‘Fake’ Spaghetti, Gourmet Lemon Herb Salad, Mocha Chocolate Cake
One of my favourite comfort foods is one that we had commonly when I was growing up: ‘Fake’ Spaghetti. It gets its name from being a simple dish of spaghetti noodles, butter, and tomato paste. No tomatoes, no sauce, no special ingredients. It’s a budget-friendly, delicious meal that makes me feel like a kid when I eat it. Sometimes, though, I like to dress it up. This mix included lentils, marinated artichokes, garlic-stuffed olives, fresh tomatoes, sea salt, and a dash of Frank’s Red Hot!
Unfortunately for Dallas, I over-cooked the lentils. I only had a small scoop of them in my dish, making sure to give the extra protein to my man. Next time, I will make sure to cook them in vegetable broth and be careful not to make them so mushy…oopsy.
The salad I served was simple and delicious, tossed with olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and a fresh squeezed lemon. A sprinkle of Epicure Selections Lemon Dilly Dip Mix and a bit of S & P made a perfect combo of flavours.
Dallas also picked up a package of Mrs. May’s Blueberry Almond Fruit & Nut Crunchy Toppers to add to our salad. TO DIE FOR <3 Nice find, Dallas!
Wanna know something else? Since we’ve both been working hard at the gym and trying to eat smaller portions, I decided to weigh our pasta before cooking it. A serving size is 85 grams, and I was reeeaaally surprised to see what two servings looks like! Our bowls of pasta looked small when dinner came, only because we were used to eating about 4 servings EACH {No wonder I packed on the love pounds!}. I was also surprised that we both felt satisfied after dinner, even though there was less pasta than I usually cook. We filled up on salad, enjoyed the pasta, and it felt really good. I don’t think losing weight means cutting out foods you love. I think we all just need to be smarter about it ;)
A few hours later, I was wanting chocolate {what else is new??}. I remembered Katie’s Single-Serving Mocha Chocolate Cake and HAD to make it in my mini cocettes! I texted Dallas at work to ask if he wanted one:
Results? Rich, decadent, delicious. Exactly what I was craving. We don’t have instant coffee, so I just used finely ground espresso beans and they worked perfectly. Since we don’t have a microwave, into the toaster oven it went. Also, it might not look totally baked, but that’s because I was too damn impatient to wait for it. Totally cool with eating half-baked batter. Such an amazing indulgence <3
Btw, it’s been almost two weeks since we started working out and going to the gym together: I checked at the 10 day mark, and I’ve lost 2lbs. Even while eating pasta and cake! Again, you don’t have to cut out the foods you love. You just gotta be smart about them ;)
Anyhoo, want a recipe? How about two?
From my kitchen to yours <3
Fake Spaghetti:
Ingredients:
2 servings whole wheat spaghetti noodles, dry
2 tsp vegan butter
1 small can tomato paste
1/2 cup lentils, cooked
2 marinated artichoke hearts, sliced
1/4 cup tomato, diced
4 garlic-stuffed olives, sliced
sea salt, to taste
optional: fresh or dried basil, oregano, etc., to taste
Directions:
1. Prepare spaghetti noodles according to package directions. When cooked, drain water and return noodles to pot.
2. Melt vegan butter into the warm noodles, stirring well. Immediately stir in the tomato paste and mix until noodles are coated.
3. Toss all remaining ingredients with pasta. Split evenly into two bowls and serve!
Gourmet Lemon Herb Salad
Ingredients:
1/2 head green leaf lettuce, chopped
1/2 bunch fresh spinach, chopped
2 medium carrots, sliced
1/2 medium zucchini, sliced
2 radishes, sliced
1/2 medium tomato, diced
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice, from one lemon
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp Epicure Selections Lemon Dilly Dip Mix
sea salt & black pepper, to taste
1/3 cup Mrs. May’s Blueberry Almond Fruit & Nut Crunchy Toppers
Directions:
1. Toss together green leaf lettuce, spinach, carrots, zucchini, radishes, and tomato.
2. Drizzle olive oil, lemon juice, & apple cider vinegar over salad mix. Sprinkle in Epicure seasoning, sea salt, & black pepper. Toss well.
