Meatless Monday Recipies!

Hi everyone, Lori here with my third installment for our Meatless Monday series. Hope everyone has been enjoying these recipes as much as my family has been. Looking at all these recipes together I just realized that 3 of the 5 are tomato recipes. Oops! I guess we really like that kind of stuff around here. It’s hard to go too far out of the food comfort zone when you have 3 kiddos to feed, as well.

Quinoa Pudding

Mozzarella & Tomato Baked Shells

Easy Peasy Potato Soup

Tomato & Spinach Pasta

Quick Tomato Tart

Quinoa Pudding

This is a terrific alternative to what we’re usually having for breakfast! Eat it warm or cold… my son likes it best warm.

To the Grocery Store

1. Some people like to strain their quinoa and rinse in cold water a bit. I don’t because the less time it takes me to do something in the morning, the better.
2. In a medium sauce pan, mix water, milk, salt, cinnamon & vanilla. Bring to a simmer. Add quinoa, stir. Reduce heat to med-low & cover (slightly vented). Let this, go stirring every few min, for about 35 min.
3. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Serve warm with your choice of fruit or place in fridge and serve cold.
4. If your pudding is too dry for your liking or quinoa is too hard for you, add a tad bit more milk and put back on heat (totally covered) for a few more min.

 This recipe is very flexible. Add more, or less, of any ingredient to fit your liking.

Mozzarella & Tomato Baked Shells

“Sooo good!” said my kids when they ate this dish! We served it with green beans and rolls.

To the Grocery Store

1.  Puree tomatoes, either in food processor or use a stick blender.

2.  Heat 2 Tbs (or what looks like 2 Tbs) EVO in large sauce pan, medium heat. Add onions. Stir and cook until they are slightly tender/translucent. Add garlic. Saute this together for another couple minutes.

3.  Add salt (to taste). Pour tomatoes into pan and stir. Allow this to come to a boil, turn down a bit and then allow to simmer. The key to a good sauce is the simmering time, I believe. It will reduce and thicken a bit.

4.  You may need to add a bit of salt, to taste, and here’s where you add your spices, too. I have a jar of “Italian Seasoning” it’s pepper, basil, rosemary, thyme, oregano, fennel, onion, garlic & sea salt. I use this all the time – LOVE IT!

 While the sauce is simmering you can start your noodles.

1.  Boil water in a large pot, throw a bit of salt in there. Once it begins to boil add noodles and boil according to directions on box.

2.  Preheat oven to 375 F. Prep a baking dish with EVO (or Pam spray) and set aside. I used a 9×13 casserole dish.

3.  Drain pasta and pour noodles into simmering sauce. Throw in the cubed mozzarella and 1/2 C parmesan. Carefully mix this all together.

4.  Pour this mixture into your baking dish. Top with a little (or a lot) shredded mozzarella and sprinkle some more Italian seasonings.

5.  Place in oven for approx. 30 min. Until cheeses have melted. Remove from oven and let sit 10 min before serving.

Easy Peasy Potato Soup

I like this recipe so much. Not only is it delish but it’s also simple!

To the Grocery Store

1.  Spray inside of slow cooker with a butter or oil spray (to make for easier clean up). Mix all ingredients in slow cooker, leaving out cream cheese. Turn on low. Leave for 6 hours.

2.  Add softened cream cheese. I like to cut my cheese into square chunks before adding it. Also, pour in 1/2 C of shredded sharp. Cook for another 30 min, or so.

3.  Serve with cheese and chopped green onions on top.

Tomato & Spinach Pasta

This recipe is creamy and an easy way to get spinach into your family’s diet. To my surprise, I had one child picking all the spinach out and eating it first! She said that the spinach was the BEST PART! What??

To the Grocery Store

1.  Make penne according to directions on box.

2.  Dice onion while penne is boiling. Sauté onion and garlic with EVO on med-low until soft, in a skillet.

3.  Pour the whole can of diced tomatoes, oregano, basil, (or Italian seasonings), salt and pepper into skillet with onions and garlic. Stir.

4.  Add tomato paste and 1/2 C water. Stir and simmer.

5.  Turn heat down (low). Add cut up cream cheese and add to skillet. Stir sauce until cheese is incorporated into sauce. I use a sauce whisk, though any whisk would work.

6.  Add parmesan. Whisk until melted in.

7.  Put spinach into sauce and gently stir. This will wilt and shrink down into the sauce.

8.  Pour drained pasta into pan and coat with sauce. Serve warm and enjoy!

Quick Tomato Tart/Tomato Pizza

To be honest, all my kids didn’t like this. Two out of three’s not bad but next time I’ll probably leave out the Dijon, though, I sure liked it!

To the Grocery Store

2.  Roll out crust and spread Dijon over crust leaving a 1 inch boarder around the edges.

3.  Slice tomatoes and place a single layer of slices atop of Dijon.

4.  Sprinkle minced garlic over tomato slices & drizzle with EVO, salt and Italian seasonings.

5.  Top this with mozzarella slices.

6.  Pull edges of crust up and over the edges of tomatoes & cheese.

7.  Bake of 30 min or until crust is lightly browned & cheese is bubbly.

8.  Allow to cool for 7-10 min before cutting it. Cut like a pizza and serve. YUMMY!!

I really hope you enjoyed this mini series of Meatless Monday recipes. Did you try any? How did it turn out? Did you change anything? Let me know what you think. I’d love to hear from y’all.

By: Lori has 3 kiddos that keep her insanely busy but she still finds time to be a fantastic cook, a fabulous photographer and an awesome Christian woman!