Healthy Lasagna Casserole

This serves 2

Ingredients:

cooking spray
1/2 lb. ground turkey
2 carrots, diced
1 large onion, diced
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 c. sun dried tomatoes, diced
1/4 c. low sodium tomato sauce
4 oz. whole wheat pasta (I used Pappardelle's Whole Wheat Garlic Linguine)
1/4 c. part-skim ricotta cheese
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/8 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 c. cheese slices, chopped (I used 4 slices of new Sargento's ultra thin provolone)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450.

1. Heat up a large saucepan on medium-high. Spray with cooking spray. Add in ground turkey and break up with wooden spoon. Saute 5 minutes. Add onions, carrots, black pepper, Italian seasonings, kosher salt, and red pepper flakes. Saute 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile cook pasta according to the package directions.

3. Add the tomato sauce to the turkey mixture.

4. Add in cooked pasta, ricotta cheese, black pepper, Italian seasoning, and kosher salt. Mix well.

5. Spray a 9x13 pan. Pour in pasta mixture and top with cheese. Bake 15 minutes uncovered or until golden brown.

p.s. the pasta I used is kind of green so that's why the color is kind of weird.

Chocolate Berry Oatmeal

This is what I have been eating for breakfast the last few days. It tastes so rich and decadent yet I know it's good for me!!

I've also been tracking everything I eat on "my fitness pall" and that has been working very well for me.

My favorite part is that I can scan a barcode with my iPhone and it pulls up the food item and knows how much every serving is! It's so helpful!

Feel free to friend me if you're using it, my name is "ElviraCross".

Ingredients:
1/3 c. Skim milk
2/3 c. Water
1/2 c. Old-fashioned oats
1/3 c. Berries, frozen
1 Tbsp. cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla
Sweetener/honey/agave to taste

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan: combine milk and water over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil then reduce to medium.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for 5 minutes. Stir frequently.

Work Out in 15 Minutes!

I just did this :) I had no idea how long Chloe would be napping for so I did this really quick. It took about 15 minutes.

I also signed up for a MyFitnessPal.com profile and have been tracking my food and exercise there. If you're on there feel free to add me as a friend! My name is ElviraCross.

Let me know if you're going to do this exercise and what you think of it?

Spanish Quinoa

I never cooked quinoa but we eat couscous all of the time and I thought it would be fairly similar to that and it really was. It has a little longer cooking time than the couscous but tastes just as delicious. The fact that it's a healthy.

We need to do grocery shopping so I didn't have a lot to work with. I decided to make it a Spanish style quinoa side dish. It was really good! You can really add anything you want to this. Next time I'm going to do it with roasted veggies.

I found that the quinoa retained a lot of heat when it was cooked and it stayed really hot the entire time we were eating it. It was really good! I hope you like it was much as we did. I served it with seasoned grilled chicken and a simple side salad.

Oh and if you have a health market area in your grocery store look for it there. You can just get a little bit to try it and it's probably cheaper.

This makes 2 servings

Ingredients:

1/2 c. quinoa
1 c. water
1 onion, diced
1 tomato, diced
1/2 c. fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. turmeric
1 lime, juice of
cooking spray

Directions:

1. Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Spray with cooking spray and saute onions for 5 minutes. Add garlic and tomatoes. Saute another 5 minutes.
2. Add all seasonings and quinoa. Saute 2 minutes.
3. Add water, bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. 
4. Simmer until all of the water is evaporated (mine took about 25 minutes instead of 15). If it's taking too long uncover and turn to high. Keep stirring so it doesn't burn.
5. Turn off heat, add lime juice, stir. Let it sit for 5 minutes covered. 

Chocolate Berry Smoothie

I was craving chocolate... so I ate this instead! I think this would be a great breakfast smoothie as well. You could add a scoop of protein too!



Yields 1 large smoothie.

Ingredients:

1 c. skim milk
1 1/2 c. frozen berries (I used cherries, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries)
2 Tbsp. cocoa
sugar substitute or sugar to taste (I used 2 tsps.)
1/2 c. oats

Directions:

Blend all ingredients together. Serve!

