Roasted Tomato Rotini – Food Bloggers Against Hunger
Today, I am happy to be a part of Food Bloggers Against Hunger and share with you a simple less then $4 recipe for roasted tomato rotini. Before I pass you on to the recipe I would like to share a story with you below.
Here is a bit more on Food Bloggers Against Hunger:
Food Bloggers Against Hunger was created by Nicole from The Giving Table in response to the new documentary, A Place at the Table. Today, April 8, 2013, food bloggers will donate their posts to raise awareness about the film, issues of hunger, and ask their readers to send letters to Congress to protect SNAP funding and make anti-hunger legislation a priority.
A Place at the Table premiered on March 1st, 2013. This documentary from Participant Media—the same studio that brought you Food Inc.—follows three families struggling with food insecurity, and sheds light on the very real problem of hunger in America.
Please refresh is video doesn’t pop up 
Food Bloggers Against Hunger – April 8, 2013 from Nicole Gulotta on Vimeo.
My first child was born when I was 16, two weeks away from my 17th birthday. He was my perfect birthday gift. With plenty of help from my grandmother, I moved on to get my GED and got a decent job alternating schedules with my grandmother; so my son would never have to go to a daycare. I was a single mom.
Then a few months after giving birth to my son I met Mike. This brilliant full of life individual that I fell passionately in love with at first sight. Another few months pass and with great surprise I find out I am expecting my second child. Mike was immediately excited and got a job at a local ice cream joint. After the baby was born I went to work as a photographer. We eventually got our own apartment. We had two incomes but we still didn’t have enough to afford to pay for the food. We decided to go out and look for help, something that most people fear. We got SNAP which then was called Lone Star and we received WIC. Both programs helped with baby food and formula but still did not cover all food costs for the four of us.
At least we both had creative imaginations and a love for food. We shopped sparingly by buying in bulk such as: rice, pasta, and flour. We bought cheap packages of meat at the meat market, in which, we broke down in to small amounts to last the entire month. Ramen was a necessity in our home. The cheapest pasta you could buy and add a tad of chicken and small handful of spring onions creating a delicious dinner to us. We eventually made enough money to support ourselves.
In 2000, he passed away while I was pregnant with our daughter. I once again needed help with food. Only this time I learned how to make food stretch. That scrapes made great stocks and lemons, grapefruits, and orange peels were easy to make candy out of for the kids. Luckily, three years later I would meet another man, my V, that would step in to help me with the kids and to follow my dreams. The kids are all now beautiful teenagers and the middle one works in a restaurant. Not everyone can be this lucky. More then 50 million people are food insecure (no means to have a constant nutritious meal).
To this day I still make some of the recipes we created to save on food costs. Continuously buying bulk foods to stock in the pantry never knowing when we could end up with out money for food. Always playing it safe I bought a deep freeze and I over stock it just like my pantry. These are not bad practices to always make sure if you lose a job or become short on money that you will still have food to last; even in a natural disaster or power outage the food that is needed will be there.
So, how can YOU (and all of us) help?
- Find a screening of A Place at the Table in your city.
- Watch A Place at the Table on iTunes or Amazon.
- Tell Congress to change their priorities and fund Federal nutrition programs that are crucial for hungry children. (sign the petition in the previous link)
To follow along you can use hash tag #takeyourplace or join us on FB at The Giving Table’s fan page. To have a look at the delicious low cost recipes you can check out the pinterest board here.
My recipe that will feed 5 people for under $4 total.
Ingredients
Instructions
Fill large pot half full with water. Bring to a boil and add in pasta. Cook for 9 minutes or until pasta is talking to you. Drain most of the water reserving a small amount. Open tomato cans and pour over pasta. Do not drain juice from can as this adds flavor to the pasta.
There is no needs to heat the tomatoes as the hot pasta will warm them for you. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top with parmesan if desired.
