Sunday, November 6, 2011

wow, i've come a long way

from not knowing how to cook hardly anything at all.

I am having another proud cooking moment.  This one is just as embarrassing as not knowing how to cook gravy but I will write about it nonetheless.  It's embarrassing because it is such an easy recipe/meal.  It really, really is.  Also, no offense to anyone to who doesn't know to cook gravy.  I didn't for 30 years.

Anyhoo, today we went to church and, in the past, we would go to a restaurant afterwards.  Those days aren't as frequent because we don't have the money.  So today, as we were driving home, I was thinking about what to cook for lunch.  We had no leftovers in the fridge and nothing that stood out in the pantry.  I don't believe in microwave meals, so that wasn't an option.  I didn't want to pick up anything, as that defeats the purpose of saving money (we might as well have gone to a restaurant and sat down to eat if that's the case).

So we got home and I immediately went to the pantry to see what I could cook up.  I saw that I had Spinach Fettucine.  I had garlic and I had olive oil.  BINGO! So I whipped up some garlic olive oil and cooked the fettucine.  Side note:  I added anchovy paste to my garlic olive oil, it was fabulous.  I topped everyone's bowl off with some freshly grated parmesan cheese and served it.

Let me tell you, my kids gobbled it up.  Tristan even asked for seconds.  I couldn't believe it.  I thought for sure they wouldn't eat it because 1. it wasn't breaded and 2. it was green.  But they did!!  Oh boy, they sure did.

I am so very, very proud of myself because, truly, two years ago I would have freaked out about not having anything to eat and we would have stopped somewhere to pick up food or gone to a restaurant.  I saved us at least $25 today by not going out to eat and it really was tastier than any restaurant food I've had in a long time.  I have come a long, long way from when I first got married and barely knew how to cook eggs (I'm being dramatic, I knew how to cook eggs) to being able to come home, look in the pantry, find ingredients, and create a meal.

Yay me!

Here's the recipe in case you'd like to try it out yourself:  I don't put measurements because it was all eye-balled

Bag of Spinach Fettucine (you could really use any pasta you want, I had this on hand and it's healthy to boot)
Olive Oil
Garlic, minced (I used about 4 or 5 cloves for a strong garlic flavor, Honey LOVES him some garlic)
Anchovy Paste (if you have it, if not then that is just fine)
Butter
Parmesan Cheese

Start cooking your pasta according to the directions.

While pasta is cooking, heat up your anchovy paste with a bit of olive oil (not too much at this point because we are just trying to "melt" the paste) in a skillet over medium heat.  Stir it together to help them become one.  It will dissolve into the olive oil.  *When it looks like one liquid, add more olive oil and your garlic.  Turn down the heat to low.  Let them marry together.  I added a smidgen of butter in the mix for a little pocket of extra flavor.

When pasta is done, drain it and return it to hot pot.  Add some butter and stir.  **Add your olive oil mixture to pasta.  Stir together.  Spoon into serving dish and top with parmesan cheese.

*If you do not have anchovy paste, then just heat up your olive oil and garlic together over low heat
**It is up to you but I strained my olive oil mixture before adding it to my pasta.  I don't like bits of garlic in my oil.  I took a little hand-held strainer and poured my olive oil right through that directly on top of my pasta

Happy Eating Everyone



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