3. Lastly, sprinkle Mrs. May’s Fruit & Nut Toppers onto the salad. Ta da! Gourmet salad. Enjoy!
peace, love, food <3
Char, xo
Categories: Salads | 21 Comments
Mmmmm that cake looks delicious! I slowly get to reintroduce food…once I get to the sugar mark I will definitely be making a gf one of those!
I am queen of overcooking lentils. I don’t use them often due to that haha. I’m not a huge pasta fan, but yours looks so good I am craving it. Artichokes belong on everything.
yaaayy, glad you’re getting to reintroduce food now. What are you able to eat now?
I agree- artichokes belong in pasta, on pizza, in salads, sandwiches…so good. I am so bad at overcooking lentils, haha. I will try to watch them better next time
Oohh, and I did make the cake gluten-free! I used oat flour and sweet rice flour
yumm!!
Love recipes that are SO easily gf adaptable!
It’s a slow process reintroducing foods. It starts with milk, then yogurt, then cheese….so it’s awhile before I get to the good stuff. I don’t consume much dairy but it will be good to know if I should be completely avoiding it! I would kill for a glass of wine though! ;)
oohhh gosh, no wine! hopefully you can figure out your allergies soon and get back to feeling normal ;)
I love Katie’s recipes SO MUCH. And this recipe was delicious! I like the way you made it…. I should try it like that. It looks so indulgent!
Thank you! I agree- I’ve made so many of her recipes!
Love the random mix of ingredients in that pasta! Such a yummy dinner! That recipe of Katie’s is on my list of things to make as soon as I am off this cleanse haha – cannot wait! It looks delish!
Thank you, Anna! It was a yummy dinner
How much longer do you have left on your cleanse? I did one once before, for 28 days. Intense! But it reconnects you with good food <3
I love how you got creative with that pasta dish! I usually add the simple tomato sauce and some veggies.. Thanks for the new ideas!
thank you, Shannon! I usually do the same, starting with a tomato sauce and adding veggies and spices. It’s fun to experiment
Oh my goodness I wish we had something yummy like this growing up. My mum’s specialty was hamburgers(frozen meat patty, fake cheese and burger bun all microwaved together), and fish boil in the bag. This is literally a premade fish casserole that you heated up in the microwave in its bag – ewwwww.
hahaha ewww, so glad my mom hated fish!
we ate Kraft Dinner, Hamburger Helper, fast food…lots of pasta, cheese, and meat. Not far off, haha. To be fair to my mom, I didn’t really like a lot of veggies, though
Oh my, that salad looks crazy delicious!! And love that text. haha.
Thanks Annie! The text made me giggle
had to share, haha
I am a firm believer that you don’t need to cut out foods if you are looking to lose weight. Just do exactly as you said – be smarter about portions and exercise regularly!
All of this looks delicious. I just had spaghetti last night, one of my fave meals! But I need to have my Prego sauce, I love it so much. And I’m pretty sure I ate at least two portions
I grew up with Prego sauce! So good. That and Ragu. Mmmm now I want more spaghetti…I actually made more for dinner tonight, haha!
I have my days (often) with double portion sizes. Wait ’til you see the pudding pie I’m posting! Definitely had double portions of that
Yum yum yum … spaghetti is the way to this girl’s heart!
hehe same here! it’s long been one of my favourite foods
we tried your salad today and we were pleased except I went to two places and could not find toppers, so where in nanaimo can we get that? otherwise great recipe and the soup also was definite repeat
yay! So glad you liked the salad and soup recipes, Bev
Dallas said he found the toppers at Quality Foods, near the croutons. They’re reeaally yummy!!