Monday, March 15, 2010

White Bean and Sausage Ragout with Tomatoes, Kale and Zucchini

March 15, 2010

Cannelini beans were on sale a few weeks ago and I had stocked up on cans and wanted to find a good recipe to use up at least 2 cans. A quick Google search and I came across this beauty with tons of fresh flavor and a hearty serving of vegetables I knew this would be a good weeknight meal.

 

While Mike had a 5-6:30 conference call, I prepped dinner and enjoyed a delicious combo of Mint Sparking Water and some Pom Wonderful Juice. It was nice to be in the kitchen by myself happily chopping away. I enjoyed the quiet, the extra sun light (thank you Day Light Savings Time, it was 6:30 and still light out!)

 

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Ingredients

 

  • 1  tablespoon  olive oil
  • 1/2  cup  chopped onion
  • 2  (4-ounce) links chicken sausage, cut into (1/2-inch) slices
  • 1  zucchini, quartered and cut into (1/2-inch) slices (about 2 cups)
  • 3  garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
  • 6  cups  chopped trimmed kale (about 1/2 pound)
  • 1/2  cup  water
  • 2  (16-ounce) cans cannellini beans or other white beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1  (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 1/4  teaspoon  salt
  • 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper

 

Directions

 

  • Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté onion and sausage 4 minutes or until sausage is browned.
  • Add zucchini and garlic; cook 2 minutes. Add kale and remaining ingredients; bring to a boil.
  • Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Serve immediately.

 

 

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After dinner I was craving something a little sweet and I had remembered seeing a pear recipe on Amie’s Blog (I made a few minor modifications)

 

Ingredients

  • 1 pear
  • 1 tablespoon POM Wonderful juice
  • 1 tablespoon agave nectar
  • 1/8 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon chopped almonds

Directions

  • Slice pears lengthwise into eighths.
  • In a small bowl, stir together the POM Wonderful juice, agave nectar, cinnamon and almond extract.
  • Spoon mixture over pears.
  • Top pears with chopped nuts and vanilla ice cream

 

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Happy x 2

March 15, 2010

I LOVE coming home to packages, today made me happy x 2. The beautiful and talented Amie sent me an oh so nice care package with coupons, mini LaraBars and tea. (Thanks Amie) and the kind folks at Pom Wonderful sent me a box of their juice. I am so excited to cook with all this juice over the next week.

 

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I see a few mocktails in my future :)

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Inspection

March 15, 2010

We were up at what feel like the crack of dawn this morning for our house walkthrough before we close next week. You walk from room to room and mark spots that need to be touched up with paint, or other miscellaneous items that need to be fixed. Starting a meeting before 7am on the day after Daylight Savings Time was quite hard, for the first time in years I was out cold when the alarm went off. The warm bed, snuggling dog and dark sky did not want me to wake up. I probably could have laid in bed for a few more hours but we forced ourselves up.

It took about an hour and a half to meticulously go through each room, the painting crew will be in later in the week to fix some of the nail pops and touch up paint areas. We had two minor fixes on some crooked lights and the garage door openers still need to be installed. Most of our time was spent checking the main living areas. We went through the kitchen, eat in area and family room with a very critical eye. This is our one chance to have everything perfect. Walking inch by inch of this area took about 30 minutes to notice and mark everything.

What a difference a few weeks makes, when we took these pictures there was a decent snow pack and now there is NONE in the yard. Lets hope it stays like that. Nothing worse than moving in a snow storm or rain. Really hoping for a good weather on move day.

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