Side note: Have friends collect anything condiments they get when they go out to eat and do the same yourself. Most of the time this gets thrown away and it is perfectly good to store and use. I keep a ziplock bag of extras we get in case we ever run out of something.
http://mooshujenne.com/roasted-tomato-rotini/Fried Chicken Jalapeno Bacon Fettuccine Alfredo
Fried chicken jalapeno bacon fettuccine alfredo recipe is below but first a little story. Yesterday we went to see the final edition to the Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn Part II. I was not so sure how well it would match the book prior to watching the movie. The movie literally hit the nail on the head in comparison to the book. There was plenty rumors that movie is not as good as it’s predecessors. To be honest, it was one of my two favorites, the other being New Moon. If your a vampire or wolf fan let me know what you thought of the movie in the comments. No spoilers! No whining about sparkling vampires either 
On to the food! Below the food is the giveaway for Devo’s Jalapeno Fettuccine!
Big thank you to Devo Olive Oil for sending out a package of jalapeno fettuccine. It was absolutely delicious! The fettuccine is a perfect pair with my bacon alfredo sauce. I still cannot wait to try the pumpkin fettuccine and chocolate fettuccine. These are perfect for customized culinary gift baskets.
The jalapeno fettuccine has just enough kick to add the right spice to this meal. There is no burn for me although I can eat pretty spicy food. It was more like a tickle and I think that is just perfect for a pasta dish. The pasta would pair well with Cajun dishes featuring shrimp, crab, or crawfish.
Ingredients
Instructions
In large frying pan, heat oil to medium-high heat. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.
In a small bowl, add eggs and beat. In a medium bowl add breadcrumbs. Dip chicken filet in egg and then toss in breadcrumbs covering the entire filet. Set aside on dish. Repeat with the remainder of the chicken.
Fry chicken for 2 to 3 minutes each side until cooked. Set cooked chicken in a casserole dish in the oven when done frying to keep warm. While chicken is frying you may start the sauce.
In a sauce pan or deep saute pan, add in bacon and cook on medium heat until it is crisp but not fully cooked. Add in onions and garlic and cook until onions are caramelized. Melt butter over bacon, onions, and garlic. Add in heavy whipping cream and cook on medium low heat for about 15 minutes until heavy whipping cream begins to thicken and coats the back of a spoon; stirring frequently. Salt and pepper the sauce.
Meanwhile, in a large pot, bring water with one tablespoon olive oil to a boil. Salt the water.
The chicken should be finished frying and the pasta should be boiling. Go back to the sauce and add in Parmesan cheese little by little, stirring frequently, until all cheese is added. Turn sauce down to low.
Remove the noodles and drain. Plate noodles with one piece of fried chicken and top with alfredo sauce.
http://mooshujenne.com/fried-chicken-jalapeno-bacon-fettuccine-alfredo/Devo Olive Oil was please to offer one of my readers a chance to win and test out the jalapeno fettuccine I used in this recipe!
To enter the giveaway fill out the rafflecopter below.
*Disclosure: Devo Olive Oil is providing one package of jalapeno fettuccine. I was not reimbursed for writing this post and all opinions expressed are my own.
Two Year Blogiversary
Yay! The blog and I have made it two years. Though, I am a few days late on this post due to my birthday and the cold front that swept in and made everything so dark that there would be no way to get one single natural light photograph. At least the sun is back out and my son and I can have some fun photographing our favorite lunch container by Frego!
Today, for the blogiversary, I am giving away one Frego lunch container! This beast is the guru of all lunch containers. One of my very personal favorites! Here is a video to tell you why it is my favorite with all the super cool features this container comes with. We’ve used this container over and over and it works very well in the microwave and the oven. It’s sturdy and the double seal is fantastic; no leaks!
I wanted to share a recipe that I use to put in my Frego container. It’s an older recipe on the blog but one of my absolute favorites when the Autumn air comes rolling in.
Ingredients
Instructions
Fill a large pot with water and a few drops of olive oil. Salt your water bath and bring to a boil. Drop in pasta and cook till done.
In a large sauce pot, add in your chopped onions, peppers, garlic, and olive oil. Saute for about 2 minutes. Add a little salt and then add in your ground beef. Stirring frequently, breaking up your meat while browning. Once your meat is browned add in paprika and Worcester sauce. Then add in your four cans of stewed tomatoes and large can of tomato sauce. Bring to a low boil and cook for about an hour.
Mix your pasta and sauce in a large bowl and serve!
http://mooshujenne.com/two-year-blogiversary/
For the giveaway just follow instructions in the Rafflecopter below.
*Disclosure: I was given two containers from Frego to review. I was not reimbursed for writing this post and all opinions expressed are my own.
