiable in our home, as I want them prepared as possible to run a home of their own someday, so I have been trying to come up with a way to make cooking less of a drudgery for my oldest.

Enter Pinterest.  I have watched my daughter slowly build a following on Pinterest as she has super great taste and an eye for beauty.  She loves pinning things, and I noticed one of her boards was named “Get In My Belly.”  I checked out the recipes she pinned, and noticed that many of them were cheesy and full of sugar, so I cringed when I found myself saying to her, “Hey, how about you pick a recipe from your ‘Get In My Belly‘ boards to make for dinner.  I will let you pick what you want, I will buy the ingredients, but you have to make it.”

She immediately went to her boards and I was pleased with what she chose.  I was happy it was not deep fried or oozing with cheese and cream of something soup.  She chose Saucy Asian Meatballs.

I was interested to see if she would follow through with no complaining, and she did just that.  I sat in with her at the table, but I was very careful not do anything but guide her with my words.  She did all the chopping, shaping and baking.  I was amazed and very proud of my non-cook, cooking!

It took a few minutes to get her to use her hands to mix the raw meat mixture (can you blame her?) But, she gave in and we laughed about her dramatic facial expressions as she mixed by hand.  Blech.

Here she is with her finished dinner.  I showed her how to prepare rice in our rice cooker & make a side of frozen vegetables.  Her dinner got rave reviews from her sisters and her dad, who loves great flavor & “mmm’ed” all through dinner.

{Wanna pin it? She would be thrilled.  Pin button down by the comments}

 I was proud and so was she.  I’m eager to see if this will work again with her.  I sure hope so.  I totally enjoyed being with her in the kitchen and I loved seeing how empowered she felt by working hard and producing an entire meal by herself!

Want to follow her on Pinterest?  I know she would be thrilled to see her numbers grow.

Click here if so!

________________

Saucy Asian Meatballs Recipe

 

*we doubled the sauce to make sure we had enough for my rice & veggies

{from Give Me Some Oven, click through for amazing photos of this recipe! She also talks about the flavor & how they won a taste testing contest by her friends after making numerous meatball recipes}

Ingredients:

Meatball Ingredients:

  • 2 lbs. ground pork or ground beef (we used beef, local & grass fed)
  • 2 tsp. sesame oil
  • 1 cup Panko or breadcrumbs (we used regular breadcrumbs)
  • 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 tsp. minced garlic
  • 1/2 cup thinly-sliced green onions
  • optional garnish: toasted sesame seeds, sliced scallions

Asian Sauce Ingredients:

  • 2/3 cup hoisin sauce
  • 1/4 cup rice vinegar
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
  • 1 tsp. sesame oil
  • 1 tsp. ground ginger

Method:

Preheat oven to 400.

In a large bowl, mix together meatball ingredients until well-combined.  Shape into balls (I made mine about 1.5 inches, which yielded about 35 meatballs, but 1 inch is probably standard), and place on a greased baking sheet or in a 9×13 baking dish.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until meatballs are golden on the outside and no longer pink on the inside.

While the meatballs are baking, whisk together all of the sauce ingredients until blended.  Once meatballs have finished cooking, you can either dip each meatball individually (using a toothpick) in the sauce mixture.  Or you can pour the sauce over the meatballs and gently stir them until covered.

 

 

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Meals/ RECIPES/ Sweets

Peanut Butter Clouds – A No Recipe, Recipe

You are going to thank me over and over for this one.  No, seriously.  This little snack might just rock your world.  It rocks ours.
This Peanut Butter Cloud no recipe recipe is one of those special family recipes that has been handed down. My Grandma Thelma made it for my mom and her siblings, my mom made it for me and my siblings, and now I make it for my own kids.  The picture above was taken by my lovely sister from Beauty Divine Design.  She put it  on Facebook and the comments from aunts and cousins were fun to read, as they too were treated to peanut butter clouds by their moms.  Truly a family gem of a recipe!
Here is what you do:
~Toast a piece of bread
~Smear it with peanut butter
~Put marshmallows on top
~Place under broiler for just a minute.
~Watch as the marshmallows puff up and brown slightly (this part fascinated me as a kid!)
I’m telling you, you are now going to always remember me, for if you eat this once, you will have to make it again and again.  I think I just made myself famous…
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Meals/ RECIPES

50 Recipes From New Nostalgia & A Confession

See that tab up there that says “Recipes?”  Well, it is a recipe index here at New Nostalgia that I am SUPPOSED to be updating as I post new recipes.  But…I have been a bit lazy.  Actually, unmotivated is the word.  You see, I have been hard at work dreaming up a new blog design, and due to this idea, I keet putting off the task of updating my recipe tab.  Why update when my whole blog is soon to get a face lift?  Well, time has gotten away from me and I was flabbergasted when I realized it had been almost a year since I put my published recipes into my recipe index.  