Healthy Tuna Egg Salad with Spicy Tortilla Chips

Healthy Tuna Egg Salad

3oz tuna in water
2 eggs, hard-boiled eggs, diced (I only used the whites)
1 celery stalk, diced
1 tsp. pickle juice
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 Tbsp. fat free sour cream

Combine all ingredients, enjoy! I served mine with spicy tortilla chips.

Spicy Tortilla Chips

1 whole wheat tortilla (I only had flour)
cooking spray
1 tsp.cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Preheat oven to 400.

Cut tortilla into triangles.

Spray both sides with cooking spray.

Season with as much or as little of the seasonings as you wish.

Lay flat on a cookie sheet. Bake 8 minutes, turn over, bake an additional 5 minutes or until crispy and golden brown. Just watch them carefully so that they don't burn.

TIP: you can also make these dessert chips by sprinkling them with butter spray, sugar, and cinnamon!

How much water to drink?

If you look up that question you will get a  million different results.

All I know is that drinking a lot of water is important and will help you with your fitness goals.

I came across this "Water Calculator" that helps you calculate how much water you should be drinking per day.

It takes into account:

• your weight
• minutes of exercise
• if you're pregnant
• if you're breastfeeding
• if you're at a high altitude
• if you're in a dry climate
• how much alcohol you'll have
• if the weather is extremely hot or cold
• if you have fever or diarrhea

After putting in the values for me it came back with about 101.5 oz or 3 liters per day. 

I have a water bottle that I use and it holds 32 oz of water so if I drink about 3 of those per day I will hit that goal. 

The site also says that if you are eating a healthy diet you will hit about 20% of your water intake that way. So if I'm eating healthy I need to drink about 81.2 oz per day.

Sooo I think what I'm going to do is fill up my water bottle with 30 oz each time.

My water hydration plan:


30 oz by 2pm
30 oz by  7pm
30 oz by 11pm

My Fitness Goals

So Jared helped me put some fitness goals together!

If you read my blog post yesterday you know I ran steps and did kickboxing the night before mixed in with sprawls. Today my abs ache in such a good way.

Jared has some videos I've been watching that will help me get more workout ideas as well as make sure that my technique is correct. The video is by Steve Cotter and it's called "Encyclopedia of Body Weight Conditioning." It's obviously all about doing doing arm, leg, and core exercises that don't require equipment. There are 3 DVDs, 4 hours of video with over 160 exercises.

Obiously making sure we eat well is a part of that goal.

All of the goals (unless otherwise noted) are to be done by August 1st.

• weight 140 lbs. (Lose about 5 pounds, I'm 5'9")
• be able to do a pull-up
• run the Bix July 2013
• run a mile under 9 minutes
• do 20 push ups
• do 20 tire flips (tire is about 130 lbs.)
• have proper technique
• do 20 burpees
• work on my flexibility-do a scorpion
• do a standing abdominal slide

Can you think of any other goals I should have?

Turkey Ham Panini on Whole-Wheat Focaccia

This was lunch today, and I made it with some homemade whole-wheat focaccia. It was pretty yummy and a fairly healthy option for lunch. We ate it with some fruit.

Oooh AND I worked out last night and this morning. It was actually very fun.

Last night I did kickboxing with sprawls mixed in and today we walked about one half a mile and ran up steps. It was tiring but we both felt great afterwards. Chloe sat with us and we took turns going up the steps so we were always with her. She kept looking at us like we were crazy.

Jared and I made a new goal!! We decided to run the Bix next year! 7 miles of fun!

Focaccia
low-sodium turkey
low-sodium ham
lettuce
tomatoes
onions
sriracha
swiss cheese

Preheat George Forman or panini press if you have one.

Make your sandwich any way you want! This is just what we had on hand.

Grill the sandwich until the cheese is melted and enjoy!!