Bucatini all’Amatriciana
After months of promising this recipe for bucatini all’amatriciana it is finally here. Guanciale (pork cheek) is not common in the US, which means you must replace it with the closest item, that item is pancetta. Pancetta in a block is also hard to locate but at least we have one Italian market and deli in town. Finding the pancetta was the simple part.
I would eventually go on a three month endeavor to find bucatini pasta. Bucatini is a No. 12 pasta that resembles spaghetti but has a elongated hole running complete through it. Luckily, World Market is renovating their stores and recently stocked it with bucatini. I purchased five packages I was so excited!
Bucatini all”Amatriciana is a dish that made it popular in Rome. It is named after the tiny town of Amatrice. It is said that the shepherds love this meal to warm up from the chilly mountain air.
I just love any excuse to have fresh basil in the house as the aroma is delightful! If anyone is interested, I can add the recipe of how to make your own peeled tomatoes to replace the canned tomatoes within this recipe. Canned can be bought but are sometimes hard to locate.
Ingredients
Instructions
Fill a large pot with water, one tablespoon olive oil, and salt. Bring to a boil and cook pasta until done while cooking the sauce.
In a pot or saute skillet, add onions, pancetta (guanciale), garlic, and two tablespoons olive oil and tad of salt; cook on medium heat for three to five minutes. Add in dried red chili pepper and saute for about a minute. Drain just the top juice of the cans, not all, as you want the sauce to be a bit thick rather than runny. Add peeled tomatoes and the white wine. Break up the tomatoes while cooking. Cook for about ten minutes reducing the tomato juice off. Salt and pepper to taste.
Drain pasta reserving some of the pasta water; add sauce to pasta. Toss and plate. Top with freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese and garnish with basil.
http://mooshujenne.com/bucatini-allamatriciana/Coconut Lime Chicken Chow Mein
Tropical Traditions sent me out a large jar of coconut oil, so my daughter and I sat thinking of what recipes we could use it in. Of course I went right to curries with fresh mango. My daughter on the other hand loves chow mein noodles and she mentioned how it would be cool to incorporate the coconut into a dish with chow mein. After suggestions of pineapple and mango we moved on to citrus. She hands down said lime. Next, it was time to head to the store and get a new wok! We brought the new wok home and decided to experiment. The recipe turned out wonderful! I am excited to share the recipe for coconut lime chicken chow mein with you below along with a giveaway!
The chicken look a little dry in the pictures because I photographed it the next day due to lighting. I need to get some lights and a tripod!
Ingredients
Instructions
Bring medium pot of water to a boil.
Meanwhile, slice chicken breast lengthwise three times and then cut into 1/2 inch cubes by cutting across. In a wok, add coconut oil and chicken. Squeeze two limes over the chicken and drizzle a little soy sauce over the top; salt and pepper. Cook till chicken is done. Drain wok from the liquid and drizzle a little more soy over the chicken to brown a glaze to the chicken. Remove chicken to a bowl with lid to keep warm.
Boil noodles for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain and stir fry in wok with soy sauce and olive oil (you may use coconut oil for more coconut flavor). Stir fry for a few minutes until noodles are sticky and coated. You will cook the noodles in increments not all at once. Remove noodles to bowl after stir frying in batches.
Toss chicken with noodles. You can add spring onions if you would like at this point. Squeeze one lime over chicken and noodles. Use remaining lime to serve on the side of the bowl.
http://mooshujenne.com/coconut-lime-chicken-chow-mein/a Rafflecopter giveaway
Win 1 quart of Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil!
Tropical Traditions is America’s source for coconut oil. Their Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil is hand crafted in small batches by family producers, and it is the highest quality coconut oil they offer. You can read more about how virgin coconut oil is different from other coconut oils on their website: What is Virgin Coconut Oil?
You can also watch the video they produced about Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil:
Tropical Traditions also carries other varieties of affordable high quality coconut oil. Visit their website to check on current sales, to learn about the many uses of coconut oil, and to read about all the advantages of buying coconut oil online. Since the FDA does not want us to discuss the health benefits of coconut oil on a page where it is being sold or given away, here is the best website to read about the health benefits of coconut oil.
Disclaimer: Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.
