I am my own sweet Valentine

So my Valentine's Day consisted of a trip to the dentist and a girls night in. 

My friend Sarah joined me for dinner and a movie. On the menu, Chicken Sausage with Peppers and Onions over farfalle pasta, whole wheat baguette garlic bread, and for dessert chocolate covered strawberries. We kept the Valentine's theme going with a lot of red! The chicken sausage was delicious, it was roasted red pepper and garlic flavored. This was a very easy, fairly quick recipe. Note to self: the pasta takes the longest, so put the water on right away. This is pretty much what I put together: 

Chicken Sausage and Peppers over Pasta

3/4 of a box Whole Wheat Farfalle Pasta

4 Chicken Sausage Roasted Red Pepper and Garlic flavor

1 medium onion, sliced

1 green bell pepper, sliced

1 red bell  pepper, sliced

1 clove garlic

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 32 oz. can whole tomatoes and their juices

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper

salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta as directed on box. Slice the chicken sausage and brown in 1 tbsp. olive oil. Remove from pan and drain on a paper towel. In the same pan add onions, green peppers, and red peppers, 1 tbsp. olive oil and saute for about 4-5 minutes. Add garlic and saute another 2 minutes or until peppers soft and onions slightly caramelized. Add tomatoes and crushed red peppers. Using a spatula or wooden spoon break the whole tomatoes down (you can use diced tomatoes or crushed tomatoes if you prefer, I like the texture of the whole tomatoes). Allow vegetables to simmer about 5 minutes, then add sausage and cooked pasta, salt and pepper to taste. 

Some additions per next time, suggestions compliments of Sarah :) -- grated parmesan cheese, fresh spinach

Chocolate covered strawberries must be the easiest dessert to put together. They were just the right amount of sweet after a slightly spicy dinner. Using a double boiler, just melt semi-sweet chocolate chips and dip the strawberries in to cover them with chocolate. I inserted a toothpick into the top of the strawberry to make it easier to dip. Then place the dipped strawberries on a cookie sheet and refrigerate for about 20 minutes. Enjoy! I had some extra chocolate so I dipped pretzels into the remaining chocolate for a little sweet snack the next day. After the strawberries, we watched the movie "Catfish" which was not at all what I expected. It kept me interested the entire time, I would definitely recommend it! 

Any suggestions for my next post?! Leave a comment :)