Easy Whole Wheat Focaccia

Since we are eating healthy I thought I would try whole wheat flour a try. I've never baked anything with it before so this was a first!

Do you have a health market area in your grocery store? We do and I've recently been shopping more there. I planned on getting my flour there anyways but when I saw how much it was I was shocked... it was 75 CENTS and pound!!! They had this big machine there and all you do is push a button and the wheat is ground right in front of you. Oh did i mention it was 75 cents a pound? That's cheaper than the all-purpose flour I buy that's pre-packaged.

We decided we wanted to make sandwiches and I figured we could make our own bread! I saw some delicious looking bread at the store but it was 7 dollars, and I just hate paying so much on 1 item. The recipe I made cost me about a DOLLAR!

This recipe is an easier recipe that doesn't require the entire day to make. It only takes a few minutes to put together and you have to let it rise for 1 hour.

The end results were sooooo good.

The reason I baked it in a sheet pan is so that I got more servings out of it and you get thinner slices aka less carbs.

You should definitely try this recipe! Let me know what you think!


I slightly adapted this recipe from Tracey's Culinary Adventures.

Serves 8

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. warm water
3 Tbsp. olive oil
cooking spray
1 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
3 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 pkg. quick rising yeast
4 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder

Directions:

1. Spray a sheet pan with cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, combine warm water, olive oil, salt, flour, and yeast. Mix well and knead a few minutes. Should be sticky and wet.

3. Transfer the dough to the sheet pan, use your fingers to press down into the corners and spread out evenly. Cover and let rise for 1 hour.

4. Preheat oven to 375.

5. Press the dough down using your fingers to create indents. Spray with more cooking spray and sprinkle on Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and onion powder. Bake 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Bourbon Chicken Lightened Up

We used to have Bourbon Chicken place at our mall and it was amazing! But then they got new owners and it wasn't so delicious anymore. It was actually pretty nasty. The chicken was fatty and it just never tasted the same. And then one day it just wasn't there anymore. I wonder if too many people were just disgusted by it? No idea. Well we thought we would try to make bourbon chicken ourselves and let me tell you... it was a hit! Oh and did I mention it's a healthy version? Yup! It tastes just as delicious but it won't clog your arteries.

Adapted from : http://www.macaroniandcheesecake.com/2010/03/bourbon-chicken.html

For the chicken:

2 medium chicken breasts
1 tsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. fresh ginger, grated
2 garlic cloves, grated
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
2 Tbsp. light soy sauce

For the sauce:

1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, grated
2 garlic cloves, grated
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/4 c. apple juice
1/2 c. water
2 Tbsp. ketchup
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1/3 c. light soy sauce


Directions:

1. For the chicken: Cut the chicken into 1 inch cubes. Toss with all of the ingredients. Grill on high, about 8 minutes total or until no longer pink. I used metal skewers.

2. For the sauce: Combine all ingredients in a saucepan, boil then simmer for 5 minutes.

3. Add cooked chicken to the sauce and let sit for 10 minutes.

If you want a thicker sauce add a cornstarch slurry.

**This makes a lot of sauce, you could easily halve this recipe or add a lot more chicken without doubling the sauce!

Our Wedding in the Mouintains!

Our pictures FINALLY came in!! It took almost 2 months instead of 2 weeks. First they were just backed up and then they accidentally sent the CD to the wrong address. But they're here now!!!

Our wedding was was such an amazing experience.

First of all, we went to Estes Park, CO and it was just the two of us. It's something I would highly recommend...at the end of the day all you need is the two of you!

The mountains were beautiful and were such a perfect backdrop for our wedding. The pictures are amazing!

Mark, our photographer, had a British accent and he did a great job capturing a lot of candid shots. I mention his accent because it was so windy up there that it was even harder to understand him. Many times Jared and I just looked at each other and smiled because we didn't hear any of his instructions.

The weather started out in the low low 70's and partly cloudy. By the end of the ceremony the wind had really picked up and it dropped about 10 degrees. I think my excitement kept me from feeling the cold air... The last 10 minutes were pretty cold, however, and it had started to rain very lightly. You can see in the pictures that my hair is flying around and my dress is all over the place.

