RECIPE: Slightly-Lighter Bacon and Broccoli Alfredo

I admit it - I've always loved Alfredo sauce (back when I was a kid and we'd go to Red Lobster, I'd almost always get the Lobster Alfredo). Even though I love it, a traditional Alfredo sauce uses heavy cream, which makes for a *really* rich dish.

My version of Alfredo sauce uses a combination of light cream and milk (plus a bit of flour to thicken it up). The bacon and broccoli are perfect flavour complements for the sauce. This dish comes together really quickly, so it's perfect for a busy weeknight meal. Serve it with a nice big salad on the side to round things out.

Ingredients:
1 lb spaghetti or fettucine noodles (you could also use a spiral pasta like rotini or fusilli)
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups light (10%) cream
1 1/2 cups milk (use whole milk if you have it on hand)
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
8 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 bunch broccoli, chopped into bite-sized bits

Instructions:

• Cook pasta in boiling water until done; drain thoroughly and return to pot.

• Steam broccoli until tender-crisp and keep warm.

• While pasta cooks, in a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and stir until flour is well combined with butter.

• Slowly whisk in the cream until mixture is smooth. Add the milk and salt and continue cooking over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. Stir in the Parmesan cheese.

• Pour sauce over pasta, stirring to coat well. Add the bacon and broccoli and mix gently until well combined with pasta. 

Serve with additional Parmesan cheese for sprinkling, if desired.

Serves 4 as a main course.

For more simple, tasty and family-friendly recipes like this one, check out my book: Cheap Appétit: The Complete Guide to Feeding Your Family for Less Than $400 a Month (While Eating Better Than You Ever Thought Possible)

Love what you read here? Find out how you can help support this blog. 

Want to stay connected in between blog posts?

Click HERE to follow me on Pinterest 

Click HERE to follow me on Twitter

Click HERE to like Abundance on a Dime on Facebook and get updates and tips on living frugally

Click HERE to like Cheap Appétit on Facebook and get updates and tips on frugal eating and cooking

RECIPE: Lemony Chicken & Spinach Pasta

It'll be a while yet before we'll be eating fresh spinach from our garden (the nighttime temperatures are still dipping well below zero degrees Celsius, so I won't be planting anytime soon!). Still, this dish says "spring" to me, even though it's easily enjoyed year-round. It's best to have all the ingredients prepped and ready to go, as this dish comes together quickly once you start cooking.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb uncooked spaghetti noodles
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
meat from about 5-6 uncooked chicken thighs or drumsticks, cut into 1/2" pieces
4 oz cream cheese, cubed
1/2 cup light cream (milk will do if you don't have any on hand)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
juice and zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped, or 2 tsp dried
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 bunch spinach, chopped
extra Parmesan cheese for sprinkling

Instructions:
In a large pot of boiling water, cook pasta until tender. Drain.

While pasta is cooking, saute the onion and garlic in oil until they start to soften. Add the chicken pieces and cook until no traces of pink remain. Add the cream cheese and cook for a couple of minutes until it starts to melt. Add the cream, Parmesan, lemon, basil, salt and pepper and simmer for a few minutes until cream cheese is completely melted and sauce is smooth. Add the spinach, cover, and simmer for a few minutes until spinach melts. Toss sauce with cooked pasta and serve immediately with extra Parmesan on the side for sprinkling.

Hungry for more pasta? Try these dishes:
Spicy Chickpea Pasta
Thai-Style Peanutty Pasta
Italian-Style Baked Pasta
Cheesy Mac & Beef Skillet
Spinach & Parmesan Pasta Bake

I shared this recipe at Tasty Tuesday, Full Plate Thursday, Recipe Swap Thursday, Frugal Food Thursday, Fat Camp Friday, the GCC Recipe Swap, Friday Favorites and This Week's Cravings.

RECIPE: Spinach & Parmesan Pasta Bake

Any kind of baked pasta is sure to be a hit at my house. One day when I was trying to come up with a way to use up half a bag of spinach I invented this dish. If you happen to have some leftover ham, chop it fine and stir it into the pasta when you add the sauce and spinach mixture.

Ingredients:

1 lb of fusilli or rotini pasta
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 a 900 g bag of spinach (about a pound), thoroughly washed and chopped
2 1/2 tbsp flour
2 1/2 tbsp butter
2 1/2 cups milk
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Topping:
Grated mozzarella cheese OR breadcrumbs (about a cup, mixed with 2 tbsp olive oil)

Instructions:

Cook the pasta in boiling water until al dente; drain and return to cooking pot. While the pasta is cooking, saute the onion and garlic in a large frying pan until tender. Add the spinach and cook until it wilts (about 2-3 minutes). Remove from heat. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Add the flour and stir until it is fully incorporated with the fat. Slowly add the milk, stirring constantly over medium-low heat (a whisk is ideal for this). Once the sauce has thickened (this might take a few minutes), add the nutmeg, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Add the sauce and the spinach mixture to the pasta and stir until well combined. Turn into a lasagna pan. If topping with cheese, bake at 375F covered with foil for 20 minutes, remove from oven and sprinkle cheese on top, then bake uncovered a final 5 minutes. If topping with breadcrumbs, sprinkle on before baking, then bake for 25 minutes or until browned and bubbly.

