Pink Pasta...Because Why Not.

Can I tell you how excited I am to be back at work.  It has been two long years of juggling 4 kids, a move cross the USA, a husband that works from home and than my choice to return to school and all that entails.   The last two years has taught me a lot.  I have learned that I need to be constantly learning and improving or I get depressed. My brain needs stimulation or it goes crazy.  I enjoy what I do and I want to be better at it.  I want to write more and cook more.  It's been forever since I have felt that way.  

I have a gap in kids that will allow me to find the time to squeeze in a few more years of education. Isabella is 9 and that leaves me with 9 years to "edu-ma-cate" my silly self.  I am pretty excited.

My busy life has forced me to simplify my cooking.  My eating habits have evolved as well.  I find myself in the kitchen with less prep, tastier dishes, and more time to do other things.  I made macarons the other day with my daughter and holy shit those take a long time.  SOOOO much work! Secretly, they tasted amazing; but, I realized how much my approach has changed in the last two years and I love it.  

I love simple foods, with whole ingredients.  I like having my shopping cart bulging to capacity with vegetables.  My family appreciates this too. 

This recipe is fun.  It made the kids smile to see pink noodles.  Easy slip of a bit of red food coloring during the final stages of boiling the noodles and presto-bammo you have a kid friendly dinner.  

Cory made the sauce the night before (he is a keeper that guy of mine) which made dinner even better because all I have to do is reheat the sauce and grate some cheese.  

I even had Cory pose with the spaghetti.  This is a comical process seeing how our 2 year old is not used to both of her parents being tied up with photographing food. She wanted in on the action and while I snapped away, she tried to climb Cory's legs.  We laughed so hard at our life.  We are almost 50 and dealing with a two year old.....crazy!  She does keep us young and we love her so much.

Cory's sauce is simple (recipe below).  Add the following ingredients and let it simmer until reduced to the desired thickness.

Ingredients:  1 teaspoon minced garlic, 1/4 diced red onion, 1 cup of fresh mushrooms sliced, 1 small zucchini sliced, and two cans of diced tomato with juice, and one can of tomato sauce.  For the fresh herb he added fresh basil and oregano.

He's a man that does not cook in the kitchen very often so his technique is "throw it in a pan with some oil and let it simmer".  Seriously, this is what he does and it turns out great every time.

As I always recommend with my recipes, taste the sauce and make your own assessment.  Be your own quality control and add salt as needed.  Let me know if you have any questions. I'm around.