here goes recipe #3. one of my favs from miss giada. so easy to make and mighty tasty.

Fusili w/ Spinach and Asiago cheese

Ingredients

• 1 pound fusilli pasta - to get a little bit of healthy added too, i usually use the barilla PLUS pasta which has protein, omega 3's (gotta get your omega 3's!!), & fiber. but any fusilli pasta tastes great w/ this dish=).
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced - well you should know i love me my garlic, so i always add an extra clove or two..
• 1 (9-ounce) bag fresh spinach, roughly chopped - it may look like a lot of spinach, but y'know greens wilt up fast! so i add an extra bag for more veggies.
• 8 ounces (1/2 pint) cherry tomatoes, halved - since i'm usually shopping at costco, they don't always carry cherry tomatoes. i've substituted grape tomatoes and it still turns out yummy!
• 1 cup (about 3 1/2-ounces) grated Asiago -nothing wrong w/ adding a little more cheese too if you want. but if i add more cheese than i save a little more of the cooking liquid (mentioned in directions below) too just to balance things out 
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

-sometimes i add strips of grilled chicken to the pasta. just lightly seasoned w/ olive oil, garlic powder, salt, & pepper. yum yum!

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid.

Meanwhile, warm olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the spinach and tomatoes and cook until the spinach wilts, about 2 more minutes. Add the cooked pasta and toss. Add the cheeses, salt, pepper, and the pasta cooking liquid and stir to combine.

Transfer the pasta to a serving plate and serve. (serves 4)

Enjoy!!!

anyways..on to more fun stuff....i'm late a week...but here goes RECIPE #2:

guess it works out that it's on friday, and well today we can't eat meat bc of lent:

i forgot the site i got the recipe from...but below are my tweaks that i do on my own anyways...

BROILED TILAPIA-super easy recipe!!!

ingredients:

4-5 tilapia fillets (i just use the single servings that are prepackaged from costco. i think i changed the fish too from the original recipe=P. it just said to use any white fish)

1/4 cup melted butter (oh you know this recipe will be good w/ some butter! i use smart balance butter..haha to make me "feel" like it's somewhat healthier that way!)

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup soy sauce

paprika

garlic powder

1) clean the fillets and lay them out on a broiling pan/baking sheet

2) set your oven to BROIL (if you have high/low settings...preferably high)

3) sprinkle garlic powder generously on the fillets making sure you coat both sides

4) combine the melted butter, soy sauce, and lemon juice together for the marinade and pour half the marinade over the fish.

5) let the fish sit in marinade for about 10 minutes and then pop them in the top rack of your oven

6) cooking time is 10minutes, but could be more or less depending on your oven. For me I do 5 minutes on each side.

7) after the first 4-5 minutes I flip the fillets over and add the 2nd half of the marinade. (try to use a flat spatula so that your fillets don't break apart)

8) you know your fillets are done when they start to get flaky when using your fork to test it out. there shouldn't be any clearness/opaqueness to your fillets.

9) sprinkle a little paprika onto each of the finished fillets

*NOTE, because you're using the broiler there is a chance the kitchen will get smoky!!! hehe due to the marinade burning up. but this usually happens to me when i decide to line my broiling pan/baking sheet with foil. when i don't line the broiling sheet..all the marinade goes down into the drip pan to prevent any burning. i just do the foil for easy cleanup=P

eat and enjoy!! usually served w/ a side of greens or veggies. yum yum!

so, with a fellow blogger buddy i've decided to post a recipe a week. hopefully easy to do recipes since it's so tiring during the week to cook fancy schmancy meals. hehe, this should've been last week's recipe but i didn't have time to blog:

RECIPE #1: Turkey Meatloaf (a la the food network's healthy guru's recipe):

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 1 medium onion, peeled
• 2 pounds ground turkey breast
• 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, stir together the oats and milk. Thinly slice 1/4 of the onion and set aside. Finely chop the remaining onion. In a large bowl combine the turkey, oat mixture, chopped onion, bell pepper, eggs, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, salt and a few grinds of pepper. Mix just until well combined.

Transfer the mixture to a 9 by 13-inch baking dish and shape into a loaf about 5 inches wide and 2 1/2 inches high. Pour the tomato sauce over the meatloaf and sprinkle with the sliced onions. Bake for about 1 hour or until an instant-read thermometer registers 160 degrees.F.

Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 to15 minutes before slicing.

and to this recipe these are my little tweaks i've done along the way. more for mine & husby's tastebuds=P:

-the 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper (sometimes i use red/yellow/orange combined. they're all sweet so whichever variation i use, it tastes fine)

- i double the Worcestershire sauce..haha maybe even put a few more splashes.

-and i add garlic powder..hehe lots. i just give the big costco garlic powder we have some shakes..hmm maybe it's like 1-2tbsps?

-and for the onion..well i like onion..so med/large onion..i'd rather have the large=P

there it goes. enjoy.