Easy 20 Minute Sausage Alfredo Pasta

Ok so I know I'm cheating a little bit, but this website is called HARDLY Housewives, not Honorable Housewives, so I feel like I'm not misleading anyone by posting a recipe that's not totally from scratch. 

The key to making a super fast, super delicious, you'd swear it was made from scratch, recipe, is to choose high quality ingredients.  We went to Mario Batali's new Chicago Eataly this week, so the choice of high quality ingredients was endless.   

Choose an Alfredo sauce that's in the refrigerated section of the grocery store - it will more likely be made with real ingredients and not be packed with a million preservatives and other fake stuff.  I love Giovanni Rana's Alfredo sauce.  

Read your labels people!!  It's made with the same ingredients I'd use at home if I were to make it from scratch.  The only downside is that the nutritional value is on the back (yikes)...besides that, score! 

To make it extra special (and quick!) buy fresh pasta.  It cooks in 3-4 minutes, which is about half the time dry pasta takes to cook.  Oh, and it's amazing.   Try to find a local, Italian market or a Whole Foods - they will be most likely to carry it.

Mmmm...Italian sausage.  We can't forget the sausage.  That's my favorite part of this meal! 

So that's all we have folks - sausage, Alfredo, fresh pasta, and some fresh chopped parsley.

20 Minute Sausage Alfredo Pasta: 

1 lb of Italian Sausage, Casings Removed
1 Lb of Fresh Fettuccine 
1 1/2 Cups of Pre Pade Alfredo Sauce 
2 Tbs of Fresh Parsley  

Brown sausage over medium heat for 5-6 minutes or until completely cooked through.  Drain oil. While sausage is browning, cook pasta according to pasta directions and add to cooked sausage.  Pour Alfredo over pasta and sausage and toss.  Finish with a little fresh chopped parsley and serve.  Voila.
Stay hungry!

How to Become a Runner...

This post could be titled "How to Become a Runner if You Hate to Run" or "How to Become a Runner After You Just Had a Baby" or "How to Become a Runner Even if You're Not Remotely Athletic" or "How to Slowly Become a Runner" or "How to Become a Runner at 30" (ack).

Or, judging from the picture below, this post could simply be called "Cankles".  

For the record, this is a "before" shot

The point is, I decided last summer that I was going to become a runner.  After a long, pregnant winter I was excited to be able to get outside and get moving.  I tried to get into running when I lived in Seattle (too damn hilly), but since then the only running I'd been doing was to catch the subway (or the ice cream truck).  While on my extended maternity leave, I found myself with long stretches of time and was getting antsy just sitting around the house.  Also, it seemed like everybody was Instagramming their #morningrun and boy, did they #love #running.  Fine.  I was intrigued.

I knew I had to start slow.  I downloaded a Couch to 5k app on my phone (via RunDouble) and packed up Will the Baby in the stroller.  Couch to 5k is a 9 week program that mixes intervals of walking and running to build up your endurance to eventually running 5 kilometers.  The RunDouble app told me when to walk vs. when to run, but also measured how far I ran each time, how quickly I ran each time, and then politely congratulated me once I finished.

To keep myself on track, I signed up for a 5k in October.  I felt like such a little runner with my bib and my official race T shirt.  Jesse took pictures of me actually running in the race, but I accidentally put his cell phone through the wash last week sooooooooooooo here's a picture he took with my phone after the race.  I was giving my best "triumphant athlete" look here.  I'm new to being sporty.  Give me a break.

I've built up from the 5k to about 5 miles now.  I've found I really like running.  I like listening to Pandora and TED Talks and Howard Stern while huffing and puffing down my country roads.  I like strapping Will the Baby into our BOB jogging stroller when the weather permits (right now, it does not permit one bit but I'm dreaming of warmer days).  I like going out on my own after a long day of conference calls and screen time.  I like getting home from runs and talking Jesse's ear off about how sporty I feel.

In this season of resolutions and positive changes, I'm looking to keep up the running in 2014 and beyond.  I'm looking for a few local 10k races to run before signing up for a half marathon (one of my best friends, a real-deal-super-fast-runs-every-morning runner, has agreed to slow to my pace for a half marathon together).

Any tips for newbie runners?  Anybody else have luck with the Couch to 5k?  Anybody want to run a half marathon with us this summer?  Tell me your secrets, runners!

Easy Healthy Lentil Soup

HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII GUYS.  Ok, I'm sorry.... I've been MIA, I know, I know.  Bad Jaisa, bad.  But I'm back and am well rested and am ready to bring a whole new slew of recipes your way.

My new years resolution for 2014 is for my body to GET ITS ACT TOGETHER. I'm serous.  It's been a rough six months. I got metal shards in my eye, then I got five teeth pulled where my husband video taped me waking up from anesthesia crying and being obscenely rude to a nurse, then I got the flu, a cold, and then another flu, and then I got pneumonia which absolutely laid me out for 6 weeks and then I went to Mexico and I'm not even going to tell you what happened to me there.  One thing that I learned in 2013, is to take better care of myself - including nourishing my body with delicious and healthy foods that will keep me going when the going gets tough.

