Toast the pine nuts in a frying pan for 5-10 minutes, stirring regularly until lightly browned. Move to a dish on the side.

Put the roasted garlic into a large skill with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Cook for several minutes to loosen up the cloves, mashing slightly while cooking. Add cooked (boiled then drained) ravioli carefully and stir gently with the garlic. Add in the red pepper and cook several minutes.

Take off heat and add baby spinach and herbs. This will let them wilt slightly from the warmth of the pan. Now toss in the Craisins and previously prepared pine nuts, along with the parmesan cheese.

Move to plates and serve with more cheese on top.

Note: you could also add parsley or oregano along with the basil for additional flavors.

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Adapted from Yogurt Biscuits on AllRecipes.

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons cold margarine or butter
1 tablespoon white sugar
2/3 cup non-fat plain yogurt

Combine flours, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl. Using a fork or pastry cutter, cut in margarine until crumbly. In a measuring cup, combine yogurt and sugar; stir into the dry ingredients until just moistened.

In the bowl, knead the dough together 4 or 5 times. Place on a baking sheet (either coated with non-stick spray or use a silpat baking liner). Pat dough into a 8" x 4" rectangle. Cut into eight square rolls but do not separate (this is a perforation for breaking apart. Bake at 450° for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

These are good warm from the oven or as leftovers the next day when split in half and toasted.

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Adapted from Reva's Potato Cheese Soup.

1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves finely chopped garlic (3 large cloves)
1 cup chopped onion (1 small)
1 cup chopped celery (3-4 stalks)
1/4 cup chopped parsnip (1 small)
1 cup chopped carrots (2-3 small medium)
4 cups peeled and chopped Potatoes (2 medium large)
4 cups fat free reduced sodium chicken broth (1 quart or 2 small cans)
2 cups water
2 teaspoons dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese (Tillamook, if available)

Warm olive oil in a large soup pan and add the garlic, onions and celery. Cook until translucent. Add the parsnips and carrots and cook for another few minutes. Then add the potatoes, broth, water, and seasonings. Simmer until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Cool slightly and then puree using a stick blender or in batches in the blender. Return to a boil and adjust seasonings as needed. Stir in cheese until just melted.

Note - when adding broth and water, you may only need 1 cup of water. Adjust as needed to cover most of the vegetables.

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This recipe is adapted from Sweet Dinner Rolls on AllRecipes.

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup softened butter
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1t salt
• 3 3/4 cups flour
• 1 package active dry yeast (or 2 1/4t from a jar)

In a glass measuring cup, combine the water and milk. Put in microwave until just warm - 1-2 minutes depending on your microwave. Remove from microwave and add sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add yeast and stir gently. Cover and place in a warm place to let proof for 10-20 minutes.

Move your mixture to a large bow and add salt, butter and egg. Mix in the flour one cup at a time. Cover and return to warm place to rise for 45 minutes.

Punch down and make 16 balls or crescents. Tip, at this point, you could also roll out some of the dough to make cinnamon rolls with some butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon!) Place your rolls on a cookie sheet and rise for 1 hour.

Bake at 350° for 10-15 minutes, until the tops start to look golden.

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My husband is a vegetarian, and I eat meat, so sometimes it means I'll make two main dishes. If I do that, I try to make them similar, or do something that I can add meat to later. In this case, I've taken a pasta dish and made it the same method, but with two different pans.

Tip: You could adjust this to make only the meat version or only the vegetarian version, too.

Common Ingredients

These items will all be divided in half, part for the vegetarian and part for the meat versions

• Pasta - A mixture of dry noodles to total 2 1/2 cups: we use a combo of macaroni noodles, spirals (rotini), and medium or small shells
• Spaghetti sauce - we use 1 jar of Prego's Traditional style
• Cottage cheese - 16 oz container, we use 1%
• Mozzarella cheese - 8oz shredded
• Parmesan cheese - about 1 cup shredded
• White Sauce
• 2T butter or margerine
• 2T flour
• 1 cup milk (we use 1%)
• 1/4t nutmeg
• freshly ground pepper, to taste (for us, that's about 10 grinds of the pepper mill)

Meat sauce

• 1/2lb ground beef
• freshly ground pepper, to taste
• dried basil, to taste

Vegetarian sauce

• 1/2 can of vegetarian burger - we use Worthington Vegetarian Burger
• 1/2T olive oil
• freshly ground pepper, to taste
• dried basil, to taste

Boil water and cook pasta as directed on the package. If the times for cooking vary between the different pasta you are mixing, add the one with the shortest cooking time slightly after the others.

To make the meat sauce: brown hamburger in a large frying pan or skillet over medium heat. Season with pepper and basil. Cook until there is no pink, and drain off the fat if needed. Combine with 1/2 a can of spaghetti sauce and cook together for several minutes.

To make the vegetarian sauce: brown vegeburger in a separate frying pan or skillet over medium heat with the oil. Season with pepper and basil. Add 1/2 a can of spaghetti sauce and cook together for several minutes.

To make the white sauce: melt butter in a sauce pan over medium low heat. Add flour and cook for several minutes till bubbly. Slowly add the milk, stirring throughout. Season with nutmeg and pepper, and then stir constantly until thick. Remove from heat.

Preheat your oven to 350°. You'll need two pans - I use a glass pie pan and a glass bread pan and just build the pile on one side of the dish because I don't have anything that's just slightly smaller. A small square pan would probably be perfect.

Building the pasta bake

This dish is built similar to lasagna, with layers.

• Put 1/3-1/2 cup of sauce in the pan to help keep the dish loose and easy to serve.
• Now divide up your noodles and white sauce into 6 equal portions, and divide your meat/vegetarian sauces into 3 equal portions each.
• Start to layer the dish as follows:
• noodles - spread out
• white sauce - small dollops scooped on
• meat or vegetarian sauce - gently spread over the white sauce
• cottage cheese - small dollops
• parmesan cheese - just a sprinkling
• mozzerella cheese - a heavy sprinkling
• Repeat this layer sequence twice. For the third and final layer, move the meat/vegetarian sauce above the cottage cheese, and parmesan. Add extra mozzerella on the top.

Cover the dishes with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Take the foil off and cook 10 minutes more to brown the cheesy top.

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This recipe was adapted from one at AllRecipes.

• 4 red potatoes, medium sized
• 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese - grocery stores tend to carry this pre-shredded in the refrigerated section if you don't have a hard cheese grater
• 2 T grated parmesan cheese - from the can for a smaller texture of cheese
• Fresh Basil by the stalk, about 10 large leaves cut finely
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons Olive oil

Preheat oven to 425°.

Wash and chop the potatoes into long sticks, about a 1/2 x 1/2 x the length of the potato, or smaller if you desire.

Prepare the basil by rolling several leaves into small tubes and then cutting it with a sharp knife. This makes long skinny pieces. Prepare the garlic by peeling each clove and then either cutting into very small pieces with a knife or using a chopper that makes faster work of cutting garlic. Note: you could also use minced garlic in a jar, or garlic powder, but the fresh is a very nice touch

Put all ingredients into a large bowl and toss with your hands to get it nicely mixed and everything on the potatoes.

Spray non-stick cooking spray on a baking sheet with sides (15x10x1) or a large casserole dish. The baking sheet will allow for more individual browning of the fries. Place the contents of the bowl in the pan, and try to keep the potatoes to one layer if possible. Bake for 15 minutes and then turn and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until crispy but tender.

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