Oh and there is elk poop everywhere! :) They are all over the place out there and get pretty close. During the ceremony a bunch of them just walked right past us.

After the ceremony we went to have a few drinks at Coopers in Estes Park. It was so much fun. It was so great to just sit and talk to each other and enjoy each other without having a million people trying to talk to us. We could actually hold a conversation with each other with only a few minor interruptions by people telling us we look awesome :)

We had dinner at the Stanley Hotel. You've probably heard of it. It's where Stephen King stayed and was inspired to write The Shining. It was also where Dumb and Dumber was filmed! It's definitely an interesting hotel. It was dark and there aren't many employees running around. When we got there we got a little lost and it was definitely creeeepy.

We did get a delicious "elk tracks" dessert complimentary since it was our wedding day.

I can't tell you how much fun we had that week. It was such an amazing experience and so much better because I spent it with the man of my dreams. Our wedding was everything I could ask for.

p.s. to the people who hacked my facebook on our wedding day...who send me anonymous emails through here...who attempted to hack me again... it's not working. We still love each other more every single day.  And I can honestly say that with every one of your attempts we grow closer to each other :) So thank you, I will always appreciate that. Oh, and please stop being obsessed with me. It's just pathetic.

Strawberry Banana Chocolate Yogurt

When I get hungry between meals I usually want something sweet...

It's a bad habit, but if I don't satisfy my craving I'm a lot more likely to eat a jar of nutella. That would be bad... yet soo sooo good. Catch 22 right there :)

Anyways I've never really been much of a yogurt person but I just recently bought a pretty large tub of it and I ate it all within a week.

There are a ridiculous amount of choices of different kinds of yogurt. I spent about 15 minutes reading labels and decided on which one to purchase.

I wanted to keep it healthy but didn't want to spend a crazy amount of money on yogurt. Just didn't seem right to me.

I decided on an "Anderson Erickson" YoLite Fat-Free Vanilla Yogurt With Fiber.

It's sweetened with Splenda and has no sugar added.

This was really good for a snack but would make a good breakfast choice as well.

I usually eat about 1/2 c. of yogurt per serving (even tho the container says 1 cup is a serving)

Nurtritional Value per 1/2 c. of yogurt

calories: 55
zero fat
cholesterol: 2.5mg
sodium: 65mg
potassium: 210mg
carbs: 8.5g
fiber: 1.5g
sugars: 6g
protein: 4.5g

Ingredients:

1/2 c. fat-free vanilla yogurt
1/4 c. strawberries, sliced
1/2 banana, sliced
1 Tbsp. dark chocolate chips
1 tsp. honey or agave nectar (optional)

Directions:

Mix everything together and enjoy!

**I thought this was sweet enough without honey after I ate it that way. It wasn't overwhelming but you could definitely go without.

Turkey Breakfast Burrito (freezer friendly)

These are really yummy and make a perfect breakfast on the go or a quick snack for a busy family.

Using ground turkey instead of sausage makes it a healthier option as well. You could even substitute Egg Beaters for the eggs if you wish.

The burritos still taste fresh when warmed back up after being frozen.


Ingredients:

1 tsp. vegetable oil
1 large onion, diced
1 tomato, diced
1 jalapeno, minced
1/2 lb. ground turkey
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. sriracha (optional)
8 large eggs
1/4 c. black olives, chopped
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 c. shredded cheese (I used colby jack)
10-12 medium sized tortillas (mine were 8 inches)

Directions:

1. Heat oil a large saucepan on medium-high heat.

2. Saute onions, tomatoes, and jalapeno for 3 minutes.

3. Add turkey, black pepper, and garlic, break up with wooden spoon. Cook until no longer pink, about 8 minutes.

4. Crack all of the eggs in a medium bowl and lightly whisk. Add black olives, sriracha, salt, and cheese. Pour into pan and cook until the eggs are completely cooked. About 5 minutes.