Bad, bad blogger I am! How nice of you all to put up with such non-sense!  Yes, a super exciting face lift is coming to New Nostalgia. I know I have been saying that for a long time now, but really, its COMING!  Until then, I thought I would share this list of New Nostalgia recipes that are not in my recipe index, but will be very, very soon!




























































































Raw Cookie Dough Bites








GF, Vegan & Raw/ Meals/ RECIPES

Easy Spaghetti Sauce

{Aren’t those labels cute?  Click here for more.}
I can’t quite put my finger on why I liked this sauce so much.  I think it is because it is so easy, makes a ton of sauce, and tastes just like some of the great sauces you can buy at the store, minus the added ingredients (like high fructose corn syrup)! The red pepper gives it the perfect bit of spice, barely noticeable.  
I was skeptical of a sauce with no onion or garlic, but that is the beauty of this sauce, no chopping!  I did use my hand dandy hand blender to chop up the tomatoes.  My family does not like chunks.
Easy Spaghetti Sauce (inspired by My Recipes)
2 (28-ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
1 cup water
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon red pepper

16 ounces spaghetti, cooked (I prefer whole grain)

Stir together first 8 ingredients in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
Reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 60 minutes.
Serve over pasta.

*leftover sauce freezes well

**if you prefer, you can add some thawed but fully cooked Italian Meatballs (or meat-less balls) to the sauce the last 20 minutes.

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Meals/ RECIPES

Sesame Chicken In The Crockpot

I’m so excited about this recipe. Why?  ALL 3 of my kids ate it and loved it.  That does not happen very often.   Not only do they all love it, but the sauce is AWESOME and tasted great over rice and vegetables, so I can eat plant based along with my family!  The last reason why I love it is that it cooks in the crockpot.  So easy!  

Sesame Chicken In The Crockpot
from Six Sisters’ Stuff via Baby Center

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (thighs would be fine too)
Salt and pepper
1 cup honey
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup diced onion
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (could also use olive oil or coconut oil)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional – doesn’t really add heat, just adds more flavor)
4 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 6 Tablespoons water
Sesame seeds (I was out of sesame seeds

Directions: 
Season both sides of chicken with lightly with salt and pepper, put into crock pot. In a small bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, garlic and pepper flakes. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 3-4 hours or on high 1 1/2 – 2 1/2 hours, or just until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from crock pot, leave sauce. Dissolve 4 teaspoons of cornstarch in 6 tablespoons of water and pour into crock pot. Stir to combine with sauce. Replace lid and cook sauce on high for ten more minutes or until slightly thickened. Cut chicken into bite size pieces, then return to pot and toss with sauce before serving. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve over rice or noodles.


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Meals/ RECIPES

Crockpot Chicken Fajita

I have been on a hunt for some easy, healthy crockpot recipes.  Here is the catch–the recipe has to contain lots of veggies.  I’ve been on a 90% plant based diet since healing from cancer, so I need our dinners to contain lots of plants for my sake.  I refuse to make 2 different meals, and my family is still eating meat about 2-3 times a week for dinner, so my hunt has been for meals that I could fix and forget, and that would feed all of us, meat and non-meat eaters.

This recipe was perfect.  I knew if I added beans to the veggies and skipped the cheese or used vegan cheese, that I would be able to enjoy dinner along with my family.  It worked out perfectly.  I got all the flavor of the chicken without the chicken, and my family got to enjoy some bird!

 

Such pretty peppers, huh?

 

I used a white onion, even though the recipe calls for yellow.  Use what you have.

 

This was super easy to throw together.  Slice your veggies, throw on the chicken, and let it cook away all day

 

The seasoning on this was just right.  It seems like a lot, but it was perfect.

 

You end up with super juicy chicken and veggies, which make for some messy fajitas, but messy is GOOD!  I really enjoyed the leftover veggies and beans over rice the next day for lunch.  Delish!!

 

Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas
{inspired by this recipe at Stacy Makes Cents}

1 yellow onion, sliced
3 bell pepper, any color, sliced
11/2 lbs chicken breasts or thighs
1/2 cup broth (chicken or vegetable)
1/2 tsp salt
11/2 tbls cumin
1tbls chili powder
1 lime or lemon, juiced

1 can black beans, drained & rinsed (optional)
Tortillas
Fajita Fixins

Combine peppers and onion slices and place in the bottom of a crockpot.  Lay chicken right on top.  Pour broth over.  Sprinkle with seasonings.  Squirt with lemon or lime juice.  Cook on low for 8 hours.  Remove meat from crockpot and shred.  Add beans (if desired) to crockpot to heat through.  Serve veggies, beans and chicken in tortillas, with your choice of toppings!

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