Recipe: Sausage and Vegetable Penne

I LOVE garlic. It's possible I might have been Italian in a past life (I definitely wasn't a vampire!), but regardless of the reason, I would happily incorporate garlic into every meal.

And, unlike my passion for chocolate cheesecake, this love is actually healthy! Garlic has been found to have multiple health benefits that are best released when the cloves are crushed or chopped prior to cooking. So, in addition to adding amazing flavor and aroma to your meals, cooking with garlic will also provide a healthy dose of antioxidants and could potentially help your body fight off cancer and heart disease!

That's one of the reasons I love this recipe - it's loaded with antioxidants. Oh, and it's delicious.

Loaded with healthy green veggies and whole wheat pasta, this recipe features smokey turkey sausage, fragrant garlic and healthy fats in the form of olive oil. It's a quick, easy week-night recipe, and is also highly adaptable - so you can easily adjust it to fit whatever you have in your pantry or fridge. Feel free to mix it up with the vegetables of your choice (it's delicious with zuchinni when in season!), or swap out the penne for whatever pasta you happen to have on hand. Just be sure to adjust the cooking times accordingly.

Sausage and Vegetable Penne
Serves 4

Ingredients
8 oz. whole wheat penne
2 c. broccoli, chopped into florets
2 c. cut green beans, fresh or frozen (if using frozen, thaw under hot water prior to cooking)
8 oz. smoked turkey sausage, thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tbsp. of olive oil, divided
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to package instructions. When 2-3 minutes remain, add chopped broccoli to boiling water and continue cooking. Drain, return to cooking pot and toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Cover and set aside.

Add two tablespoons of olive oil to sauté pan over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add minced garlic, sliced sausage and green beans to pan, and sauté until green beans are heated through and sausage is browned.

Combine pasta and broccoli with sautéed sausage, garlic and green beans, and stir until thoroughly mixed. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve with grated parmesan, if desired.

Goal #2: Eat Better

I just cannot get behind a "diet." And there's always a good reason.

Calorie counting? Math is not my thing.
Atkins? Um, bread?
Clean eating? Well, I can't give up white sugar, because that's what chocolate is made of.
Paleo? I like dairy too much.
Vegetarian? I like beef, and chicken, and pork, and fish.
Vegan? See above.

Oh, and wine. Wine applies to all of them.

But on my quest to get my pre-baby body back, I realized that I really need to clean up my diet. I no longer have the excuse of a second human or breastfeeding to justify copious calories throughout the day, but being home with the baby most of the time also means I'm constantly tempted to snack on junk food. So my second goal is to eat better.

I decided that my definition of "eating better" is not going to strictly follow any diet or eating plan. Instead, I'm going to focus on improving my meals by:

1. Drinking one full glass of water before eating.
When I was pregnant, I was a water drinking machine. My pre-term labor scares left me with two of the huge white hospital mugs, and I would chug down at least three of those every day! But since having Little Pants, I seem to be forgetting to hydrate. This goal will help me up my water intake, and supposedly will help temper hunger and discourage overeating.

2. Including at least two vegetables.
This one may take some creativity, because Sexy Pants tends to be pretty selective about his vegetable intake. But if I can find some good recipes that introduce a little more variety, I think we'll both benefit!

3. Focusing on lean proteins.
My regular meal rotation seems to rely on two things: chicken and beef. I'm going to try to draw in some protein variety, while keeping it lean. I'm also going to get creative with non-meat proteins - muahahaha (that's my evil scientist laugh, FYI)!

4. Subbing wheat for white.
Our household doesn't have any gluten considerations, so our starch options are pretty broad. However, we've become very accustomed to yummy, processed, unhealthy white flour goods! Again, I know Sexy Pants will probably resist this one, so it may not happen with every recipe - but I'm going to attempt to sub wheat and whole grain options as much as possible!

5. Sticking to reasonable portions.
I tend to eyeball amounts, which is a very bad thing because I also happen to be a very poor estimator. I know what a cup measure looks like, but translating that to my plate is a joke. If you were to actually measure my definition of a "cup" on any given day, you'd probably get results anywhere from a 1/2 cup to a quart. Not kidding. So one thing that I'm going to attempt with my meals from now forward is to actually research appropriate portions, and use them!

My "eating better" section of the blog is going to be dedicated to sharing great recipes that meet these criteria! While some may align to particular "diets" (like Paleo, for example), I'm not going to strictly adhere to any dietary requirements other than what is listed above. Some will be original recipes while others may be tried and true favorites found elsewhere - but you can rest assured that all will be scrupulously tested by both myself and my picky (though he denies it) hubby! I'll happily include his reviews as well, in case you also happen to be eternally joined to a very selective eater.

So if your goal is also to eat better, this will be a great place to find some additional options to add to your menu. Hopefully you'll enjoy them as much as we do!