Roasted Portabella and Tomato Penne Pasta

Hello bloggers! I feel like I have been out of the loop lately. After going back to work this past year, I have been running in all directions. I am not a new mom and have done the working mom drill before. In fact, I put in more hours when I had just one. But this time I am juggling two children which means two different schools. That equals twice the guilt for lack of volunteering!

But with the New Year, comes a new attitude and new resolutions! Here they are in order: First, I WILL blog more. Second, I won’t feel overwhelmed by the little things. Third, I will spearhead this family to better health!

It helps that my husband is also tired of being tired, eating on the go, and feels the same lack of focus on our health. We read a book called, “Engine Two Diet”. (It’s written by a fireman and he is making money off of a ‘diet’ that is essentially eating Vegan.) It also puts the focus on eating more whole grains, which I know is not a new concept.

I am happy to report so far, so good! My husband and I report feeling more natural energy (he was up to several Red Bulls a day), weight loss, and enjoying the taste of some new foods.

However I am not here to push a new diet. I just wanted to give some background to my newest recipe.

Instead of doing a fancy new recipe from our diet book, Andre convinced me that I needed to use what we had in the fridge and not get overwhelmed by the little things! Here it is:

Portabella Mushrooms and Tomatos:

*In a zip lock bag toss the Tomatos and Mushrooms with very little olive oil and seasoning. (Our new healthy favorite: Bragg Liquid Aminos and then smoked paprika, salt, pepper, dry thyme and parsley.)
*Roast the Tomato’s and Portabella Mushrooms in the oven on 325 for 40 mins and 400 for 10 mins.
*Grill up some Feild Roast or other Sausage substitute. Add some tomato sauce or we used tomato paste with garlic and vegtable stock. Add the roasted Tomatos.
*Serve over whole wheat Penne Pasta.

The side dish? Steamed Carrots puréed with vegetable broth and added seasoning (threw in some fresh ginger to be funky.)


Is this dish Kid approved? Well it was a draw. My sensitive 6 year old praised it (possibly to make me feel good) and my teething, picky 1 year old didn't touch it. This picture is why we had our second child. They love each other and keep one another entertained while we are cooking.


Did you notice all of the vegetable broth? With all the veggies we have in the house now it was easy to throw them all into a pot of water and simmer for 1 to 2 hours. I personally had an onion, several garlic cloves, celery, carrots, mushrooms, and ginger. You get to utilize the old veggies and save on buying the stock! I thew one of my jars in the freezer.

If you've made it this far in the post, I hope you picked up some inspiration as I know this isn't the most innovative recipe. More to come next month!