There is something about lentil soup that just breathes warmth into my chilly, wintery Chicago soul. Chicago has a bunch of "fast casual" restaurants, like Chipotle, Protein Bar, and my recent fav, Naf Naf Grill.  Naf Naf Grill is a delicious Mediterranean restaurant that serves this lentil soup that could make a grown woman cry.  It's SO GOOD, yet very different from other lentil soups I've had.

It has a ton of brothy goodness and is BURSTING with savory flavors.  I decided to try to make it at home and guess what?  It came out identical.  I'm so impressed with myself.  HOLLA.  Oh and it has 200 calories for a generous 1.5 cup serving. SCORE.

Easy Healthy Lentil Soup 

1 Tsp of Olive Oil 
1 Yellow Onion, Finely Diced 
4 Cloves of Garlic, Finely Minced 
1 Lb of Split Red Lentils 
2 Large Fresh Bay Leaves (or 3 dry)
1/2 Tsp of Kosher Salt  
1 Tbs of Yellow Curry Powder 
1/2 Tsp of Cayenne Pepper 
1 Tsp of Cumin Powder 
18 Cups of Low Sodium Chicken Stock (swap for veggie stock for vegetarian soup)

Warm the olive oil over medium heat.  Add onion and garlic and a couple tablespoons of stock.  Saute for 5 minutes.  Add the curry powder, cumin, and cayenne and a little more stock until onions become become soft and translucent and very fragrant. NOTE: Be careful not to brown the onions or garlic...if they start to stick, just add a couple more tablespoons of stock. Add lentils, salt, and bay leaves and stir.  Turn heat up to high and add 12 cups of chicken stock.  Once soup comes to a boil, reduce to medium heat, stirring every 5-10 minutes, for a total of 30 minutes or so.  Soup will reduce and thicken.  You can leave it like this, or add another 6 cups of stock.  I like a lot of broth so I get more for my calorie buck, but some people prefer it thicker.

Stay hungry!

A New Year's Blessing

I usually don't get too ecclesiastical, on the blog or otherwise, but my mother in law had a New Year's Eve party and read the following blessing with us during dinner.  We're less than 48 hours into 2014 and I'm already filled up with gratitude and thought I'd share these words with you as we head into the new year.  Wishing all of our readers, friends, and family love, happiness, health & good cheer in 2014!

Ginger Infused Champagne

New Year’s Prayer

May God make your year a happy one!

Not by shielding you from all sorrows and pain,

But by strengthening you to bear it, as it comes;

Not by making your path easy,

But by making you sturdy to travel any path;

Not by taking hardships from you,

But by taking fear from your heart;

Not by granting you unbroken sunshine,

But by keeping your face bright, even in the shadows;

Not by making your life always pleasant,

But by showing you when people and their causes need you most,

and by making you anxious to be there to help.

God’s love, peace, hope and joy to you for the year ahead.

(author unknown)

Basset Hound Cookies & Almost 2014

It's hard to believe the holidays passed so quickly.  We have had such a great week with our families, our friends and our squeaky clean dogs (Christmas baths for everyone!).  Delicious dinners, warm fires, sparkling trees... I sure do love Christmas but this year felt especially cozy.  We're lucky to have a few more days off to enjoy some quiet time at home before getting back to normal.

We were invited to dinner with friends last night and I usually bring dessert when we go.  There aren't any leftover Christmas goodies here (oops) but I was still in the mood to bake cookies so I busted out my brand new basset hound cookie cutter.  How cute are these little maple hounds?

We're gearing up for 2014 (maybe I'll stay up til midnight on NYE this year?) by cleaning all of the dusty nooks & crannies of this house, packing up our holiday decor, and enjoying all of the tasty treats we can get our hands on before the obligatory new year's resolutions.  Enjoy & stay hungry!

Merry Christmas!

Merry, merry Christmas from us to you & yours!

Wishing you a day filled with love, peace, cheer, & sweet treats.  Here's to hoping you get everything you wish for!

A Polar Bear Stocking for Baby Will

A few years ago, I made Jesse a felt Basset Hound stocking.  I've been saying all month that I'd get around to making Baby Will his own stocking and I finally did:

If you're comparing this side by side to my Basset Hound stocking, I guess you could say I'm a one trick pony when it comes to stockings.  Blue background?  Check.  Felt animal with a red bow?  Check.  Oops.  Similarities aside, I love this little guy.

The actual stocking is a teal corduroy fabric and the polar bear & snowflake are felt.  I drew a polar bear shape onto some paper and used it to cut out the felt.  Unlike the Basset stocking, I sewed this together using the machine for the stocking, which was traced from my stocking, cut out, and then sewn inside-out.  I sewed the bear together and then attached to the stocking by hand.

As for actually stuffing this stocking, here's what we've got so far.  Some necessities (like outlet covers and bibs) paired with some fun stuff to enjoy, too.  If anybody has suggestions on some little items for a  9 month old (how did that happen?) to have fun with, please let me know!

Happy Christmas Eve Eve!