Carbonara Pasta Bake

Time. I wish I had more. My alarm goes off at 6am every morning every working day and I try to be in bed by 10pm to get a full 8 hours of sleep. From the second I wake up to right before I go to bed, I am moving. Both physically and in my head. We just have so much going on right now. We keep thinking now that we are in our new house, it is only a matter of time before things slow down, but the house is still taking up a lot of our time a month later. I feel the only way I can get everything in that I want to in a day is if I sleep less, which I am not willing to do yet. Sleep is important to health and I feel I should take it when I can because when we have little ones, I know sleep will be a thing of the past. I am starting to feel like I am laying on a couch in an office somewhere - thank you for my free therapy session!

With the amount of stress and fast paced life we are leading right now, I still enjoy cooking very much. My husband has asked if I need to give this blog up for a while? Am I putting too much pressure on myself? I just don’t want to do that. In fact, someday I hope to be able to do this more, definitely not less. Cooking is a bit of therapy for me. I also continue to want to learn about the best food and health choices we can make and love that I can share what I learn with people via this blog and the blog facebook page.

So, our new routine: Sundays usually consist of drinking coffee and cooking all day. Making a new flavored creamer for my coffee for the week. Making a morning snack of some sort for the week - granola bars, energy bites, granola, etc. Making a dish for you all to read about on the following Friday. My husband usually hangs out in the kitchen with me, watching some TV and doing things around the house.

Last Sunday I had the intention of playing around and making a breakfast pasta. Instead of just eating pasta as most do (just boiled and mixed with various ingredients), I decided to make a baked pasta dish. I love the way pasta gets brown and crispy on the top when baked in the oven. Enjoy my take on pasta carbonara for breakfast, brunch, lunch or an easy dinner!

Carbonara Pasta Bake
Servings, 4

Ingredients:
Shells pasta (100% Whole Wheat preferred), 8 oz or approximately 2 cups dried
Eggs, 4-6 (I did 4, but might try 6 next time to make it a little more ‘eggy’)
Asparagus, cut into 1-2 inch pieces totaling 1 ½ cups
Bacon, 4-6 slices depending on the size
Medium onion, ½ chopped
Garlic, 2 cloves chopped
Shredded parmesan cheese, ¼-½ c
Milk, splash
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Boil pasta two minutes less than cooking instructions on package.

Better Bonus Tip:  If pasta gets done before rest of ingredients are ready, add a little oil and stir to coat to help prevent pasta from getting sticky.

Cook bacon in a skillet over medium heat until done. Remove and chop into pieces.

Chop onion and garlic. 

Chop asparagus into 1-2 inch pieces, discarding rough ends.

Better Bonus Tip: Bend asparagus toward the bottom of the stalk and it will break naturally where it gets tough. Line up the rest of the stalks and use a knife to remove the ends, making even sized pieces.

Add asparagus and onion to the pan the bacon was cooking in, not removing the grease. Cook for 3-4 minutes and then add garlic and cook for one more minute, stirring to make sure not to burn. 

While veggies are cooking, mix the eggs, a splash of milk, salt and pepper in a bowl and beat.

Better Bonus Tip: Try adding a splash of hot sauce for some extra flavor and heat.

Add asparagus, onion and garlic to pasta and stir to mix. 

Add pasta and veggies to a greased baking pan. (I used a 8 x 8 2 qt pan). Pour eggs on top. Sprinkle with bacon and cheese. 

Cook for 20 minutes. 

Better Bonus Tip:  If you need a really quick meal, this could be eaten not as a baked dish. Cook pasta for entire time on package. Scramble eggs and mix all together. 

Hope you are finding this Holiday Season to be stress free or at least able to find things you enjoy to help you relieve stress! See you in December!

~Ashley