Apple, Sausage and Walnut Pasta

My youngest son has had a major developmental spurt. It happened to coincide with a massive growth spurt so he has been more than a little frustrated in the last week. What has surprised me so much are the differences between my oldest and youngest son. My oldest was 18 months before he even tried to walk, he didn't start really talking until he was almost 4 and he has yet to lose any of his baby teeth (he's almost 7). As much as I try not to compare my two kids the differences between the two are noticeable. My youngest has a very large vocabulary. He is already writing words and can built things with Lego's almost as well as his older brother. I know a lot of it has to do with my oldest teaching my youngest how to do everything. Birth order definitely has an effect on how my two kids do and approach things. Since my youngest has been eating so much I have been making foods that I know he will love. This week I tried a new recipe for Apple, Sausage and Walnut Pasta from the January 2013 issue of Family Circle magazine.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. I takes 25 minutes of total time, 10 minutes of which is active and makes 6 serving. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store. Since I eat gluten free I did make a few modifications. First I used gluten free penne. I bought chopped walnuts since they were on sale and cheaper than whole so I skipped the chopping step. My walnuts also toasted quicker, they only took approximately 3 minutes total. Since my local grocery store hasn't been great with having a large selection of meat, I used pre-cooked chicken sausage and diced it instead of chicken sausage in casings. I also added a whole package of sausage, 12 ounces instead of the 3 used in the recipe. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I was happy that this recipe worked well when converted to being gluten free. The substitution of pre-cooked chicken sausage was great and was popular with my two boys. The prep and cook time is very short, which is nice for a weekday meal. I didn't notice the apple much, so if you are a fan of apples I would suggest increasing the amount used.

For the recipe go to Apple, Sausage and Walnut Pasta. (registration required)

Better Homes and Gardens Garlic-Olive Loaf

As I've said before we eat a lot of bread in our house. My two boys will eat over a half of a loaf in an evening. I love bread also, but I tire quickly of the same bread over and over again. Over the summer I got into a rut of making the same whole-wheat bread recipe at least once a week and by the time winter rolled around I couldn't stand to eat any more. I spend most of December and January looking through new bread recipes and trying out a number of new options. I found a recipe for Garlic-Olive Loaf in a special Holiday Recipes magazine from Better Homes and Gardens, which looked full of flavor from the cheese and olives and with 6 grams of protein per slice.

This recipe has 15 ingredients. It takes approximately 2 and a half hours plus chilling overnight and makes 12 servings. I ran out of time the night before to allow the bread to rise overnight, so instead I put it in the fridge in the morning and left it in about 6 hours. For the spinach I microwaved it on high to thaw and then pressed it with paper towels to remove all the moisture. I ran out of eggs before I made this recipe, so I left out the egg wash and brushed the top of the loaf with water instead. For the last 5 minutes of baking time I tented the top with foil to prevent burning. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I was impressed with how well this bread turned out. I served it as a side at dinner and everyone in my family agreed that it was better than the main dish. I love how it has spinach, cheese and olives. The combination of flavors is great in a bread and when toasted with butter for breakfast was delicious. A great way to get spinach into a meal and was friendly enough for my kids to eat.

For the recipe go to Garlic-Olive Loaf.