Cremes

Since we are moving out of this apartment to who-knows-where in less than three weeks, I’ve had to be a little creative with dinner. I decided on Sunday that I would not do a traditional grocery shop (including for lunches) until after we were settled into our new digs, whether that be at the in-laws’ or the new house (I’m praying we’ll have a place to settle before mid-October). So that meant taking all of my frozen meat out of the freezer and searching for recipes by ingredient on Allrecipes.com. I searched for about 30 minutes and came up wanting (found some things I definitely want to try, though!), so I headed to the kitchen and started throwing things into a pan. Here’s what came out of it:

Meags’ Fly-by-the-Seat-of-My-Jeans Goulash

• 1/2 lb ground beef (freezer burnt optional)
• 1 tsp minced garlic (about 1-2 cloves)
• 3/4 cup diced onion (or a handful)
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup diced sweet green and red pepper
• all the elbow macaroni you have (about 3 cups)
• 2 14.5oz cans diced tomatoes (don’t drain)
• 6oz can tomato paste
• 5oz can mushrooms (drained)
• dash salt and pepper
• 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese (grated by husband - trust me, it tastes better this way)

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Brown the beef in the oil at about medium-high heat, tossing in the garlic and onions at first, then add the sweet peppers when the meat is almost browned. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to directions. Once the beef is browned and the veggies sauteed, add the tomatoes and the paste. Stir around so that it becomes a thick sauce. Add the mushroom and the seasonings, then simmer for a few minutes, until heated through.

After the pasta is nice and al dente, drain it and put it in a casserole dish. I used my 2-1/2 quart corningware dish and it was brimming over - so maybe a lasagna pan. Then pour the sauce over top and stir it in so that noodles are all covered in the sauce. Top with mozzarella cheese and bake until the cheese melts (about 10 minutes). Serve!

I was actually quite surprised by how good it was considering how few ingredients I used (not to mention, I’m not really a recipe inventin’ kinda gal). I think in the future, I would add some oregano and basil to the recipe, and maybe some marjoram. Spinach would also taste pretty good in the sauce. We’ll see if I start inventing more recipes as the last few weeks here at Apt 7302 come along.

Browsing my Google reader this morning I came across this:

20. Coffee
The old cup-o-joe has been thrown on the stands for many a corporeal crime—heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis—but exonerated on all counts. In fact, coffee, which is derived from a bean, contains beneficial antioxidants that protect against free radicals and may actually help thwart heart disease and cancer. While it’s not going to fill you up like the other items on this list, it might make you a lot perkier. When made at home, coffee runs less than 50¢ cents a cup. Source

Huzzah! It’s always nice to have something that you enjoy every day to be actually healthful. Of course, caffeine isn’t always a good choice but it’s better in coffee than it is in soda.

So you’ve tried the meal planning, the shopping ahead of time, and may have even forayed into using the calendar for weekly meal planning. But there’s still a problem. You get home from work and find yourself too tired to cook one of the dinners that you carefully planned. Welcome to the advanced class! (more…)

Home organization and food are topics that I enjoy reading about and putting into action. Last week I had a stroke of genius in implementing the two together to solve a major problem that I face every weeknight when I arrive from work: What’s for dinner? As progressive as my husband and I are, the kitchen is still the woman’s castle in our place, so this means I’m generally saddled with the bulk of this problem. I’m also a person with a tight biological schedule, and my body needs food preferably before 7pm. So, to battle this problem, I came up with a plan that, on its second week of implementation, seems to function well and keep my tired body sated.

(more…)