Makes 6 servings.

I shared this recipe at Tasty Tuesday.

RECIPE: Cheesy Mac & Beef Skillet

I know this week's going to be a hectic one for many families as kids go back to school, so I thought I'd post one of my quickest, easiest one-dish-dinner recipes to help make mealtime a little smoother during this week of transition!

1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp canola or other light vegetable oil
3/4 to 1 lb ground beef
1 1/4 cups milk
1 1/4 cups water
1 1/2 cups uncooked macaroni
1 cup salsa
1 tsp each salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups frozen peas, green beans or mixed vegetables (or use up leftover cooked veggies from the fridge!)
1 to 1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese

In a large frying pan, saute the onion and garlic in oil. Add the ground beef and cook until no trace of pink remains. Add milk, water, macaroni, salsa, salt, pepper and vegetables. Stir to mix well, then cover and simmer on medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until macaroni is tender (you may need to add a bit more water if the mixture starts to dry out too much). Once macaroni is cooked, stir in cheese and serve! Serves 4.

I shared this recipe at Tasty Tuesday, the GCC Recipe Swap, and Friday Favorites.

RECIPE: Baked Pasta

Baked pasta is one of the staple dishes at our household, so I can't believe I haven't shared the recipe here yet! It's a very quick and easy dish to put together, perfect for when you're having a low-energy day or have a busy schedule. Even though it's super-easy to make, the kids are always happy to see me pulling this out of the oven! Serve with cooked veggies or tossed salad on the side. If you have a bit more time and ambition, you can throw together some Pull-Apart Garlic & Parmesan Breadsticks to serve with this and your family will be in heaven!

Ingredients:
1 lb fusilli or rotini pasta
1 medium to large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
3/4-1 lb ground beef
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup light cream
2 cups (or more) grated mozzarella
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:
In large pot of boiling water, cook pasta until al dente, then drain thoroughly and pour into lasagna pan.

While pasta is cooking, in a large saucepan, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until tender. Add ground beef and cook until no trace of pink remains. Add basil, oregano, salt, pepper, crushed tomatoes, and about 1/3 of the tomato can of water (you can add a bit more or less, depending how thick you want your sauce). Simmer the sauce for a few minutes, then turn heat to low and add cream.

Gradually stir the tomato sauce into the pasta until you have the desired "sauciness" level (most of the time I have a little bit of sauce left over - you can use it to make a single serving of spaghetti or throw it into a pot of soup). Once the pasta and sauce are well combined, sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over top, then sprinkle with Parmesan. Be as generous as you can with the cheese; the nice crusty cheese layer on top is what really makes this dish!

Bake at 375F for about 30 minutes, or until nice and golden and crusty on the top.

I shared this recipe at Tasty Tuesday, the GCC Recipe Swap and Friday Favorites.

RECIPE: Thai-Style Peanutty Pasta

 All of us LOVE peanut butter around here! So I'm always looking for more ways to use it (especially when I've stocked up on it at rock-bottom prices). This is a great way to use peanut butter in a main dish. It's more substantial and filling than you might expect, and the combination of sweet, salty and spicy flavours characteristic of Thai cooking is oh-so-satisfying. Increase the amount of cayenne pepper if you'd like the sauce to have a bit more of a bite to it. You can substitute different vegetables based on what you have on hand - asparagus would work well in place of the broccoli (just saute it til tender-crisp before adding to the pasta).

8 oz spaghetti noodles
3 medium carrots, sliced into disks
1 bunch broccoli, chopped into bite-size florets
13 oz can coconut milk
3/4 cup peanut butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup soy sauce
juice and zest of 1 lime
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
3-4 green onions, sliced
1/2 cup chopped peanuts

In a large pot of boiling water, cook pasta and carrots, steaming the broccoli florets over the boiling water for the last few minutes of cooking time.

While pasta and vegetables are cooking, make the peanut sauce:
In a medium saucepan, heat coconut milk until it starts to bubble. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter, garlic, soy sauce, lime juice and zest, salt and cayenne pepper.

Once pasta and vegetables are cooked and drained, toss with the peanut sauce. Sprinkle green onions and peanuts over top and serve immediately.

Makes 4-6 servings.

This recipe is linked to Tasty Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, What's on the Menu Wednesday, and the GCC Recipe Swap.

The Value of Cooking Creatively

Cooking from scratch is almost always cheaper than eating out (unless you're cooking lobster and filet mignon at home!) But I think the skill that sets the really frugal cook apart from the rest is knowing how to "cook on the fly" and use what they've got on hand. This skill is the difference between always having to run out for one or two missing ingredients and easily substituting with what you've already got. It's also the difference between using up all those little bits and pieces hanging around in the fridge, or letting them all go to waste. Meredith at Like Merchant Ships recently commented on this when she was faced with astronomically priced celery and a desire to make chicken salad. What to do? Get creative!

