Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

You need: spaghetti noodles, 2 T of olive oil, 1 large onion, carrots, 2 garlic cloves, 3/4 lbs of ground beef, 28 oz can of tomatoes, 1/4 c of Parmesan, Italian seasonings.


Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 8 to 10 minutes.


Cook the pasta according to the directions.


Increase heat to medium-high. Add the beef, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon, until no longer pink, 4 to 5 minutes.


Add the tomatoes and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.


Serve the pasta with the sauce and sprinkle with the Parmesan.

This was good, but I'm not sure if it is better than regular spaghetti sauce with meat. The sauce was a bit bland and so I added extra garlic and Italian seasonings. I froze the left over sauce, so that will be nice to have on hand for a quick meal.
Printable recipe HERE.

Last minute lasagna

I tried out this recipe from one of my recent real simple magazines.


You need cheese ravioli, frozen spinach, a jar of pasta sauce, mozzarella, grated parmesan cheese.


First put a layer of sauce down


Then ravioli


Then spinach and cheese


Repeat

On the last layer cover the ravioli with sauce, mozzarella, and grated parmesan.
Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 25 minutes; then uncover and bake for 5-10 more minutes.
Here is a printable recipe. This was quick, easy, and good. That being said it wasn't "super delicious" and I'm not sure how often I would remake it. Give it a try and decide for yourself!

Cheese Ravioli with Garlic Sautéed Vegetables

This recipe has been in real simple and looked good:


Ravioli of your choice, yellow squash, green beans, cherry tomatoes, garlic, parmesan cheese


Heat 2 T of olive oil over medium heat


Saute the green beans for 5 minutes


While you are doing that boil water and cook your pasta


Add the squash to the green beans and cook for 3 minutes


Add 1/2 cup of halved cherry tomatoes (again...why do my pictures turn like this? Anyone know?)


Add 1 T of chopped fresh garlic and cook together for 2 minutes


Add the pasta, stir together for three minutes or until pasta is warm


Serve with fresh cheese


And some yummy bread!

This was quick, easy, and really good.
For a printable recipe click here.

Shrimp Pasta

This is a very easy tasty meal, and can easily be made for 1-2 people or more. My sister shared this one with me. Thanks Heather!


All you need for two: 2 "generous" handfuls of cooked shrimp, 2 T of olive oil, 1 garlic clove chopped, small pinch of red pepper flakes or to taste (I didn't have red pepper flakes, so I just used what I had to season), juice of 1/2 lemon, small handful of chopped parsley, 1/2 lb of linguine, and salt and pepper to taste.

Before you begin start boiling a pot of water to cook the pasta
then...

Over medium heat, heat the olive oil and


Cook the garlic


and chili flakes until fragrant but not browned, about two minutes.


Then add the pasta and cook until your desired tenderness


Add the shrimp and cook in the oil and cook until thawed and warmed through, season with salt, pepper and parsley


Another picture turned wrong, but you get the idea, remove from heat and add the lemon juice. We added some fresh cherry tomatoes at this point and cooked those- completely optional.


Then pour in the pasta


Mix together well, if the pasta is too dry add a little olive oil.


And serve immediately!