Creamy Garlic Penne with Veggies

Welcome to our weekly Foodie Friday link up! I’m linking up with Montana from Pretty Lil Mudder, Annmarie from the Fit Foodie Mama, Emily from Whatever Floats Your Oats, Esther from Chocolate Runner Girl, and Cassandra from Powered By Bling, to create awesome healthy recipes each week! Today’s theme = One-Pot Meals! Make sure you hop around to check out all the amazing recipes in this link up and feel free to add your recipes as well!

First off, if you haven’t yet entered my Santa Barbara Bars giveaway, head on over there for your chance to win a sampler box of SB Bars in all the flavors they currently offer! :]

Back? Alright, let’s start! This is actually what we had for our New Year’s Eve dinner last week! :] I’ve been trying to use up all the stuff in my pantry (this is clearly an ongoing process), so we decided to make a super quick and easy pasta dish that wouldn’t require us to run out to get groceries!

I think a lot of people don’t consider food to be an actual event. :/ (This is news to me, because my life somewhat revolves around my meals, so this is what happened when I was asked if I had any NYE plans:

F: Yeah! I’m going to be getting together with a couple friends and we’re going to make a bunch of food! :D!
: (waits for me to go on)
F: And we’re gonna eat it!
: …
F: And um, maybe watch a movie…? (None of us have TVs.)

I tried. I have a problem with wanting to fill awkward silences with words (and then it gets even more awkward. Go figure.).

In any case, we had this at dinnertime along with a delicious baked brie + chocolate popcorn for dessert…and then we rang in the new year by watching a couple of episodes of To Catch A Predator, which my friend recently started watching whilst on her OB/GYN rotation. (Hooray for Perverted Justice!) How’s that for weird ways to spend a holiday? :x

You can omit the cheese and sub that with nutritional yeast to make it vegan! :]

Creamy Garlic Penne with Veggies

• 26.5 oz. (2 boxes) whole wheat penne pasta
• 3 tbsp butter or Earth Balance (vegan butter)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tbsp almond meal
• 2 tbsp flour
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 2 cups skim milk
• 1 bag frozen vegetables, thawed
• 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• cayenne pepper, to taste
• crushed red pepper, to taste
• dried parsley, to taste

Instructions:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, then drain in a colander and portion into bowls.
2. Melt butter in the pot and add minced garlic. Cook for ~1-2 minutes, then add almond meal + flour and cook for another minute.
3. Add milk and vegetable broth, stirring constantly.
4. Cook until the sauce boils and thickens, then add Parmesan cheese + thyme. Keep stirring until cheese has melted.
5. Add the bag of vegetables and allow to cook for another 3-5 minutes.
6. Pour over pasta and serve. Season with cayenne pepper, crushed red pepper, and dried parsley, as desired.

NOMNOMNOM.

End-of-Week-ish Recap!

• It’s the start of my new series, Medical Mondays! :] My first topic is (quite fittingly) on Preventative Care!
• What would your imaginary trainer say to motivate you? I’ve never really had a “official” trainer unless you count my ex from ages ago, but keep reading to find out how he used to motivate me!
• Have you ever tried Santa Barbara Bars (SB Bars)? I recently had the chance to try two of their flavors–here’s my review!
• Come check out a roundup of my best posts from 2014 in this Best of Fairyburger (2014) post! :]

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Interested in getting to know more about any of your super-awesome co-hosts? :]

• Farrah | blog | instagram | pinterest | twitter | bloglovin’
• Montana | blog | facebook | instagram | pinterest | twitter | bloglovin’
• Annmarie | blog | facebook | instagram | pinterest | twitter | bloglovin’
• Emily | blog | instagram | pinterest | twitter | bloglovin’
• Esther | blog | facebook | instagram | pinterest | twitter | bloglovin’
• Cassandra | blog | facebook | instagram | pinterest | twitter | bloglovin’

Join us next week for Hot & Spicy!