What We Ate Last Night

I found this Veggie Pasta Bake recipe on Pinterest. I've been trying to make a Vegetarian meal at least once a week to save money and have healthier dinner options. For the recipe, click HERE.

I left out the mushrooms. There are enough veggies in this casserole, that we didn't even miss them. I also used half the amount of mozzarella. Next time I'll use the whole pound, though. Also, instead of using a roasted pepper, I used a drained jar of pimientos. Saved a few minutes.

And for dessert, these "lowfat" pumpkin cupcakes. I used a recipe I also found on Pinterest that calls for a box of yellow cake mix and a can of pumpkin. I had a can of pumpkin in the fridge leftover from a previous recipe. It had half a cup missing from it, so I compensated with a half cup of applesauce in the recipe. It didn't seem to change the flavor drastically, and the cupcakes were just as moist as ever. I have to say, the first time I made these I was amazed that they actually turn out well. No egg or oil? It's very magical.

For the icing, I just blended a stick of softened butter, a package of softened cream cheese, and then mixed in some powdered sugar until it became the consistency I was looking for. The cupcakes are lowfat. The icing definitely is not.

It smelled amazing in my house last night!