Italian Garden Pasta Salad
It’s Summer BBQ season with the 4th right around the corner many of us are getting ready to light up the grill. Just like me, I am sure many of you have a go-to Summer salad recipe. For a little fun for the 4th, I invite all of my blogging friends to share their favorite Summer salad recipes. This can be a new or old post just has to be a Summer salad recipe.
Here is a simple Summer salad recipe for Italian garden pasta salad that I use when the last minute BBQ happens. To share your recipe click the “add your link” button below.
Ingredients
Instructions
Fill a large pot with water and one tablespoon of olive oil and bring to a boil. Once boiling at pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes until done. Drain pasta and let cool.
Add pasta to a large bowl with tomatoes, spring onions, salt and pepper; toss well. Drizzle with Italian dressing till desired coating; toss well again. Refrigerate for 30 minutes until cool and serve.
http://mooshujenne.com/italian-garden-pasta-salad/Sun Dried Tomato Pesto
When the Summer season is upon us it is just too hot to cook indoors. Though when your grill tank is out that perceives to be a problem. The quickest meals to make with less effort and money is pesto. Very few ingredients, hardly no heat, and super quick to throw together. The only thing I suggest is owning a food processor. If you don’t have one your so missing out! These guys can whip up a quick pesto to a delicious dressing to a super spicy salsa in seconds! Buy yourself one, you won’t regret it. Either that or ask for one as a gift for your birthday; that’s what I did!
When searching your local market for Sun dried Tomatoes you might find it difficult to get them whole. I hope in the near future I will figure out the drying process of these, but in the meantime, try to find them whole and make sure to drain the oil from them as it adds to much oil to the pesto. I love a Romano or a Parmesan Reggiano but the cheese is completely up to you on which of the stinky cheeses you like. The strongest of all the suggestions with this recipe is to definitely buy a basil plant and use the basil straight from it. It seriously gives the best flavor when fresh. I never suggest using dried basil in pesto as it offsets the texture completely. Besides, fresh basil smells so good and you can plant the roots to regrow the plant!
Ingredients
Instructions
In a large pot, boil water with olive oil and salt. When water is boiling add in pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes depending on pasta. Follow pasta package for detailed instructions.
In a food processor, add in basil, garlic, and sun-dried tomatoes. Process for 1 minute until the tomatoes are in small bits. While processing add in olive oil slowly till you get a paste. Be careful not to add to much oil.
In a large bowl, add drained pasta, reserving a 1/2 cup of pasta water into bowl with pasta. Add pesto and cheese to pasta and toss. Salt and pepper to taste and serve while hot.
http://mooshujenne.com/sun-dried-tomato-pesto/
Avocado Alfredo
Fridays are generally the one day of the week that I do not want to cook. There is a little Italian joint in town, named Italian Villa, that I always end up at having a spaghetti and meatballs; on rare occasions a Philly cheese steak. It is safe to say that I love pasta. To curve that craving, do it healthy, and have something that screams “Spring” for this Friday I had fun being uber creative with this Avocado Alfredo. Avocado is the super fruit! The super fruit is fun to use in many dishes. Do not let people fool you into thinking that it can not be warmed. It does not get bitter if you heat it slow. In this dish it is not heated. The pasta warms the avocado and many other flavors of this dish. The family gave me a few strange looks when I set this on the table but ended up enjoying it. Plus, it is perfect for Easter weekend with its colors!
Ingredients
Instructions
Fill large pot of water and set on stove to boil.
Meanwhile, in the food processor add in garlic and parsley and pulse for 30 seconds. Add in avocado and lemon juice; pulse for 1 minute till avocado is smooth. Add in heavy whipping cream and pulse for 30 seconds till well blended. Add Parmesan and pulse till well blended.
Fry bacon and set aside. Save bacon grease.
Cook pasta for 8 to 10 minutes until done. Strain and add it to a large bowl. Pour avocado sauce into the large bowl. Wash out processor, add your bacon, and pulse till you have homemade bacon bits. Add bacon bits to the bowl and add about two tablespoons of the bacon grease. Toss pasta till well covered and serve.
http://mooshujenne.com/avocado-alfredo/
Check out another great recipe for a Friday.
