Snow Day Supper for my Little Italians

After a crazy snow day running a kido to the pediatrician, dog to the vet, completing my class assignment and a bit of a nap, I had no idea what to make for supper.  As I open the refrigerator like most evenings, I found some:

- cooked noodles from a few evenings ago

-  frozen chicken breasts

-  bag of frozen spinach

-  jar of spaghetti sauce (organic from Aldi's-see below for all the cool items I bought)

- bag of mozzarella cheese

Placed the chicken in a skillet and poured a 1/4 of the jar of sauce over the top of the chicken. Covered for 10 min. on med. heat.  Placed noodles in casserole dish, poured remaining sauce over noodles and 1/2 bag of the frozen spinach (thawed a little in the microwave).

Once the chicken was cooked thoroughly, diced and added to casserole. Place in 350 degree oven for 15 min.  Removed an topped with 1-2 cups mozzarella cheese.  10 more mins and it was complete.

Below is one of the kidos portions.  Approx. 1 cup casserole and 1 cup spring salad mix.  My husband has Italian genes and grew up eating spaghetti almost weekly.  While watching carbohydrates, noodles are difficult to have without going over.  So I try to incorporated lots of veggies and add some healthier meats when eating our Italian meals.  

The kids didn't even notice the spinach in the casserole, and barely tasted it.  Mixing it with this sauce was a perfect combination for those that are a little hesitant about this amazing vegetable.  Spinach has wonderful vitamins and minerals, check out this article on this powerful veggie: 

 http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/healthy-eating/the-nutritional-food-value-of-spinach.html#b

I visited a local Aldi Grocery market this past week and came home with a ton of Organic and Minimally processed foods.  Thanks to a co-worker for reminding me of this supermarket and all these wonderful finds.  From organic soup, fruits, milk, granola, sauce, dressing, broth, nuts, no nitrate lunch meat, maple syrup! Some of the items are even hidden.  My total price was about $80.  Not too bad, I thought.  I would have spent over $150 at my other local store.

Visit your local Aldi's for amazing healthy foods.  Beware of all the other items that may tease you though.  Look at the ingredients on the labels and choose foods with minimal ingredients.  More on label reading in another blog post.

Hope you all are staying warm in this heck of a winter!