Pasta Fresca

I usually come home at around 8:20 on Monday evenings, and the last thing I want to do is cook dinner. Most likely, my dinner will come out of a box or the freezer and will be cooked and consumed in approximately 4 minutes.

Not yesterday, however. I'd been dreaming about Noodles & Co's Pasta Fresca all day. I had all but made up my mind to stop and get some on the way home...until I took a look at my bank account.

Being a poor college student means making sacrifices, and my Pasta Fresca was going to have to be one of them.

After some sadness and mourning, it finally hit me. I have ALL of the ingredients for Pasta Fresca right at home!

...so I made it. YUM.

Pasta Fresca
Inspired by Noodles & Co and adapted from gimme some oven

Saute Ingredients
6 oz pasta, pre-cooked (farfalle, or whatever you have available)
2 roma tomatoes, cut into chunks
1/3 red onion, large dice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
handful of baby spinach leaves
Parmesean Cheese

Fresca Sauce
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp white wine
2 tbsp chopped basil (or parsley, I just had basil on hand)
salt and pepper

Cook pasta until al dente, then drain and set aside. In large skillet, heat 2 tsp olive oil and saute garlic for 1 minute. Add tomatoes, onions, and pasta and saute for 4-5 minutes. As soon as the pasta begins to brown, add the spinach and fresca sauce and saute for 1-2 more minutes. Remove from heat, and serve hot with parmesean cheese on top.

*Note, if you'd like to add any type of protein, pre cook it and then add it to the skillet when you add the tomatoes and onions.

make it. it may change your life.

this is what i had for lunch today.

...it was spectacularly refreshing for this dull, rainy day.

Raspberry Mango Smoothie

1 frozen mango half
1 handful frozen raspberries
1 6 oz container dannon light and fit yogurt
1/4 cup OJ

Blend until awesome.

i've got to get better at posting things on time...

Sometimes I am punctual. When it's things like arriving to class and meetings and lunches, I'm right on time. When it's little chores (read: running errands or paying bills) or posting pictures or doing laundry, I'm the queen of procrastination. I'm not quite sure what it is, but anyway, here's some food that I've made recently.

Best intro to a blog post ever?

brownies with cookie dough topping. baked together into a gooey mess of decadent delicious-ness.

attempted creme brulee cupcakes for my friend John's birthday. Need some modifying, but were a yummy first attempt!

cookies I made for my friends who were moving. they lived at the 5-0-8 for the past year and have now taken their talents to the 1-4-0. hooray for moving!

just a close up because I love the design on the 0 :)



Today I'm going for a run! and it's raining. but I'm looking forward to a fun weekend!!

switching it up

It's summer now. Which means that I'm spending more time reading, sitting outside, taking the dreaded GRE, and hanging out with my friends than baking. It's unfortunate, I know, but sometimes I really don't want to be in the kitchen with a 400 degree oven. I made a frozen treat the other day, frozen chocolate covered banana bites. Partly inspired by something I saw on pinterest, and partly from Arrested Development. There's always money in the banana stand, right?

Mainly I wanted to post today to share another adventure with the few people that actually read my blog. I've wanted to be a runner forever, but always found it unenjoyable and boring. However, that all changed when I saw my good friend Allie back in May. She's a dedicated runner who just started her own blog and just ran her second half marathon! She is my new inspiration and with Skype chats and text messages, she's motivating me to run my first 5k when I'm home in July.

It's the perfect race, because it's for the Petit Family Foundation, an organization that is near and dear to my heart, as well as Allie's and the entire Porter's community. Hayley Petit, who graduated with the Porter's class of 2007, was senselessly murdered in her home along with her sister and mother in July 2007. Her father, a wonderful man, has dedicated his life to continuing the girl's legacy through raising money for MS, etc. The 5k is run every year, but this is the first year I'll be able to participate. I can't think of a better first race. If you want more information about the Petit Family Foundation or want to sponsor me in the race, email me at ashleyrose.mclaury@gmail.com!

So I'm totally still going to bake things. Don't worry. I'm planning a nectarine angel food cake for this weekend. I'm just also going to be running. And talking about that. Because I think this may be the only way to actually hold myself accountable.

Check out my friend Allie's blog! arunnersheart.wordpress.com!