Pasta

Pumpkin gnocchi are like little pillowy bites of autumn. Use these in almost any dish that calls for traditional potato gnocchi.

I received product samples from sponsor companies to aid in the creation of the #PumpkinWeek recipes. All opinions are mine alone. Pumpkin pancetta risotto is a warm, comforting dish with arborio rice, diced pancetta and topped with fried sage. Fall is in the air, and we are celebrating our love of pumpkin with #PumpkinWeek hosted …

Farmers' Market Chicken Pasta Salad is an easy, delicious summer dinner. It's loaded with all kinds of fresh veggies (and a fruit) easily found at your local farmers market. Welcome to Farmers Market Week! I participated last year, and was excited to participate again this year. This week, many bloggers will share recipes using ingredients …

This post is sponsored in conjunction with PumpkinWeek. I received product samples from sponsor companies to aid in the creation of the PumpkinWeek recipes. All opinions are mine alone. Carbonara is a sauce made from bacon, eggs and cream. In this pumpkin carbonara, the creaminess comes from pumpkin, making this a delicious fall meal.

Add a touch o' the Irish to your mac and cheese! Guinness and Dublin cheddar turn an American comfort food classic into Irish mac and cheese.

This comforting baked butternut squash mac and cheese with apples and bacon will up your body and soul on any chilly fall evening. 

Garden pasta salad combines pasta with fresh garden vegetables, basil, and mozzarella cheese. Serve as a side salad, or add chicken or shrimp to make it a main dish.

Southwestern mac and cheese is chock full of tex-mex flavors, contrasting textures, and a hint of spicy pepper, with a sweet buttery cornbread topping. 

Not a true pasta carbonara, this dish uses pureed butternut squash instead of egg to thicken the sauce that coats the fettuccine.

Spring leeks star in this quick and easy pasta dish. Mushrooms and sauteed bacon add contrasting flavors and textures. Weeknight meals make life so much easier. Recipes that I can prep on the weekend and dive into cooking on a weeknight are ever better. This particular recipe is a family favorite. I've made it several times, …

Pasta and tender-crisp spring vegetables are tossed in a light, flavorful egg and cheese sauce in this spring vegetable carbonara. Gone are the days when "eating healthy" meant bland, boring lean meats and flavorless vegetables. Dave and I could hardly believe this recipe could be classified as healthy — it was so tasty! It's not …

Antipasti pasta salad — say that three times fast. Antipasti is typically thought of as a first course, or even an hors d'oeuvre, since the translation means "before the meal." It's normally served before the pasta course. Combing antipasti and pasta in this salad version could be served as a first course, but it could …

The last guest post for American Beer Week is from Ashley, who blogs at Cheese Curd in Paradise. She focused on local ingredients in her dish, Beer and Bacon Carbonara. October 27th is American Beer Day and, in honor of this holiday (yes, holiday!), I am so pleased to guest post for Coleen, The Redhead Baker. I …

With me back at a full-time, in-office job, our home life has basically been turned upside-down. When I worked at part-time at home, I was able to prep dinner during the day and pretty much have it ready to eat when Dave got home. Now, I have an hour commute each way. I leave first …

This baked ziti casserole is loaded with fresh summer vegetables. With so many veggies, less pasta is needed. Part-skim cheese thickened with egg holds everything together.  A little while ago, I was contacted by Cooking Light, inviting me to join the Cooking Light Blogger's Connection. I was really honored to get the invitation, because I …

As soon as I saw the March issue of Food Network Magazine in my mailbox, I was excited. The entire issue was dedicated to cheese. Cheesy appetizers. Cheesy main dishes. Cheesy desserts. And 50 different varieties of macaroni and cheese. As soon as I saw the Butternut Bleu Cheese Mac and Cheese in the pullout …

I hope you're not sick of pumpkin. Personally, pumpkin is a year-round ingredient for me, but I know that not all agree with me. Can we at least compromise that it's an all-winter ingredient? Pumpkin is comfort food to me, as is macaroni and cheese. When I saw that The Cookaholic Wife had made a …

Last week was a bit crazy. Busy on Sunday, sick on Monday . . . I never got around to make a meal plan, or grocery shopping. I felt a little better the next day, yet it didn't occur to me until around 3 p.m. that I had very little (food-wise) to cook with! I …

The weather has cooled down a little here in Philadelphia. We've had several days in a row of mid- to high-70-degree temperatures. I love it! I thought the best way to welcome the cooler temperatures was with a savory pumpkin dish. Now, The Mister isn't as pumpkin-crazy as I am, so I chose this dish …

The Mister and I are omnivores — we eat animal-based proteins for dinner most days of the week. Occasionally, I find a recipe for a vegetarian dish that sounds good. Sometimes I add meat to it; other times, I don't. In this instance, I chose not to add any meat. I knew the fiber from the …

The Mister and I eat a lot of chicken. He recently had a physical and his cholesterol was on the high end of normal, so we try keep the red meat to once a week or less. The problem is, we eat chicken so often, I feel like I'm running out of new and interesting ways …

You might be thinking that this dish looks very similar to another that I recently blogged (the Pasta Primavera). They both have pasta, tomatoes, and goat cheese. But that's pretty much the only things they have in common.The flavors of each dish are quite different. The pasta primavera has a nutty, cheesy sauce (if you …

Last spring, the local weather station did a summer forecast, a generalized "here's what we think the weather will be like this summer." The past few years, the summer heat has been unbearable. The summer of 2011 was the 5th warmest in history and August 2010 was the hottest month in recorded history.  The forecast …

Hey folks! If you're looking for Munchkin Meals, it's moved to an every-other-week format, so check back next Thursday for a look at what Liam has been eating! I first tried chorizo almost two years ago. I was at the meat counter in Whole Foods, trying to decide what to get for dinner that night. …

The latest swap was Blogger's Choice, and my assigned blog was DeLish. If that sounds familiar, it's because I made her potato pancakes late last year for a holiday-dishes-themed swap.  I perused her blog, and found a recipe called Ziti for Two Made with Bolognese. It sounded perfect, not only because it's just The Mister …

In college, I pretty much lived on Kraft boxed mac and cheese, Cheez-Its, and ramen noodles. It wasn't until I went to a boyfriend's home for dinner that I tasted "real" mac & cheese. And oh, how delicious it was! Real cheddar cheese, crunchy bread crumb topping . . . I could've eaten the whole …

I went through a phase as a child where I hated red sauce. I wouldn't eat spaghetti if it had been touched by red sauce (I had my spaghetti with butter and parmesan cheese on one plate, and my meatballs with a smidge of red sauce on a different plate). No lasagna. I wouldn't even …

Can I tell you how much I LOVE having a farmer's market two blocks from my apartment? I get fresh, locally grown produce for much cheaper than the grocery stores. As well as meat, spices, flowers, etc. I got an ounce of ground cardamom today for less than a quarter of what it would cost …