Recipe: Spaghetti with eggplant and tomato sauce

I just saw this recipe in the Woman's Day Magazine. It sure looks yummy!! I'm going to make it next week, hope its tasty. And its a perfect way to use some of our homegrown garden tomatoes

Spaghetti with Eggplant and tomato sauce
Active Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

INGREDIENTS
2 lb eggplant, diced (11 cups)
2 Tbsp salt (for soaking eggplant)
3 Tbsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 lb ripe tomatoes, peeled (if desired), seeded and chopped
2 Tbsp tomato paste
12 oz spaghetti or spaghettini
Oil for frying
1⁄4 cup chopped basil
1⁄4 cup grated ricotta salata orParmesan (see Tip)
Freshly ground black pepper and salt, preferably sea salt, to taste

PREPARATION
1. Put eggplant into a colander over a plate. Sprinkle with 2 Tbsp salt; toss. Set aside to drain 30 minutes. Rinse and pat dry with paper towels.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
3. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet. Add garlic and cook 1 to 2 minutes over medium-low heat until light golden. Add tomatoes and tomato paste; cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes soften and sauce is slightly thickened.
4. Meanwhile, when water comes to a boil, add pasta and cook as package directs.
5. While pasta cooks, heat 1⁄2 in. vegetable oil in another large skillet (you’ll use about 2 cups of oil). Add eggplant and fry until golden, about 8 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Stir eggplant into tomato sauce.
6. When pasta is cooked, reserve 2 Tbsp pasta cooking water, then drain. Return pasta to pot. Stir in sauce, reserved water, basil and cheese. Season with salt, pepper if desired.

Maxine’s Tip: Ricotta salata is cheese made from sheep’s milk that is salted and aged. Aged pecorino or feta cheese can be used instead.

Nutrition Facts
Yield 4 servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 594
Total Fat 21g
Saturated Fat 4g
Cholesterol 8mg
Sodium 657mg
Total Carbohydrates 89g
Dietary Fiber 10g
Protein 16g

Show us where you live - kids bedrooms

Kelly from Kelly's Korner is hosting another Show Us Where you Live Friday's. This week its kids bedrooms/Nursery.

Well my boys have been in a bedroom together since they were born. A month ago the boys came up to me and asked if they could have their own rooms. It totally broke my heart, but I said yes. We took apart their bunk beds and put them in their own rooms. I just finally found the perfect bedding for their "skateboard" room. Now I'm searching for 5 drawer dresser chests and nightstands. And its a HUGE painstaking task. So since their rooms are not totally complete, I didn't want to post pics of half done rooms. So I decided to past pics from their old room, which by the way was sooooo cute!!

So these pics are from two years ago when we redid their room into a Thomas the Tank room. I loved loved loved their Thomas mural and the bunk beds were perfect for my boys. But that was when they were 3, now that they are 5 they said they were too big for Thomas :(

my sweet boy on their bunk beds.

If you are interested in the Show us where you live series that Kelly at Kelly's Korner is hosting check out her blog at kellyskorner.com.

Have a blessed week!!!
Fran

My new favorite thing....

Gotta love summertime...warm weather, swimming, baseball and ice cream. I purchased these Cool Cones push up ice cream cones. They are reusable push up cones.

I purchased these from LTDCommodites.com. Just fill them with your favorite ice cream, sorbet, or I've been filling them with yogurt and fruit. Our boys love them!!!

Check them out!!
Fran

Show us where you live - Livingrooms

Kelly at Kellys Korner blog is hosting another Show Us Where you Live Friday again. I am a little late. I am lovin' taking a peek into other ppls homes and seeing their decorating styles. After last weeks kitchen addition of SUWYL I did a little sprucing up in my kitchen. We painted a green wall yellow, I put up some pictures and bought three apothocary jars (like Kelly's) filled with pears and pomegranates. The changes make our kitchen look fresh.

This week is livingrooms. Ours is small but cozy. I didn't take photos of our familyroom. I might later this weeek and add them to this post.



This is the livingroom view from our dining room.


This is the view from the top of our stairs. A few years ago we (I mean John) tore down
a half wall and his brother in law installed new railings for us. they are beautiful!!







This is table has my two favorite things on it right now. The digital photo frame
my parents got John and I for Christmas. The bottom left of the big frame is a
digital photo frame and the other three frames are for still pics. And on the second
shelf is my Ipod Touch docking station, it has a radio and CD player too. LOVE IT!!



We live in a bi-level house, so when you enter our home you either walk up 6 steps
or down 6 steps. And this is the shelf right above the door where we put cutsy knick knacks.
And at Chirstmas, Easter and Halloween we decorate it too.

Too participate check out Kelly's blog at http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/

Have a blessed week!!!
Fran

Show us where you live "Kitchen addition"

UPDATED: I decided to post a couple of updated pics of a few things I added and changed after seeing everyones beautiful kitchens.


After seeing Kelly's apothocary jars I ran out the next day and bought three....copy cat, I know. But they are just so beautiful. thanks for the idea Kelly


And this little display is in the corner of our kitchen counter.


