Fettuccine with beans and pesto

I tried out this recipe for the first time the other night on Caleb and our dear friend Paul Cho. It was a hit, so here you go Hannah.

1 C. beans (You can use any kidney, chickpeas, black, or black eyed beans) This is nice cause you can stock this stuff in the pantry.
1 1/2 C. firmly packed fresh basil (I think you could use spinach too)
1 C. romano or parmesan cheese
Olive oil
1 lg. yellow onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 C. vegetable stock or water
fettucini
handful of pine nuts
salt/pepper

1. Process the basil, cheese and about 6 T. olive oil. (I added some of the vegetable stock too, cause I was having trouble getting it all processed and I felt like I had added a lot of oil already.)
2. With a little heated oil n a pan, add the onion and garlic and saute about 10 minutes. Add the stock and beans, bringing to a boil. Reduce heat and reduce the liquid to about 1/4, approx. 5-10 minutes.
3. Cook noodles.
4. Add the pesto to the bean mixture. Add noodles.
5. Garnish with pine nuts.

This makes enough for 6, so I even had enough pesto to reserve for another meal.

More good stuff

Hey all,
First off, let me say I'm a bit disappointed in myself b/c I still haven't exactly figured out Hannah's superfood thing. But I will.

I just wanted to let you know I signed up for a recycling service today! While I know this isn't exactly our bodies getting fit, it is helping our environment, which helps us, which equals getting fit. Right? I'm pretty excited about it b/c it's only $11.50 a month and they give you the bins, they pick it up every 2 weeks, and all we have to do is throw stuff away into the right bins. Woot woot.

Also, I did the Women's Run this past weekend with my book club. It was so fun! Becky and I have still been walking 3 times a week, and after doing the run, we decided that we're going to start adding a little bit of jogging to our morning walks. Today we didn't add the jog b/c I had Evey with me, but we will. And, I'm excited.

Just wanted to give you all the update.
Hope all is well.
Love you! ~ Heather

I only got 4 minutes to save the world.

Family.
I wanted to communicate with you, but it is late and I have many a paper to write before summer. So here is what I want to update you on. I love superfoods! I am making it my personal goal to eat at least two servings of superfoods a day. I have been doing this for a week, my body is probably thanking me by allowing me to stay up well past three in the morning to write a paper about American Political Thought, and also by letting me absorb spanish and dream in it. Crazy! I recommend superfoods to all of us. Spinach is way cheaper than lettuce and so much better for you too. Blueberries, beets, turkey, avocados, and for our family, most importantly tomatoes...We need all the heart help we can get. So I challenge our family to become the superfood family! Get on it, go for it, and save your body...channel Madonna (she probably eats only superfoods, I am wearing yoga pants so I am practically an expert on Madonna at the moment).
Mom, how are you doing?

yummy time

here are some recipes. they're super good!

pesto -
8 sun-dried tomoato pieces, not packed in oil
1/2 c. water2 cloves garlic
1 pkg (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach
1/2 c. shelled walnut pieces
1/2 c. already grated parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 c. sliced black olives
1/3 c. extra-virgin olive oil

place the sun-dried tomoatoes in a 2-cup glass measure and add the water. microwave 1 1/2 minutes, covered on high, or until the water boils. remove tomoateos from microwave and let them stand in the water to soften, about 5 minutes.

place peeled garlic in food processor, process until minced, about 30 seconds.
microwave frozen spinach for 5 minutes.

add walnuts to the processor with the garlic and pulse until the nuts are finely chopped, about 1 minute. add parmesan, basil, and salt into the processor.

drain tomatoes, add them, along with thawed spinach and its juice, and the olives. process until finely chopped, stopping once to scrape the sides of the bowl. then scrape again. then with the motor running (and cover back on), slowly add the oil (in a thin stream) thru the feed tube. continue to process until thoroughly combined (about 30 seconds). if you want it a little thinner, add water, a tablespoon at a time. (i've been adding about 3-5 T of water). soooo good.
put it on spaghetti or other pasta. we've also been spreading the pesto on frech bread and then putting the bread in the oven for about 10 minutes. good stuff.

taco salads (so good) -
tortillas
chili powder
1 lb (ish) lean ground beef
1 c. match-like carrot sticks
3/4 c. chunky salsa
2 T mayo (light if you want)
Salad
tomato (if you want)
shredded mexican style cheese
fresh cilantro

heat the oven to 425. Crumple large sheets of foil to make balls; place on baking sheet. place 1 tortilla on top of each ball (we made 4 tortillas). spray each tortilla with cooking spray, then sprinkle a bit of chili powder over them. bake 6-8 minutes or until tops are golden brown. (the tortillas will drape over the balls as they bake.)

brown meat with carrots and about 1T chili powder. after it's browned, add 1/2 c. salsa; cook 2 minutes or until heated thru.

mix mayo and 1/4 c. salsa in large bowl. add salad and tomatoes; toss to coat. spoon into tortilla shells; top with meat; cheese, and cilantro.
very good.

The power of tea

Hey everyone,

I enjoyed reading all of your responses to the question about life extension. I agree with all of your thoughts, and think that quality of life is always the important thing to keep in focus.

I wanted to share an interesting thing I came across in the book that is of particular relevance to us Webster's. It says that the American Heart Association reported a study that found that, "drinking at least two cups of tea a day reduced the risk of dying from a heart attack by a remarkable 44 percent." Apparently this applies to black and green teas, but not to herbal ones. And, sorry Ben Web, but not to sweetened teas or Arnold Palmers. Anyway, I don't like tea, but think this is a good reason to try to develop a taste for it.

Hannah, not sure what to give you as a good recipe. Jaime and I will try to think of one that you might like.

Water Aerobics!

I am to be a water aerobics instructor. I think that is the funniest thing I have ever heard and I am really excited about it! I wish I could play the Kanye West Workout Song, but I have a feeling that the water aerobics demographic will not be super into it. Shoot. Does anyone have any delicious recipes? I want to cook something awesome. Jaime, any vegetarian treats?

happy birthday to a lighter caleb!

Caleb,
Happy birthday (a day late)! I hope you had an awesome day yesterday. I was thinking of you. Which leads me to thinking of your and your questions regarding if we'd want to live forever (ish). I agree that I would like those around me to live forever, or at least as long as I do. Losing Dad was awful and if I could avoid ever grieving like that again, I would like to. But, I can't say that living forever would be so radical. Things are supposed to have their end, right? Also, logistically, I don't think our planet could support all of us if we all kept living, reproducing, then they kept living, and then they reproduced, and so on and so on. I think the other issue with prolonging life is that we need to have a society in which the quality of life is better as well. While my life is amazing, thanks in most parts to our family, there is a level of violence and poverty out there in the world that scare me. Would it be that only those who could afford to would live long lives, but the mentally ill homeless people or the poverty-stricken inner-city people would die young? The disparity in income levels would be even more disgusting in that case. That's my thoughts.

On a lighter note, what did you do for your birthday, Caleb? I can't believe you're 26! One memory of you I keep having is in shorts, socks pulled up to your knees, and an army cap. You were a so lanky and goofy. You still kind of are, eh?

Love you!