Pasta with Tomatoes, Zucchini and Pesto {Easy Summer Recipe}

Summer is a great time to cook lighter and cheaper meals. I love getting all the in season produce at my local stores, farm markets and road side stands. How about you? Do you cook much in the summer? What are some of your favorite summer recipes? 

Check out this yummy pasta dish which is featured in the August issue of Woman’s Day, now on newsstands across the nation, features two covers and plenty of ways to cut down on costs while allowing you to live and eat the way you want to. 

Pasta with Tomatoes, Zucchini and Pesto

Serves 4 - $1.62 per serving

Ingredients

·         12 oz. fettuccine

·         2 small zucchini (about 8 oz. total)

·         1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

·         1 Tbsp. olive oil

·         1/3 cup pesto

·         Kosher salt and pepper

·         4 oz. bocconcini (small fresh mozzarella balls), halved

·         Torn fresh basil leaves, for serving

 Directions

1.       Cook the pasta according to package directions. Reserve ¾ cup cooking liquid, drain the pasta and return it to the pot.

2.       Meanwhile, grate the zucchini on the large holes of a box grater, turning the zucchini to grate the outside first (discard the soft core). In a large bowl, toss together the tomatoes, olive oil, 2 Tbsp. pesto and ¼ tsp each salt and pepper. Fold in the zucchini and mozzarella.

3.       Toss the pasta with the remaining pesto and ¼ cup of the reserved pasta water (adding more if the pasta seems dry). Fold in the tomato-zucchini mixture and sprinkle with basil, if desired.

Here are the two covers for the August issue of Women's Day. Have you seen them? Have you picked one up? Want to chime in? Tell us which cover is your favorite at www.facebook.com/womansdaymagazine. Thanks to Women's Day for giving me permission to repost this recipe. ENJOY!

More Easy Summer Recipes

Best Ever Brownies - everyone loves these!
Mango Salsa
Avocado Feta Salad 
Chunky Guacamole
Blueberry Vinaigrette for easy salad dressing
Easy Chicken Tostadas 
Corn on the Cob with Lime-Chive Butter
Easy Pork Tacos
Aunt Salad
Honolulu Burgers
Spinach Strawberry Salad
Kid Approved Summer Meals
8 Salsa Recipes

Reconnect with Family Meal Time #MC #Disconnect2Reconnect #sponsored

When my girls were younger, we always ate together for almost every meal. This of course didn't last long with girls scouts, sports, church events as well as other commitments. Even though we were super busy most dinners were eaten together and especially Sunday dinner. Almost 10 years ago Hurricane Katrina kicked us out of New Orleans. Since then our lives got really crazy and so did meal time. Just recently I've been working hard to have Sunday meal time after church. Does any of this sound familiar to you? Can you relate to having regular meals dwindle down to just 1-2 a week? I participated in a Blogger Activation on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for the J.M. Smucker Company. I received product samples to facilitate my review as well as a to thank me for my participation.

Over the past 10 years the biggest change that came into play which most Americans can relate to is the cell phone! Not only did we not have to get up from the table to answer the phone because we had a portable one in our pocket we could also text people, play games, etc. while at the table. The down side to this is that we no longer pay attention to those right in front of us. When you have 30 minutes of time to sit, talk and interact that time looses its value when we disconnect with them to connect with our phone. 

I love having dinner together with my family, at home. So as it works out we won't head out to Sunday lunch with friends but come home and eat together. The fun thing about connecting or reconnecting is that the family works together to get the food on the table quickly because they are all hungry. Then clean up is a breeze because everyone wants to get done and go onto the next big thing. Bringing the family together allows us to connect, talk, laugh, make faces and just be who we are no matter what our moods are. 

Banana Bread Recipe coming tomorrow!

One of our favorite meals has always been breakfast. We can eat breakfast at anytime. When the girls were little breakfast for dinner was always fun. We just celebrated a huge meal together and had breakfast for dinner. Everyone helped in someway with the meal. As a mom of 3 teens this is a blessing. One teen is headed off to get married in 3 months and this meal made me realize that our time is fleeting and slipping away. Do you ever feel that way when you look at your kids? 

We enjoyed a meal together and took the family pledge to "Disconnect to Reconnect" at meals. Why is this important? Family meal time is about so much more than just food. It is really more about connecting with each person at the table. Power of Family Meals is encouraging families to gather together for meals without screens - phones, Tv's, iPads - at one meal, once a week, more often than not! 

As I mentioned earlier, time is fleeting and family meals are a tradition worth maintaining. Disconnecting and reconnecting with family will continue to become even more important and having boundaries to digitally detox together is worth the effort. Technology is every where! Our busy lives will continue to force us into different directions so let's make meal time precious time for our families to stay connect or to reconnect!

Easy Slow Cooker Turkey Breast

Not everyone likes ham for Easter! If this is your home, consider making a turkey breast. This yummy turkey breast recipe is easy to make. I love using crockpot recipes so anytime I can use it to save a little time, I do it! This recipe can be cooking in the slow cooker and not use up valuable space in the oven. Easy family dinner ideas like this one is worth cooking over and over! Do you have any favorites? Feel free to share them in the comments below!

