Our New Addition!

Meet Jazzy, the new addition to our family. As you may have read, we lost our Kitty a little while back. We missed having a pet around, so we adopted our new little guy from the Kitten Connection. They rescue cats and foster them until they can find homes for them. Jazzy was 8 weeks old when we got him, all grey with a little white on his neck. He grew very comfortable very quickly in his new home. He is very playful and affectionate, and lots of fun. He is also a polydactyl cat, which means he has extra digits, which for him resulted in thumbs on his front paws. Here are a few more pictures of Jazzy for you to enjoy!

BLT Pasta

I love Racheal Ray, I always find some good recipes from her. This is my version of a recipe she made on her talk show one day. It is also one of my husbands favorite meals!

Ingredients:

1 pound spaghetti or angel hair pasta
6 slices pancetta, sliced about 1/2"-3/4" thick. Then dice.
1 small red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, or 2 tsp garlic paste
3 small packages grape or cherry tomatoes
1 14.5 oz can crushed or diced tomatoes
1 can sliced black olives
1 cup dry white wine ( I usually use either leftover chardonnay, or buy a cheaper brand of it)
handful or 2 of grated parmesan cheese
1 bunch fresh basil
arrugala

In large heated skillet, brown up pancetta. No need to add oil, there is plenty of fat on the pancetta. Once it starts to brown, add red onion. Once the onion has softened, add the black olives and garlic or garlic paste and stir. Add the grape or cherry tomatoes, and cover. Let simmer until tomatoes start to burst. Once they burst, add white wine and stir. Add canned tomatoes, and parmesan cheese. Add fresh chopped basil. Simmer covered while spaghetti or angel hair is cooking. Drain pasta, and mix with tomato mixture. Dress plate with a bed of arrugala, add pasta, add a little more arrugala and serve.

Cioppino!

I recently found a great recipe for cioppino in the Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook. Here is the recipe:

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup water
10 oz boneless firm white fish (hake, monkfish, tilefish) I used cod loin.
12 medium littleneck clams
12 medium mussels, scrubbed and debearded
8 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

In a large nonstick saucepan over medium heat, heat the oil. Saute the onion, bell pepper, and garlic until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, wine, tomato paste, parsley, pepper, basil, oregano, bay leaf, and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Add fish; simmer uncovered, 3-5 minutes. Add the clams and mussels; simmer, covered, 3-5 minutes. Add the shrimp; simmer, covered until the clams and mussels are open and the shrimp is pink, 3-5 minutes. Discard any unopened clams and mussels and the bay leaf.

Makes 4 servings
Per serving: 261 calories, 7g fat, 1g sat fat, 0g trans fat, 39 mg Cholesterol, 526mg sodium, 14g carbs, 2g fiber, 26g protein

Point Value=5

You can serve as is, or serve it over pasta like I did. I used angel hair pasta. Would also be good with whole wheat pasta. This dish was really easy to make and my family loved it!