Cheating Birthday Pasta!

  

  Today is a very special day!  It is my youngest son's birthday!  Kaine is FOUR YEARS OLD today!! In general birthdays are fun but kids are a blast to watch when it is their birthday.  Kaine woke up this morning and screamed "It's my birthday today!" which just made me smile.  I love it!  We have been counting down the days and everyday he is more and more surprised at how close it is. It really was awesome to watch him get excited each day!  He is a crazy little man and today was no different.

  Now, birthdays normally count as a cheat day but honestly it's probably not what you would think.  We don't gorge on pizza and mac and cheese, although I am sure the kids would love to but they would pay the price later.  What I do is turn something that we don't normally have, that our bodies can handle, into a cheat day.  So, when Kaine said he wanted pasta...there was no way I could say no to those big blue eyes!

  We never really have pasta but I have found this brand of gluten free pasta (gnocchi) that is made with just potatoes.  There is no flour, corn, wheat, oats, etc and it is perfect. White potatoes aren't allowed on paleo so this is a cheat but they do have a sweet potato version that is awesome and is made the same way! You could also substitute the gnocchi for regular cut up cooked sweet potatoes if you aren't cheating.

  We love Italian food and I can eat garlic by the cloves.  It just tastes so good!  So when we are having pasta what else would add but garlic.  I made a garlic and olive oil sauce with spinach topped over the gnocchi and it was delicious.  We have no leftovers which is a good sign it was a hit.  I added some chicken on the side and everyone ate it up. Now, you might not want to go breathing on anyone after you eat this (unless they ate it with you) but it's so good you might not even care.  Enjoy this on a cheat day or when you are getting that huge urge to fall off the paleo wagon.   

Cheating Pasta 

Serves:2-4 

Prep Time:5 minutes

Cook Time:5 minutes

Total Time:10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 packages potato gnocchi
• 1/4 cup almond meal
• 1 TBSP pine nuts
• 4 TBSP olive oil
• 3-4 garlic cloves, sliced thin
• 2-3 cups fresh baby spinach (or more if you would like)
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• zest of fresh lemon

Instructions:

1. Boil water in a large pot for gnocchi and follow directions. I typically cook them 3-4 minutes when I do two packages at one time.
2. Add almond meal, pine nuts and salt and pepper to a small to medium sized pan.  Toast for about 5 min over med heat.  Stirring often to prevent burning. Transfer to small bowl.
3. Carefully wipe out the same pan with a dry towel (because who wants to do more dishes??).  Add oil to pan over med/high heat.  
4. Add sliced garlic to hot oil and stir for 1 minute. 
5. Add spinach, stir and cook until wilted, about 1 minute.
6. Turn off heat and add cooked gnocchi (or sweet potatoes) with a couple of spoons of the pasta water to the pan.  Carefully toss in the pan.
7. Zest the top with lemon and sprinkle with toasted almond meal.