Creamy Vodka Pasta Sauce

 One of my fond memories from college was serving on my sorority’s executive board.  Despite being a while ago this blog recipe was inspired by a memory from that time.  While on the Exec Board we would occasionally invite fraternity exec boards over to discuss upcoming events and we would cook dinner.  One of those times we made a vodka pasta sauce that I absolutely loved.  Unfortunately I never got ahold of that recipe, but I decided to  try my hand at making it this weekend.  It was super easy and turned out just the way I like it!  The alcohol in the vodka burns off and it leave the sauce with a great little zing to it.  Enjoy!

Creamy Mushroom Pasta with Caramelized Onions and Spinach

Pasta…the dish that can instantly put you in a good mood.  A few months ago I was traveling a good amount and when it finally came to an end, I went in search of a comfort food recipe.  I stumbled across this one on Pintrest and LOVED it!  Such great flavors with the caramelized onions, mushrooms and spinach.  The directions and ingredients seem a bit long, but don’t let it scare you away, it is a pretty easy dish to make.  With another blast of polar air heading to the Midwest this week, I would definitely suggest adding it to the dinner rotation this week.  Enjoy!

Italian Meatballs

The first official day of fall!  Although I am sad to see summer fading away, I am very excited for fall…one of the best times of the year.  Changing leaves, cooler temperatures, pumpkin spice lattes, and the return of football season.  With the cooler temps comes the urge to cook some classic comfort recipes and I decided to make an attempt at mastering the art of Italian meatballs.  From what I read, texture of the meatball is just as important as the taste.  I cannot even begin to describe how awesome they turned out! Even though I made quite a few, they were super easy to freeze and are just as good when reheated again (a great thing to come home to after a long week of traveling).  I paired them with spaghetti, but I could also see serving them with hoagie buns and parmesan cheese for a zesty meatball sub (great for watching football with friends on the weekend).  Enjoy!

Classic Macaroni Salad

Two of my favorite people came to town to visit…one of my greatest friends, Katherine, and my boyfriend (even though he doesn’t know it) Justin Timberlake came in for his concert.  With Katherine being a former Chicagoan, it was an easy weekend, touring some of our favorite hangout places, finding some new cute (and reasonably priced boutiques), and probably indulging a little too much in wine, but hey…that’s what you do with friends.  

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Man, time can fly sometimes and the past few weeks have been GREAT.  I got to hang out in Cincinnati for a weekend with friends and see the old stomping grounds.  Lots of fun, laughs, coffee,  walks, food, wine, smores  and maybe even a tear or two from me (I blame it on the wine).   Sometimes it can be hard to have your closest friends spread across the country, but when we get together it is that much more fun.  I got to see my two favorite dogs in Cinci, Hank & Lucy who gave me lots of doggy kisses.   

Spaghetti Pie

Recently I have been on a “tour de Klindt Family Recipes” so that I can 1. Indulge myself a bit and 2. Get all the recipes written and photographed to share with all of you!  This one was introduced to our family when my little brother was born (if I am remembering the story correctly).  A friend of my mom’s dropped off a frozen casserole of spaghetti pie to my parents to help them out a little bit when our family expanded to 3 kids (outnumbering our parents).  

Creamy Chicken and Spinach Pasta

Nothing cheers me up more than being curled up on the couch while HUGE snowflakes fall outside the window on a Sunday afternoon while doing a little work.  Each January at PepsiCo, the insights teams are working to analyze what happened the prior year…the good, the bad, and the ugly to inform future strategy.  This usually entails a few later night work days.  Since cooking is a release for me after a long day, I try and have quick options on hand that I can throw together....something ‘Real Simple.’  That is exactly where I found this recipe, in Real Simple, one of my favorite magazines.   I tend to find a good amount of recipes in there that include rotisserie chicken as an ingredient to make cooking times quicker.  If you plan correctly over the weekend, you can have rotisserie chicken with some greens as a side and then use the leftovers the next night in a dish like this…two dinners in one!  I definitely recommend to use gemelli…it is a nice change from the basic penne.  Enjoy!

Baked Mac & Cheese

T-Minus 9 months.  That is the time I have left to whip my booty back into shape for Ann’s Wedding.  Actually, in exactly 9 months I will probably be suffering through hangover as it will be the day after Ann and Matt’s wedding, but I digress.  While I was at home for the holidays I had one of those moments when everything clicked.  I knew I was going to be stress free from work for almost two weeks and I would have zero excuses to not work out.  Libby was heading back to her family for Christmas so she left her dog Moxley in our care, making him a great buddy to kick-start my workouts and go for long power walk/jog.  Despite getting caught in a down pour and pretty cold temps, Mox and I had a great time.  I am proud to say that I have kept up my workouts even after returning to reality (aka work).