Hubby painted this wall that was green a beautiful golden yellow, I LOVE it. It totally brightens up our kitchen, which is the heart of our home.


My friend Janine and I added these last week. they look perfect and have an uplifting message.


and one final pic. Ignore the black folding table, that was set up for a party we were having that evening. Thanks for looking!!!





Kelly at Kelly's Korner was hosting a Mr. Linky party yesterday, so I thought I would get on the bandwagon and post pics of our kitchen too. I love seeing pics of ppls homes. It gives me fresh decorating ideas. And I am in redecorating mode since we got back from vacation.

A few projects were going to be taking on over the next few months is re carpeting our stairs, tiling our entryway, re carpeting our boys new rooms, installing hardwood flooring in our office. Whew, that's a lot of stuff to do, thankfully my sweet hubby is handy and he'll be doing most of it.

Well here are a couple pics of our kitchen.

This is a pic from about two years ago, since we have painted a couple of the walls a golden yellow color.


and we have replaced the fridge with a side by side freezer on the bottom.


Here is our dining area. Love my table and chairs. the green wall is now the golden yellow and the wall with our french doors and breakfast bar is yellow too.


This is so true. I just picked this up at Kohls a few weeks ago.



I picked up these pictures at Hobby Lobby several years ago cuz I loved them so much. There are inspirational bible versus on each of the pictures. DH just recently got around to hanging them last year...lol

Check out Kelly's blog for more kitchen pics http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/

Enjoy and have a blessed week!
Fran

Deals deals deals

Gotta love a good deal. I have been learning all about couponing over the past week or two. And let me tell ya its addicting!! Love it!!
Here is a pic of my deal of the day today. And a list of the items that I purchased.

Here is what I purchased and the regular price for each item
10 boxes of Kellogs cereal - avg price is $4.30 per box
(Rice Crispies, Frosted Flakes, Apple Jacks, Corn Pops)
4 loaves of Brownberry Bread - reg. price$3.85 per loaf
Box of Pop Tarts - reg price $3.00
Box of Nurtigrain bars $3.65
Rice crispy treats $4.45
Danamals $2.49
Stackers $2.75
Fruit Roll ups $2.75
2-ind wrapped Chips Ahoy (12 in each box) $7.75 each box
4 pkg - Oscar Meyer shredded Ham lunch meat $3.95 each
2 pkg - Kraft sliced 2% American cheese $4.00 each
2 pkg- Hubba Bubba gum (for the boys) $1.19 each
4 cans of mandarin oranges $1.00 each

So total before Preferred savings, coupons and catalinas was $123.17
and I spent out of pocket $ 37.42
WOW, that's a whopping savings of $85.75

Preferred savings total was: 48.45
manufacturer savings/coupons $25.55

That's my deal of the day.

Did you wear red today???

Happy St. Joseph's Day today!!!

I have always known that St. Joseph's Day is March 19 and it a hugely observed by Italian's, but never knew what exactly SJD was. I didn't even really know that it was in honor of the man who raised our Lord, Jesus. So I decided this morning to take a few minutes and read a bunch of stuff about SJD. Ahhhhh, the conveniences of the Internet.

From Wikipedia (online encyclopedia)
Saint Joseph's Day, 19 March, the Feast of St. Joseph or Solemnity of Saint Joseph is in Western Christianity the principal feast day of Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.[1] It is a Solemnity in the Roman Catholic Church, a feast in the provinces of the Anglican Communion, and a feast or festival in the Lutheran Church. Saint Joseph's Day is the Patronal Feast day for persons named Joseph, Josephine, etc., for religious orders, schools and parishes bearing his name, and for carpenters. It is also Father's Day in some Catholic countries, namely Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Italy.
This date was already dedicated to Saint Joseph in several Western calendars in the tenth century. It was accepted in Rome in 1479, and in 1621 it was inserted into the General Roman Calendar for celebration throughout the Latin Rite. Since it always falls within Lent, Episcopal Conferences may, if they wish, transfer it to a date outside Lent.[2]
The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates Saint Joseph on the Sunday after Christmas.[3] Between 1870 and 1955 the Roman Rite had another feast in honour of Saint Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church, a title given to him by Blessed Pope Pius IX. This "Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Patron of the Universal Church", referred to also as the "Patronage" feast to distinguish it from that of 19 March, appears in the calendars of those years for celebration on Wednesday of the second week after the Octave of Easter (i.e. the third Wednesday after Easter) and was celebrated with an octave of its own. Pope Pius XII abolished this feast in 1955, and at the same time established a new feast day, that of Saint Joseph the Worker (a Double of the First Class), for celebration on 1 May, a date chosen to coincide with the celebration in many countries of Labour Day (May Day). Since not every country celebrates May Day as Labour Day, the Memorial of Saint Joseph the Worker was made optional in 1969

So now that I have all my knowledge about SJD, I think I'll make a good Italian dinner tonight. I was thinking I might take a stab at Bricole or just stick with making my tried and true chicken Parmesan.

Have a Happy day!!!
Fran