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Pasta & sauce is one of those simple, go-to dinners that bails you out when you need something quick. I spent the day yesterday just banging around with the kids, not getting much accomplished, so when dinner time came I decided to play the pasta card. Here's the current pasta configuration that I've been digging on:
Whole Grain Pasta w/Meatless Meat Sauce
Ingredients:
- 1 pound whole grain pasta - Ronzoni is the healthiest mainstream brand but Barilla is not bad either
- 12 oz Boca or similar ground crumbles. These are the "vegetarian" crumbles that act as the meatless meat. Boca makes them as does Morningstar and a couple other brands. They're awesome.
- 1 large jar of plain pasta sauce - I prefer to make the sauce from scratch if I have time but jar sauce will work in a pinch
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 2 tbsp. fresh ground pepper
- 2 tbsp. Mrs. Dash original
- 1 tsp. Lawry's Seasoned Salt
- 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
- 3 cloves of garlic, usually minced but I used some fresh roasted cloves that just mush up nicely
In a large skillet, heat the olive oil on medium heat. Thrown in the garlic and let it cook until it starts to brown. Add the ground crumbles and all of the seasonings - stir to coat with the oil and garlic. Cook the crumble mixture for 5 - 7 minutes. The crumbles will probably be frozen so keep that in mind. Add the sauce and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring regularly. Meanwhile, make the pasta.
Once everything is done, serve and enjoy. Wyatt and Abby both ate two plates of this last night and I could hardly believe it. They don't know it's not real meat in the sauce and I can just about guarantee you won't notice the difference either. The whole grain pasta also makes for a healthier option.
In other news I'm still scraping wallpaper in our master bathroom. I hope to have it done today so we can paint but it's a giant pain in the ass. Have you ever tried to scrape wallpaper from behind a toilet tank? Not easy. I am pretty psyched about the new color I chose (sea salt) and the brushed steel hardware. Should look pretty sweet when it's all done.
Next weekend we're heading down to NYC for our annual pilgrimage. We spend Saturday in Manhattan doing the usual things and perhaps the Museum of Natural History again. Then it's on to Flushing for Easter dinner on Sunday with the 'fam. We've got a nice Times Square hotel suite lined up on the concierge floor. (Giggity) We'll do dinner and then just hang out in the hotel with the kids. They love it and it's always a great time.
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