ArcaMax

All About that Baste

When I was little my mother didn’t play with me. That’s not what moms did. Moms did mom stuff. My mother hardly ever sat down. She was always buying food, preparing a meal, doing dishes, doing laundry, ironing clothes and cleaning. That’s what moms did. Besides, I was number five of seven. I had plenty of playmates. I never noticed my mom didn’t play with me. She read to me sometimes but she never played.

My mother allowed me to do a lot! She let me bake cookies. She let me make peanut clusters at Christmas. She let me decorate the tree as soon as I was old enough to get on a ladder. I was pretty much spoiled rotten, my mother allowed me to do so much.

I will forever be grateful for how I was treated by my mother. I never felt neglected, lost, or barely even unhappy. I was held in high regard. She never talked down to me or made me feel unloved. She was a wonder. But my mom was not like this mom. And my dad was not like this dad…

Read full column at planzdiet.com

Creamy Pasta Bake with Leftover Turkey

Related Recipes at PlanZdiet.com:

Pizza Lasagna
Authentic Italian Meatballs

Servings: Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 Tbl of olive oil
2 cups of bite-sized turkey bits or shreds
8 oz of assorted mushrooms. I used shitake and cremini (baby bellas). Both of these mushrooms pack a big flavor punch but you can use any mushrooms you like.
1/3 cup of diced onion (I use Vidalia)
1 tsp of Italian seasoning
2 tsp of minced garlic (jar garlic will do)
1.5 cups of mascarpone cheese. Look for mascarpone in the fancy cheese section or near the cream cheese. It comes in white, plastic tubs at most places. You’ll need one and a half of the 8 oz tubs.
¼ cup of half and half
Sea salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup of bread crumbs
1 Tbl of butter
1/3 cup of grated parmesan cheese
Enough cooked pasta to cover the bottom of a casserole dish. This can be any kind of pasta you prefer: rigatoni, penne, macaroni or even spaghetti. About 1 cup of dry pasta (or less) will be enough when you cook it to cover the bottom of the casserole. This secret is how you keep down the amount of carbs in this dish.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cook your pasta in boiling water until done. Drain and set aside. Measure the amount of cooked pasta you will be using by spreading it in the bottom of the casserole dish. No more needed.

While the pasta is cooking you can make your other filling.

In a large saute pan add the olive oil and put in the onion and mushrooms. Saute on medium until the onion is cooked and the mushrooms just begin to brown. Add garlic and Italian seasoning and stir. Add the mascarpone and cream. Heat on low until the mascarpone melts. Stir often to speed up this process. Add the turkey and your pasta. Stir. Season with grated sea salt and pepper. Pour the mixture into your casserole.

In a small sauce pan, add the breadcrumbs and butter. Stir and melt the butter so the crumbs are coated in butter. Take off heat and add the grated parmesan.

Sprinkle this mixture over the top of the casserole.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes so it gets hot and the breadcrumb topping gets crunchy.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola