Sausage and Kale Pasta {21 Day Fix Recipe}

Don't let the "kale" in the post title scare you away. I know what you're thinking. I once thought that way. I'll share a little secret on how I started eating kale. It's like a little trick; your brain will forget it's eating kale. How you ask? Homemade kale chips! Delish. I eat them trays at a time, they're so addicting. Once I started making these, I started adding kale little by little to salads and pasta. It was just the trick I needed to try something new that I was unsure about. If you're interested in trying to make kale chips, here is an easy recipe from our friends at PopSugar.com.

Now onto the Sausage and Kale Pasta... so what's with the 21 Day Fix recipe you ask? Well, this house is turning over a new leaf. A friend and sorority sister of mine is a Beachbody Coach. I have been watching from afar (Facebook) her lifestyle transformation and realized I wanted that for my family also. I was not an easy sell though. Like anything, a lifestyle transformation takes commitment and dedication. Fortunately for Shawn and I, we were pretty active and healthy pre kids. Both of us have always had exercise in our lives, whether it be through the gym or playing sports. Most recently, I have taken up Pilates and love it! However, our schedules don't allow me to go as often as I like to go. Last week I happened to catch myself in the mirror while changing and was caught off guard. I thought, "does my butt really look like that?" The very next day I messaged Sabrina and told her I wanted to learn more about the Beachbody programs. Shawn and I decided it was something that we'd do together. If I was going to wake up at 5:15am to exercise, I was going to need someone to motivate me and kick my butt out of bed. Sabrina was great and gave me the low down on all the programs. After reading through all the information and taking our schedules into consideration, we decided the 21 Day Fix would be a great starting point. We ordered our program on Sunday and can't wait for it to arrive. It's definitely a time and financial commitment, but we're both excited and are up for the challenge.

Waiting for anything is hard, but waiting to start the 21 Day Fix when you're excited as we are is even harder. So I decided to start experimenting with some recipes as we gear up. ENTER 21 Day Fix Sausage and Kale Pasta. I found this amazing recipe on Pinterest. There are a bunch of 21 Day Fix recipes on Pinterest; so you can imagine the fun I had searching. This particular one was a great to start with. It is so flavorful and pretty easy to prepare.

Original Recipe from Honeybee Homemaker

Yield: 4-6 servings

Fix Portions: 1 yellow, 1 green, ½ red, ⅓ blue

Ingredients:

• ½ box whole wheat or whole grain pasta. I used ziti.
• 2 links lean turkey or chicken sausage
• 1½ green containers baby portobella mushrooms
• ½ green container sundried tomatoes (tip: buy the ones that come in the zipper bag, not the kind in a jar soaking in oil...I found these in the produce section)
• 1½  green containers kale
• 1½ green container spinach leaves
• ½ cup shredded italian blend cheese. I used Sargento.
• 1 tbsp whole wheat flour
• ⅓ cup organic milk
  
  
  
  
  Directions

  1. Cook pasta according to package instructions (Please note: before draining the noodles, save a ladel-full of hot, starchy cooking water-you will need that later for the sauce)
  2. In a skillet, saute all vegetables. Season with pepper, garlic and onion powder, and italian seasoning. Once tender, remove from pan, and cover with foil to keep warm.
     
     
     
  3. Remove the sausage from its casings and brown the meat in the skillet. Once cooked, remove from pan and drain any excess grease from the meat
  4. In the same skillet, add the flour to the pan drippings and whisk to form a roux.
  5. Gradually stir in milk and followed by the reserved starchy cooking water
     
     
     
  6. Reduce heat, stirring slowly, and allow sauce to thicken.
  7. Stir in shredded cheese using a figure-8 motion until the cheese dissolves into the sauce
  8. Adjust sauce seasonings to taste, adding in garlic and onion powder and pepper to taste. Also, if the sauce gets too thick and pasty, add more milk or cooking water- you want this to have an nice creamy consistency
  9. Add the noodles, sausage, and vegetables to the sauce and stir to coat evenly.
  10. Use your green container (or 1 cup measuring cup) to portion out each serving. 
      
      
      
      
      Below is a little cheat sheet I used for container sizes. I haven't received my 21 Day Fix program yet, so I had no idea what the container reference measurements were in the recipe. I found this on google.
      

      
      

      Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did. I actually had it for leftovers tonight. O wasn't a fan, but P loved it!