Slow Cooker Turkey Breast

Ingredients:

1 (6 pound) turkey breast (Jennie – O); thawed (I removed plastic wrap)

1 (1 ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix

Do This:

1- Spray slow cooker

2 - Place the turkey breast in the slow cooker

3 - Rub the onion soup mix all over the turkey.

4 - Cover and cook on LOW and cook for approximately 6-7 hours.

5 - Use meat thermometer  — turkey needs to get to 170 degrees

PREP: 5 mins!

Kitchen Tip:

Want gravy? Jennie-O includes a gravy packet.  Add water. Stir. Voila.

I hope you enjoyed this guest recipe! Here are more Easter Dinner or Family Dinner ideas.

Easy Family Dinner Ideas

Honey Lime Fruit Salad 
Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
Mom's Cheesy Hash Browns
Flower Power Artist Veggies

Skinny FunFetti Cupcakes

Scrambled Egg Margarita Pizza

Super Yummy Cinnamon Rolls

Aunt Salad
Ham & Swiss Cheese Sliders

Easter Leftover Ham and Potato Soup

Quick and Easy Family Meals {Busy Week Meal Plan}

This is going to be one busy week for our family. To maintain some sort of sanity I will still have a menu plan. If not, we will eat out too much, waste money and add unwanted calories to the waistline. Weeks like this call for quick meals and easy crockpot meals. How do you survive busy weeks? Do you make a plan? Here are some ideas for you.

Busy Week Meal Plan idea

Monday- Fiesta Burger and SPICY RANCH Dip and Flower Power Artist Veggies

Tuesday - Crockpot Cranberry BBQ Chicken and Mom's Cheesy Hash browns
Wednesday-  Homemade Turkey Meatball Subs and a huge salad
Thursday-Leftovers or crockpot Pizza Soup (depends if we have enough leftovers or not)
Friday-Thai Green Curry Chicken 
Saturday-Speedy Sausage Muffins
Desset- I'm picking a Cake from this collection of 43 Best Ever Cakes. Which one will you try?

Easter Sunday Brunch - Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Do you have any favorite quick and easy family meals? Leave links in the comments and I'll come check them out and pin recipes I want to try on my Menu Plan or Tasty Recipes Pinterest Boards.

Here are some recipe ideas for Easter Brunch

Skinny FunFetti Cupcakes

Scrambled Egg Margarita Pizza

Super Yummy Cinnamon Rolls

Aunt Salad
Ham & Swiss Cheese Sliders

Easter Leftover Ham and Potato Soup

I've linked up at OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday link up. 

The Importance of Family Meal Time and McCain Foods $500 Grocery Goodness Giveaway #sponsored

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for McCain Foods. I received a promotional item as a thank-you for participating.

No matter the age of the kids, it is so important to gather around as a family at meal time. This allows everyone to catch up on the day, work out problems, share joys and plan up and coming events. Dinner time is not quite time at our home. My girls are 14-19 years old and some of our best debates and chats have happened at the dinner table. We have laughed, spilled drinks, cried and so much more! How about your family? 

Do you have a family meal time? What is dinner like in your home? 

I'm so excited to share with you the McCain Potatoes Grocery Goodness Giveaway event they are hosting on their Facebook page. They are selecting 1 winner each week for 8 weeks to receive $500 grocery store gift card. Who wouldn't want that prize? Every one who check outs the Grocery Goodness Giveaway tab can receive $1 off coupon for any 1 bag of McCain Potato products. I LOVE $1 off coupons! Don't you?

Hurry over and enter in the McCain Grocery Goodness Giveaway to be one of the 8 winners of the $500 grocery store gift card. I know that gift card would provide a lot of family dinner time meals in our home. How about yours? If you win, let me know. If I win, I will surely let you know! 

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Weekly Menu Plan with Easy Family Meal Recipes

I don't always like easy recipes but in the summer I do! I love trying out new recipes which require a lot of new ingredients when I have the time. Those type of menu plan recipes seem to get made in the fall and winter. How about you? This week is one of our busiest of the summer so easy family meals it will be! 

Welcome back to Menu Planning Monday! 

It is my BIRTHDAY WEEK so check out all my giveaways I'm sharing with even more to come this week!

These are quick and easy meals which require little prep and easy to cook. Some use the crock pot which will provide a full, warm meal yet took little time to actually prep. Enjoy! 

Monday- Fiesta Burger and SPICY RANCH Dip and Flower Power Artist Veggies
Tuesday- Scallopine with Peppers, Mushrooms and Tomatoes and a huge salad
Wednesday-Crockpot Cranberry BBQ Chicken and Mom's Cheesy Hash browns
Thursday-Leftovers or crockpot Pizza Soup (depends if we have enough leftovers or not)
Friday-Thai Green Curry Chicken 
Saturday-Speedy Sausage Muffins
Desset- I'm picking a Cake from this collection of 43 Best Ever Cakes. Which one will you try?

I've linked up at OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday link up. I will pin some of the below post on Pinterest as I have time this week!! I usually share a recipe & menu plan each week and will resume that next week. If you do pin my post, please leave a comment and I will be sure to get yours pinned. Thanks! Have a super week.