How was your weekend?

Mine was altogether very relaxing - caught up on a lot of sleep, and I finally made Gwyneth's Turkey Bolognese (photo above! For the recipe, scroll to the bottom of this post), which took about 4 hours longer than I thought it would (why everyone should always read a recipe all the way through before starting...haha). But it was delicious! SO good. I highly recommend it, so go and make it!

I also started working out again (stopped for a while because I was sick) - and it's pretty pathetic how out of shape I am! I am also quite sore today so at least I did something to my body. Goal for the next few weeks is to get into shape! Probably with yoga (vinyasa - my favorite!) and picking up ballet again. I can't wait! 

What are you looking forward to?

Gwyneth's Turkey Bolognese Recipe:

Ingredients:
5–6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
3/4 pound Italian turkey sausage, cut into 4-inch-long links
1 pound ground turkey (ideal to use dark meat)
Coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 medium yellow onions, peeled and finely diced (about 2 cups)
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
Two 28-ounce cans whole peeled tomatoes with their juice
1/3 cup tomato paste
Cooked rigatoni, for serving (3/4 box)
Grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pan over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, turning now and then, until browned all over, about 10 minutes. Remove the sausage to a plate and add the ground turkey to the pan along with a healthy pinch of salt and a few fresh grinds of pepper. Cook, stirring here and there, for 10 minutes, or until nicely browned. Remove to a separate plate. Add another 2 or 3 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan and add the onion and garlic. Cook these until softened and just beginning to brown, another solid 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and their juice along with about 1/2 cup of water that you’ve swished in the cans to get all the tomato out of them. Add the ground turkey, stir the sauce well, and nestle in the sausages. Bring the sauce to a boil, season to taste with salt and pepper, and turn the heat to low. Cover almost completely with a lid (let the steam escape from one side) and gently simmer for 4 hours (incidentally, this is a great time to use a flame tamer if you have one), adding splashes of water every hour or so if the sauce is at all drying. Uncover the sauce and stir in the tomato paste, barely cover, and simmer for one more hour.
2. When it's about ready for serving, bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and salt generously. Drop the rigatoni in and cook according to package directions.
3. Serve the sauce over the cooked rigatoni with a nice grating of Parmesan on top.

Serves 4 with enough for leftovers

I haven't posted about food in a while, but I came across these diet-friendly, homemade pizza recipes that look DELICIOUS - and are all under 400 calories. Who can resist? My favorites are (warning: your mouth may actually water when looking at these photos...):

  Basil and Tomato Pizza

Image by Quentin Bacon via

A classic Cheese Pizza! (Now is when I start drooling...)

Image by Randy Mayor via

356 calories, mozzarella and parmesan

Which one's got you drooling? Click on the links for the full recipes!

Happy Food Friday! :)

I love Self magazine - I've subscribed for years, and even though admittedly I don't always exercise or eat the right thing, I appreciate that I have the means to if I really wanted to! haha Anyway, last week I actually cooked for the first time in a LONG time! I've had my eye on their healthy pasta recipes for months, and I chose the farfalle one to make first, and, bonus - it has only 350 calories per bowl!

I didn't put scallions or parsley in it since I don't like either (although I do like scallion pancakes...), but other than that I did exactly as the recipe states. One thing I learned is...next time I need to use a bigger pan!! It's delicious though, and I made the whole recipe so that I could bring it to work for lunch and have ready-made-food for dinner. 

The recipe:
(Serves 4)

Ingredients:
1/2lb whole-wheat farfalle
1 tbsp olive oil
2 anchovies, chopped
1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
10oz (about 2 cups) sliced baby portobello mushrooms
6 scallions, chopped (skipped this)
1/2 cup dry white wine (I used a pinot grigio)
1 can (5oz) chunk light tuna in oil, drained
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (I also skipped this!)

Preparation: (Numbers correspond to the photos, above)
Cook pasta as directed on package, drain and set aside.

1. In a large saute pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook anchovies with rosemary, stirring, until anchovies dissolve, 2 minutes.
2. Add mushrooms and scallions; cook, stirring frequently, until mushrooms brown, 4-5 minutes.
3. Stir in wine; cook until liquid is syrupy, 1-2 minutes.
4. Stir in and break up tuna, 1 minute.
5. Add pasta and stir to combine; cook until just heated through, 1-2 minutes.
6. Stir in parsley; serve immediately. (I skipped the parsley and added in some shaved parmesan cheese - would have used grated, but I didn't have any on hand.)

The Skinny:
350 calories per bowl, 8g fat (1g saturated), 48g carbs, 6g fiber, 21g protein