Rotini and Meat Sauce

Tuesday night I had a pound of hamburg I wanted to use up, and DaGirl requested spaghetti.  Here is an easy solution to that made us both happy.

Quick Meat Sauce

olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, grated
garlic
hamburg
red wine
2 cans diced tomatoes (undrained)
Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon tomato paste

Heat a large saute pan over medium heat.  Add olive oil, onion carrot and garlic, saute until veggies start to soften.  Add hamburg and break up spoon.  Once the meat is cooked add about a cup of red wine.  When most of the liquid has evaporated add tomatoes, Italian seasoning and tomato paste.  Simmer 10 - 20 minutes.  Toss with pasta, serve with a generous sprinkling of cheese, and a simple salad.

I found the sauce to be a little bland.  Next time I need to add a little bit of red pepper flakes, and use sausage instead of the ground beef.  I made four cups of rotini which gave us enough for dinner and about 2 more lunches.

Shrimp & Asparagus

This is one of my favorite springtime dinners. I know I have made this recipe before. I probably only make it a few times a year when the Hadley grass is available everywhere. I did double the recipe so that there would be enough for leftovers for lunch, because everyone loves this dish.

Spicy Red Clam Sauce & Pudding Parfaits

This meal was so fast to make. I had the sauce done before the water boiled. There was a nice little zip to the sauce. DaGoof was in charge of making the salad. While he was doing that I took some extra cake we had in the freezer topped it with a white chocolate instant pudding and tucked dessert into the fridge.

By the time DaKids had cleaned their plates the pudding was set. A squirt of 'cream' as DaKids call it and of course sprinkles made everyone happy. This was a fast and easy dinner I need to make again.

Asisn Shrimp and Vermicelli Salad

This dinner came from "Cooking Light Super fast Suppers". The recipe can also be found online here. I followed the directions for the sauce but I subbed in broccoli and yellow peppers, because that was what I had on hand. I also used a thin whole wheat spaghetti instead of the vermicelli. This was a quick dinner to put together. The sauce was a wonderful sweet and sour flavor that we all enjoyed. I think I may have to make this one again.