Pasta and Peanut Butter Waffles

I once again thought about doing a second post last night, but instead, sat in the living room with my paper journal for a couple hours. We ate earlier than normal–I had dinner on the table around 5:30, instead of my usual 6:30/6:45, so there was plenty of time to veg out in front of the TV for awhile. I started heating up the broiler and the marinara, before cutting out the gnocchi:

Amy’s Marinara. I have a feeling that next week, since I’m going back to my $40/week grocery budget, I’m not really going to be able to afford this stuff any more, but we’ll see. Since the Brookings Farmers Market is opening on Wednesday this week, I’m making it a point to get some beef from Cliff. I’ve already determined that I can basically get 2 lbs., which will eat up about a 3rd of the budget. Luckily, Lisa, a friend from work who happens to live on a farm & has chickens, said that they’re getting enough eggs now that she’ll start selling them again. And they’re cheaper (and better) than store-bought eggs. So that will help. But I think my Amy’s is going by the wayside for awhile. $7/jar is just a bit much.

Anyway…I used my smallest biscuit cutter to cut out the gnocchi, and arranged some mozzarella slices on top:

I was hoping that by buying mozzarella in blocks, it would melt better than the shredded stuff. No such luck:

It almost looks like a marshmallow or something on top. And the gnocchi weren’t as warm as I’d've liked. I think the next time I make this (and I will, since I have a TON of semolina left) I’m going to maybe heat the gnocchi a bit first, then top them with some fresh mozzarella instead of just the regular store stuff. Or I might use the other variation that’s featured in the recipe, and put them in a buttered baking dish with salt, pepper, dots of butter, and sprinkled with parmesan cheese, then baked till golden brown. We’ll see though.

This morning’s culinary adventure was much easier, and less time-consuming:

Waffles! More specifically, peanut butter waffles, thanks to my latest issue of Everyday Food. I saw yesterday that someone else in the blogosphere had also made them, and I was happy for the review. I think I lost track of how many tablespoons of peanut butter I put in the batter, because these actually did have a strong hint of peanut butter flavor in them. I didn’t serve them with bananas as recommended in the recipe, because I hate bananas. Still, they were good with just some butter and syrup.

And since my waffle iron makes thin waffles (think Waffle House waffles) I got 8 waffles instead of just 6, so I have 5 leftover that I can freeze and reheat for breakfasts next week. Or I could maybe even use them as dessert waffles…Although we don’t have ice cream or chocolate syrup. Oh, if only I had an ice cream maker! That, or a popcorn popper is next on my list of small kitchen appliances to purchase.