Cracked Pepper Andouille Pasta and Book Giveaway
One day Robert and I were tweeting, yes I said tweeting, back and forth and he truly grabbed my attention when he mentioned gouda and pancetta in mac and cheese. I love experiencing different mac and cheese recipes; especially if they have pancetta. We also would discuss how to make blackened chicken with out burning it. Many don’t know that there is a difference. Though, I am a bit strange and like both blackened and burnt!
So, I had this brilliant idea, why not share his cookbook with one lucky winner. I quickly tweeted Mr. Medina and asked if he would be interested in a giveaway and to my enjoyment he said of course! He sent the book to me in a snap but due to finals this week I have been procrastinating. Finally, I had a few quick moments to try a recipe out of his book. Let me tell you it wasn’t easy to pick one. Roasted garlic butter! Boom! That was it, Medina gave me inspiration in the kitchen. So without further ado here is the Cracked Pepper Andouille Pasta and a chance to win Mr. Medina’s lovely book “If You Can’t Stand The Heat”. Oh and did I mention he is ex-firefighter from NOLA!
(Not the best picture. No natural light eek!)
Ingredients Instructions In small pan start to fry the andouille. While the sausage is cooking, put on a large pot of water to boil for the pasta. Once the water is ready add in your pasta; salt the water. After the andouille is cooked well, pull off the sausage to a cutting board and slice in rounds. Save the grease and leftovers in the pan; do not dispose. Add garlic and butter to pan and remove from heat. This will melt the butter and lightly roast the garlic.
Meanwhile, drain the pasta. Add in salt to taste, paprika, and cayenne pepper. Pepper (cracked black pepper) well till pasta is coated. Add in sausage, butter sauce, and stir well.
The giveaway!
Winner is Phil Terry! Congratulations!
How you win:
{Required Entry}
Leave a comment below. Tell me what your favorite holiday dish is and a memory behind it. If you have your favorite dish on your blog please post a link.
Do you want bonus entries? Come on you know you do
For each item below that you do, you will get one extra chance to win. You must leave one comment per task that you do as each counts for one entry. If you already have us added on Twitter or Facebook it still counts as an entry.
- Follow @MedinaLite on Twitter
- Follow @MooshuJenne on Twitter
- Tweet “I want to win the “If You Can’t Stand The Heat” from @MedinaLite and @MooshuJenne ! http://mooshujenne.com/?p=725“
- Like Mooshu Jenne on Facebook
Important Details:
-This giveaway is open to USA and Canadian residents only and will run until Friday, December 16th at 11:59 pm CST.
-Winner(s) will be generated via a random number generator software program. Winner will be notified via the contact email provided on the comment contact form.
-Winner(s) will have until 12/12/11 to claim their cookbook or we will choose another winner.
-Winner will receive one autographed copy of If You Can’t Stand The Heat {$29.99 MSRP}. Product will be shipped by Mooshu Jenne.
Disclosure:
This giveaway is provided to you by Mooshu Jenne. I was given the product free of charge to test and review it; however, I was not monetarily compensated for the review or giveaway.
Classic Minestrone Soup
We had a short dip in weather last week. It brought on my passion for creating soups. Minestrone soup is one of my favorite soups full of flavor and scrumptious vegetables. I’ll have to admit that my Italian side really shows through when it comes to noodles. It was an epic event to get the noodles for this soup. Ditalini noodles are perfect for minestrone. Many would use orzo’s but I believe orzo’s are great in chicken soup but get to mushy in a minestrone. What I love most about this soup is that I can hide the tender quarters of Italian zucchini in it and my family will eat it!
Ingredients
Instructions
In a large pot add in olive oil and pancetta or bacon. Fry till bacon is almost browned. Add in onions, carrots, celery, and garlic and lightly salt. Stir fry for about 3 to 5 minutes till onions are sweated but not caramelized.
In another pot boil water to cook you Ditalini pasta. Cook pasta 6 to 8 minutes as directed on package.
Add in the tomatoes, rosemary, thyme, broth, zucchini, and beans (if your adding beans) and top with water. Bring to a boil then simmer for 10 minutes. Add in pasta and salt and pepper to taste.
Minestrone is best served with croutons.
http://mooshujenne.com/classic-minestrone-soup/Come join SoupaPalooza at TidyMom and Dine and Dish sponsored by KitchenAid, Red Star Yeast and Le Creuset
