Penne with Beef and Arugula

Ingredients:
1 pound New York strip steak
1 lb penne pasta
1 teaspoon herbs de Provence
1 minced clove of garlic
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt & pepper
1/4 cup chopped basil
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 cups chopped arugula

Season the steak with salt, pepper, herbs de Provence, and minced garlic.

In a skillet, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat.

Cook steak about 7-9 minutes each side

Remove the meat from pan and let it rest for at least 5 minutes

Slice the steak

Cook pasta until al dente

Drain pasta, reserving 1/4 cup of pasta water

In a bowl, whisk together the balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, fresh herbs, and 3/4 cup olive oil.

In a large bowl, toss the pasta with one half the salad dressing and the reserved pasta water.

Toss together the pasta, arugula, and steak. Add more dressing, and season with salt and pepper to taste

Strawberry Cream Cheese Stuffed French toast

This was my sister's favorite thing when she was pregnant with her second child.





Ingredients:


filling:
8 oz cream cheese at room temperature
2 tablespoons strawberry preserves
4 eggs


1/2 Cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 slices of challah bread or some other thick sliced bread
butter





-In a bowl mix the cream cheese and preserves, until smooth
-In another bowl whisk together eggs, milk and extract. Pour into a pie plate.
-Carefully slice a pocket into the side of each slice of bread. Do not cut all the way through, you just want a pocket.
-Fill pocket with cream cheese mixture
-Heat skillet to med heat and melt butter
-Dip the filled bread into the egg mixture and brown in skillet on both sides


Serve with warm syrup.

Tortellini Soup

This is my favorite quick soup for cold days. Enjoy with a crusty roll or make Parmesan toasts. This is my husbands favorite soup and that is good for me because it is so easy, quick and I usually have all the ingredients on hand!

Ingredients:
1 package cheese tortellini
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
1/2 medium yellow onion
1 32oz carton of beef stock
olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
chopped parsley
parmesan cheese

Place enough olive oil in stock pot to coat the bottom.
Add the chopped onions, carrots, celery, salt & pepper (add a light amount of salt because you have a lot of sodium in the broth, you can always add more later) and cook until soft
Add broth and bring to a boil
Place tortellini in and cook until tortellini is done ( a couple of minutes)
Add more salt & pepper if desired, add a handful of parmesan cheese and parsley

Enjoy!