Creamy Vegetable Pasta

1 lb. Penne Pasta (you can use whatever pasta you like)
1 Red Pepper - Seeded & Diced
1 Bunch Broccoli - Chopped (you can peel the stalks and chop them up and use)
1/2 Onion - Sliced
2 Garlic Cloves - Smashed
1 Carrot - Thinly sliced
3 Handfulls Spinach
2 Chicken Breasts - Cooked - Diced (optional)

4 tbsp - Butter
4 tbsp Flour
1 Cup Milk
1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese - Grated
1 Cup Mozzarella Cheese - Shredded
1/2 Cup White Cheddar Cheese
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp Salt

In a large pot of boiling water add a handful of salt and add the pasta.  Cook 7-10 minutes or until al dente. (about a minute shy of being fully cooked.  You're going to finish it in the sauce).

While the pasta is cooking, in a large pan over med/high heat, melt the butter.  Add the flour and whisk to combine.  Add in the milk and keep whisking.  Add in the cheeses, nutmeg, cayenne and salt.

In the pan w/ the cheese sauce add the onion, garlic and spinach.

In the last 2 minutes of the pasta cooking in the water, add in the red pepper, broccoli, carrots.
Drain the pasta/veggies.  Add to the cheese sauce.  Add the chicken (optional).

Stir to combine and taste to adjust seasonings.  Enjoy.

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Coconut Cream Pound Cake

Ingredients:
2 cups white sugar
1 cup butter – room temperature
5 eggs – room temperature
2 cups all purpose flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ cup coconut milk
4 oz. cream cheese - softened

Frosting:
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup water
1 cup confectioners sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter and flour a loaf pan. The traditional recipes that I got the inspiration from used a 10 inch tube pan but I didn’t have one so my cooking time was a little off and I had to wing it.

In a large bowl, cream together the sugar, cream cheese and butter. Whip it till it’s light but not over beaten. Add in the eggs 1 at a time, fully incorporating the egg before you add the next. Add in coconut milk and blend till light and creamy.

In a separate bowl sift together the flour and baking powder.

Add the flour in 3rds to the creamed mixture, fully incorporating the flour before adding the next 3rd. Pour into the prepared baking pan. *Fill to the rim but you might have a little extra left over.

Here’s where it gets tricky. Because I changed the baking pan to a loaf pan and ovens vary in temperatures, here’s what you do: Bake for about 50 minutes.  I saw the middle still hadn’t set so I kept increasing the time in 5 minute increments. All in all I baked it for almost an hour. Keep checking till you can insert a wooden skewer in the center and it comes out clean.

For the icing, combine coconut milk, water and confectioners sugar in a sauce pan. Whisk and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and occasionally whisk until it turns into a syrup like consistency. You may have to add a little more water or sugar depending.

Once cake is out of the oven, flip out of the pan and place on a cooking rack. After about 10 minutes when the cake is not hot, but still warm, take a pastry brush and basically baste the cake (top and sides) and continue to let cool. You will have icing left over but that’s ok. You can drizzle it over slices or use it in the whip cream like I did:

Take an 8oz container of whipping cream and beat till (almost) stiff peaks in a chilled glass bowl. Just before you fully beat it, add in a little of the icing mixture. I added in about 2 tbsp. Then finish whipping until stiff peaks.

Slice the cake, top with whipped cream and maybe some strawberries like I did and enjoy.