In order to be really creative in the kitchen, a cook needs to be experienced enough to know what flavours and textures will work together well, and which will yield a less-than-edible result. Starting out with small substitutions and working towards more major ones will allow you to gradually test the waters and learn as you go without wasting too much food in the process.

Last night I was rooting around in the fridge and realized I still had quite a bit of my CSA veggies left from last week (and it was time to pick up more!) So my goal for dinner was to use up the most-likely-to-spoil-soon candidates and still produce something tasty. I had half a bag of spinach and 1/3 bunch fresh basil, as well as a bit of whipping cream lurking in the back of the fridge about to expire. I also had about half a dozen boneless, skinless chicken drumsticks I had bought on sale that I wanted to use up.

A plan started to develop as I surveyed my ingredients. I recalled a dish I had made several years ago from Anne Lindsay's Lighthearted Everyday Cooking that had similar flavours, but used scallops instead of chicken. Quickly rummaging through my cookbook pile, I located the recipe. Yes, it used spinach. I could sub chicken for scallops. The basil would work well with this combination. The original called for cream cheese and chicken broth, neither of which I had on hand (yes, they're both on my Pantry List, but I'm overdue for a grocery shop!) I combined the whipping cream with a bit of coffee cream, and figured that would be a reasonable substitution taste and texture wise since heavy cream will cling to pasta nicely. I decided to add some garlic (if you haven't noticed yet, I can't really live without it!) and more parmesan cheese than originally called for (only 2 tbsp!)

Here's what I came up with:

[My apologies for the rather ghastly photo - I found out my camera batteries were dead when I went to snap a pic. This was the best I could do with my hubby's cell phone camera!]

Lemony Chicken and Spinach Pasta
This ended up being a phenomenal hit with my husband - he gives it his highest rating! In case you're wondering (since there are 4 of us here) I made spaghetti with plain tomato sauce for my older son who is vegetarian (and doesn't like spinach, lol!)
Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 3 (could easily be doubled)

Ingredients:

1/2 lb spaghetti
2 tbsp olive oil
6 boneless, skinless chicken drumsticks, chopped into approx. 1/2" pieces
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream (if you don't have quite enough, you can add milk to get the right volume)
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
2 cups shredded spinach
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation:

1. Cook spaghetti in boiling water until al dente, drain.

2. While spaghetti is cooking, saute onions and garlic in olive oil for 1-2 minutes. Add chicken and cook until no trace of pink remains. Add basil and cook 1 minute longer, then add cream, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes until hot and bubbly.

3. Add spinach and Parmesan. Cook for 1-2 minutes, until spinach begins to wilt. Remove from heat.

4. Toss sauce and pasta together and serve immediately.

RECIPE: Spicy Chickpea Pasta

This is a great recipe to pull out when you're overdue for a grocery shop and need to dig deep in the pantry! This dish is vegetarian as long as you use vegetable rather than chicken stock.

Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
10-12 oz rotini pasta
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 a sweet pepper (red, yellow, or orange)
3/4 cup chicken or vegetable stock
Half a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
19 0z can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups frozen green beans
juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
2 tbsp dried parsley (or about 1/4 cup fresh chopped)

Preparation:
1. Cook the pasta in boiling water.

2. While the pasta is cooking, in a large frying pan, saute the garlic and onions in the olive oil until they start to soften. Add the sweet pepper and cook until tender.

3. Add the chicken stock, crushed tomatoes, chickpeas, green beans, lemon juice, chili powder, cumin, parsley, salt and pepper. Cook until hot and bubbly and the green beans are completed heated through.

4. Pour sauce over cooked pasta and serve!

RECIPE: Speedy Skillet Supper

This dish is one of my standbys for nights when I don't have the time or inclination to cook (like tonight, for instance!)

Speedy Skillet Supper (a.k.a. frugalista's hamburger helper)

1 tbsp olive or canola oil
1 onion, chopped
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
3/4 lb ground meat (I use turkey but pretty much anything would work-black beans is a good vegetarian option)
1 cup small pasta (macaroni or ditalini)
1 cup water
1 cup milk
1 cup salsa
1 1/2 cups frozen vegetables
generous 1 cup grated cheese (I use cheddar)

In large frying pan, saute onion and garlic in oil until tender. Add ground meat and cook until no trace of pink remains. Add pasta, water, milk, salsa and frozen vegetables. Simmer over medium heat until pasta is tender (you may need to add a bit more water if the mixture dries out too much before the pasta's cooked). Add cheese and stir until well mixed in and cheese is completely melted.

You can do lots of variations on this basic theme; for example, using diced tomatoes in place of salsa and mozzarella cheese, with some basil and oregano tossed in, would give it a very Italian flavour. You can also use a can of drained vegetables instead of the frozen ones. You can also use water in place of the milk if needed, however the milk adds both flavour and nutrition.