5. Fill each tortilla with a heaping 1/4 cup of egg and turkey mixture. Fold up into a burrito.

6. To store: Wrap each burrito in plastic wrap, then aluminum foil. Store in freezer. Should last 1 year if frozen carefully.

Chili Rellenos Casserole

I adapted this slightly from "Eating for Life" by Bill Phillips.

We really liked this recipe but it seems like more of a breakfast or brunch dish than dinner in our opinions. It was really tasty and fresh. I added more seasonings (of course) and black olives.

The recipe calls for salsa as a garnish which would be really good but I didn't have any at the time.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

3 cans (4oz each) whole green chilies, drained
4 oz. reduced fat Monterey Jack cheese
1 1/4 c. egg substitute (or 5 large eggs)
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. skim milk
1/2 c. reduced fat cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 tsp. hot chili powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. vegeta
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
3 green onions, diced
2 Tbsp. black olives, diced
1/2 c. salsa (for garnish)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Spray a 11x7 pan with cooking spray. (I only had a 13x9 and it worked fine)

3. Drain and pat dry green chilies with paper towels. Slice the Monterey Jack cheese into the same number of chilies that you have. I had 12. Stuff each chili with 1 piece of cheese and lay in the baking dish.

4. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, flour, and milk. Add hot chili powder, black pepper, vegeta, salt, onions, and black olives. Pour mixture over green chilies.

5. Bake 35 minutes or until golden brown.

My Sweet Baby

I don't think there is anything worse than having a sick baby.

The last few weeks have been rough. Chloe (8 months old now) has been crying a lot and is having such a hard time sleeping. She wakes up on average about 6-7 times a night. Each time she wakes up I have to nurse her to  calm her down and she almost always cries like she's in pain and can't go back to sleep for a while. She also does this during the day. She is playing one second, happy, giggling...then she arches her back out and cries and is sooo angry. If you try to touch her face or give her a pacifier she swats your hand away and cries harder. She seems to frustrated. It just didn't make sense to me. She's typically such a sweet and happy baby.

Earlier this week she was just having an extra rough couple of days. At one point she had huge crocodile tears running down her face. She's also teething so for a while we attributed her crankiness to that. It took forever but she finally had 2 little teeth on the front bottom pop through. I quickly figured out it wasn't her teeth since baby tylenol or baby orajel didn't seem to be bringing her any relief. I had my husband call our pediatrician and they suggested we bring her in to check for an ear infection.

At every appointment they routinely weigh the babies. Chloe was 16.4 pounds at 6 months. When I put her on the scale this time it read 16.5 pounds. She hadn't gained anything for 2 months...That's obviously a huge concern. She also only grew a 1/4 of an inch. She's always been short but she dropped from the 27th to the 17th percentile. For weight she dropped from the 57th to the 23rd percentile. It's such a huge change for a little baby. The hardest thing to believe about her lack of weight gain is how much she eats. She's still exclusively breastfed and eats at least every few hours and gets fruits, veggies, and grains on a regular basis. She's smart enough to know that when she sees us eating that it's dinner time for her too.

The doctor ordered some lab work for Chloe to see if there was anything in her blood that could tell us about her weight. Her physical exam of her was normal... no ear infection, lungs are clear, tummy sounded good, etc. Therefore it had to be something organic.

Getting Chloe's blood was awful.

They started with the heel and squeezed so hard it bruised instantly. They needed 5 vials of her blood and hadn't even filled 1 yet. They had to get another person with more experience to help since Chloe was so little. They didn't like the look of her veins so they did a finger prick. It took 45 minutes to get those 5 vials. She screamed and cried the whole time and said mama a few times. Such a sweet baby.

Since they had such a hard time getting the blood they noted in the lab results that the results might come back skewed. Her potassium levels came back weird. Her thyroid function was .34, just slightly abnormal. At this point the doctor wanted to redo the blood work but she felt the results pointed to hyperthyroidism and/or acidosis.

