New Italian Recipe, TV Update, 10K Training, New Product

Yay - happy Saturday indeed! SO GLAD Austin is back - i'm freakishly dependent, right? :) Anywho, sorry to bore you with all of the car dealership drama but I just hate those guys! Grrrr. Whatevs - yesterday was a much better day. I worked from home for a bit, had a 9 - noon offsite meeting, then walked 3 miles, headed back to the office, and worked some more. After work I hit the gym. I didn't want to, but I had locked my stuff in there during lunch! This run sucked. I did it - 3.5 miles straight at 6.3 mph - with a 1/4 mile walk in front and back - but my body was like no. Stop. Don't do it. Cramp in my tummy. Ache in my left shin. But it's DONE.

Part of me was like Kel, listen to your body, it wants to quit. But I knew my body was just being whiney because it wanted to go home and see Austin! And it was CRAVING this recipe I through together based on this new product I've been DYING to try:

So I raced home, visited with Reuben and Austin, and through together what i'm calling:

Baked Italian Sausage Pasta

Idea adapted from a For the Love of Cooking recipe!
6 Servings

My serving

5 Jennie-O Hot Italian Turkey Sausage links, casings removed
11 oz. pasta of your choice (I used Ziti)
3 tbsp parmesan (I used Kraft)
93 grams fat-free ricotta cheese (I used Sargento)
2 tbsp fresh basil, finely diced
2 cups low-calorie spaghetti sauce (I used tomato & basil classico)
50 grams Fresh Mozzarella, grated (I used Trader Joe's)
1 tsp dried basil

Preheat oven to 400. Set a large pan (that has a lid) to medium and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Set a pot of water to boil. Add sausage to pan, and top with lid. Add pasta to boiling water. Cook sausage for 15 minutes, turning and breaking up with a spoon every few minutes. Cook pasta for 11 minutes, drain and set aside. In the meantime, in a large bowl, combine parmesan, basil, ricotta cheese and 1.5 cups spaghetti sauce and mix thoroughly. Add cooked pasta. Stir. Shred now-cooked sausage with two forks. Add to mixture and stir. Place mixture into a baking dish that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Spread remaining ½ cup sauce on top and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and dried basil. Bake for 10 minutes, then broil for 3 minutes.

Close up of whole pan

Yum - 6 servings

Nutritional Information: 401 calories, 45 carbs, 13 fat grams and 27 protein grams.

Review: Wow. This product tastes like the real thing. I loved the sausage and thought it meshed well with the other ingredients and cooked evenly. I was glad the fresh basil was in, with the dried, and the three cheeses tasted YUMMY! Austin was a fan too – this will become a staple. We also calculated the cost of this meal - $8.25 total – so $1.37 a serving!

After dinner we watched The Event... couldn't do 10 minutes. This is off of our list. And my mom sent news that My Generation has been cancelled - thanks, madre - I won't get attached! Then we had a few glasses of wine, caught up on our weeks and called it a night - GREAT evening.

Q: Do you like turkey sausage? Have you ever tried this product? I'm LOVING this product - only $5 for 5 links/6 servings!

Q: Do you ever calculate the price of your recipes? I find it shockingly awesome sometimes!