Mac + Molly

Cooking, Baking & Cocktail Making

Red Wine Cream Sauce + Pasta

Red Wine Mushrooms Sauce Recipe

I moved into my current Northside Chicago apartment 2 years ago on my birthday. Even though I was stressed with the task of unpacking, I managed to go to this AMAZING little Italian place called Caro Mio to celebrate turning 25. They have homemade pastas, the BEST Tiramisu I’ve ever eaten and a really great ambiance. I celebrated that year with Pappardelle Alfredo, but I’ve since started ordering their Pappardelle Con Porcini which is pasta in a red wine and cream sauce. While my recipe is absolutely nowhere near the scale at which they prepare it, this is good enough to ebb the craving when I just don’t have time to wait for a table to open up at my favorite local spot.

Ingredients:

16 oz. fettuccine – cooked until ALMOST done
16 oz. mushrooms – clean and sliced
2 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. chopped garlic
1/2 cup red wine
3/4 cup beef broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp. thyme
Parmesan cheese
Salt
Pepper

Boil your pasta according to package. You’ll want it just barely done because it will continue cooking in the sauce.

In a large skillet, add the butter and olive oil. Cook over medium heat until it starts to foam.

Sauteed Mushrooms

Add your mushrooms and garlic. I used white button mushrooms and cremini, sliced.

How to Sautee Mushrooms

Sautee your mushrooms until they are to your desired softness, I like mine pretty well done. Add your salt and pepper and thyme.

Sauteed Mushrooms

Pour in your red wine and cook until it has reduced by half.

Red Wine Mushroom Sauce

Add your beef broth and let simmer on medium until it has reduced again by about half.

Mushroom Pasta Sauce

Stir in your heavy cream.

Red Wine Cream Sauce

Red Wine Pasta Sauce

Add your cooked pasta and let simmer until the pasta has absorbed some of the sauce and is cooked through.

Pasta with Red Wine Cream Sauce

Top with Parmesan cheese and tell yourself it’s ALMOST as good as going out to eat!

Caramel Apple Salad

Caramel Apple Salad Recipe

The title of this recipe kind of creeps me out. I don’t like salads. Okay, actually I like pasta salad. And I like this salad. I am not sure if you can classify this sweet, delicious treat a salad, but for all intents and purposes, that is what we are going to call it!

My family used to go to an annual pool/potluck party thrown by our family friends, John and Myra. This day was second only to Christmas in my life until I was in my teens. I would wake up early, put on my swim suit and ask my mom repeatedly how early we could get there. Someone brought this caramel apple salad to one of the parties and I’ve been making it since. I can’t remember who made it, but I’d love to give them credit. Whoever you are, this is my favorite sweet treat during all the warm months of the year and I thank you for introducing it to me!

Ingredients:

3-4 Granny Smith apples
2 Snickers bars
Enough whipped cream to cover everything

I made my own whipped cream with 1 cup heavy whipping cream, 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract and 4 Tbsp. powdered sugar. Store bought whipped cream is just as good. I only made my own because I had the heavy cream for a pasta recipe. This dish is supposed to be easy, keep it that way!

Homemade Whipped Cream

Chop your apples into bite size, with the skins on. I added the juice from half a lemon and tossed the apples to coat ot keep them from browning. You can obviously use just as many apples as you want, just be sure to increase the amount of whipped cream accordingly.

Caramel Apple Salad Recipe

Cut the snickers bars into the same size pieces as the apples. Again, increase the amount of Snickers if you want to make a bigger batch.

Apple Snickers Salad

You can easily make this recipe your own. Add some extra caramel sauce, some cinnamon, whatever floats your boat! Increase all the ingredients for a larger crowd, it’s so easy to adjust!

Caramel Apple Salad

Caramel Apple Snickers Salad

Green Spinach Smoothie

Green Smoothie Recipe

Let me preface this post by saying, I am in no way ready to give up my comfort food, but hopefully you’ve noticed I’ve been trying to mix in some healthy additions here and there! I received a juicer for Christmas 2 years ago and I find it a lot easier to drink my veggies than it is to actually eat them. So, this weekend I played around with a spinach smoothie recipe that has both fruits and veggies.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cup green tea
2 cups spinach
2 cups frozen fruit
2 Tbsp. honey

Add your tea, honey (Bigelow Green Peach is my ALL TIME favorite) and spinach to the blender.

Green Smoothie Recipe

Then top with your partially thawed fruit (I used a tropical blend of pineapple, peach and banana).

Green Spinach Smoothie Recipe

Blend until everything is smooth and then enjoy!

Green Tea Spinach Smoothie

Now that I’ve seemingly conquered healthing-up my diet, it’s time for the next step. Exercising! I have been going for a run on nights I have time for it, and I also recently went to my first Zumba class with Julia. I don’t really want to talk about how that went, or my severe lack of rhythm, but I’ll just say it was fun.

As if decompressing and sweating out stress after a long day weren’t good enough reasons to start exercising more, I was also contacted by a company called Ellie to try out some of their workout gear. I have read a lot of complaints online about their service to date, but I can also tell you I’ve heard they have some changes in place now that should alleviate some of the concerns, such as slow shipping and stock issues.

I’ve gone for a couple runs in my new gear so far. I am head over heels in love with the Raven Capris. I’ve even washed them twice and they’ve held their shape perfectly. The Ace of Spades Top fits a bit larger than I prefer and I find myself still needing extra support, which is probably not true for everyone. If you do have size problems, they seem more than willing to do exchanges.

If you’re interested in trying Ellie, they offer a really unique “subscription” service that ships you your choice and size of cute workout gear each month. The subscription is $49.95 per month for 2 pieces, but you can also buy the pieces separately for around $35 to $60 each. Plus, if you click through my link you can get 20% off your order! I am a deal diva so I actually find the subscription service to be a MUCH better bang for your buck, especially since you can cancel at any time.

What motivates you to workout or eat healthier?