We got more blood drawn the next day. It didn't take as long but of course she still cried the whole time. She was happier to begin with so it wasn't as bad for her. You can just see the pain and confusion on her face.

The potassium levels came back normal this time, but the thyroid levels have gotten worse and they now point to hypothyroidism. The problem with this is that it doesn't explain Chloe's weight.

Our doctor called an endocrinologist in Iowa City and she asked for a third round of blood tests. She has been very helpful to our doctor and they have been bouncing ideas off of each other. Yesterday we took blood out of Chloe for the third time. She did so good. I got her to play a little with things like keys and a hand warmer. Not your typical baby toys but they kept her from thinking about the pain.

The rest of the results haven't come back yet. Our doctor feels it's best for us to go see that specialist. They have everything a baby would need in one place.

We will know for sure if it's a thyroid problem then. We go Tuesday.

I think the not knowing is the worst of it all. I just need to know what's going on with my little munchkin and how we can make her feel better.

We will probably need to have an MRI done as well. The poor thing will need to be sedated for that since she has to stay still for so long. With the MRI they will be looking for abnormalities like a mass.

It's been such a long week. So many things going on. My birthday is this coming Friday and we were going to have a poker party but I'm cancelling it. It just seems weird to be celebrating when I still don't know what's wrong with my baby. And honestly I'm just tired. the lack of sleep is really affecting the both of us. My husband is so sweet and helps me with Chloe at nights and then he has to work all day. We both just need lots more sleep!

Well speaking of sleep, Chloe is finally asleep in my arms and is cuddling. Such a sweetheart. We both love her so much and hope she's going to be ok.

This is the 2nd time they took blood from her. Poor baby.

She was happy and giggly right before they took blood out for the 3rd time.

As you can see she's got some healthy rolls and it's hard to believe she's not gaining weight.  

Blackened Tilapia

Serves 2

Ingredients:

4 small tilapia filets
1 tsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. vegeta
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder

Directions:

1. Defrost tilapia. Pat dry with paper towels.

2. Season the tilapia with all of the seasonings.

3. Heat a large skillet on high. Add oil.

4. Saute fish 3-4 minutes on each side.

Broccoli Lemon Garlic Herb Pasta

It's that time of year again. The farmer's market is open! We actually have a pretty nice one here and we want last weekend. The best part was that they had a nutella raspberry crepe station!! It was heavenly!

I carried Chloe around in a moby wrap and she had so much fun too.

Well we picked up some homemade pasta there. They have dozens of different flavors to choose from. Their stand was one of the busiest ones at the market so we knew it was good. We tried some last year and thought it was really good too.

This time we picked a garlic herb pasta. The pasta is a really pretty rich green color and just LOOKS healthy and fresh. Next time I'll take a picture of it before it's cooked. It's beautiful.

If you don't have pasta like this, this recipe would be just as delicious with plain old pasta.

When I started making dinner I really didn't have a plan, but it all came together and tasted even better!

We had some blackened tilapia with this and it so fresh, healthy, and delicious.


Serves 2

Ingredients: 

1/4 lb. garlic herb pasta, cooked--(reserve 1/2 c. pasta water)
1 tsp. vegetable oil
1 Tbsp. I Can't Believe It's Not Butter (or regular butter)
6 green onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c. white wine (or chicken stock)
1 lemon, juice of
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. vegeta

2 c. broccoli
2 tsp. vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. kosher salt

Directions:

1. Cook pasta in salted water according to the package directions, reserve 1/2 c. of pasta water.

2. Preheat oven to 450. Toss broccoli, oil, red pepper flakes, black pepper, salt and mix well. Bake for 20 minutes.

3. In a large saucepan, heat oil and butter on medium-high heat. Add green onions. Saute 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute another 3 minutes. Make sure not to burn the garlic.

4. Add the juice of one lemon, wine, reserved pasta water, black pepper, salt, and vegeta. Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer. Reduce by half, about 10 minutes.

5. Add roasted broccoli and cooked pasta, combine well and serve immediately.