After tomorrow, if I pass my exams, I will begin the life of a sales rep for an insurance company...out of the world of retail and into the real life of corporate america. Goddess help me.
It will mark my last day to be able to cook beyond the box for awhile, if things go as planned. We can always hope for more free time than planned, but, well...so ya.
I made pasta. And veggies. A simple, easy meal. And I did it while studying for my exams. Stir. Study. Chop. Study. Stir... you get the idea.
Let's call it... Tortellini Primavera with Orange-Ginger Glazed Carrots.
OOOOOH. That sounds fancy!
Ok so, don't do what I did. You WANT to start with the carrots. They are hard. They take too long to cook. They are yummy when lubed well with butter, brown sugar and ginger.
Oh ya! Start the ginormous pot you use for noodles with water or broth.
Grab some regular sized carrots. I feed a family of 5 (3 adults 2 monkeys) so I grabbed 5 or 6. Chop the carrots thinlyish if you are thinking you will be short on time (for instance, forgetting to cook carrots until the noodles were mostly done and then crying holy shit! The carrots!). Chop evenly about 1/4" thick if you remember to do it before the noodles.
You'll also want:
1/4 c Brown Sugar
1/2 t Ginger
1 Orange (squeeze juice into pot with carrots)
Salt and pepper
Dump all ingredients together in small pot with maybe 1/2 c water. Medium heat, cook until tender. Or until noodles are done, whichever.
Move on, move on. "Clean cup, clean cup, move down move dooooowwwwwn"
Sorry. Channelling my inner Mad Hatter.
Snack.
Gasp! Is that? Why yes, yes it is. The leftover mango salsa (the guac was gone). And a few chips.
I was starving, so sue me.
You will want to add vegies to your noodles. Because you do. Trust me on this.
Sorry, it was steamy. Lenses on cameras and steam don't mix.
See it looks yummy!
Just add the darn veggies, k? K.
My sis is vegetarian, so usually I don't do meat. It's expensive and it's a pain in the butt to make multiple versions. If you want to add chicken, oooh or ham, go for it. No hard feelings. I buy the big bags of frozen, pre-cooked chicken strips at Costco to add in small amounts on occasion.
Back to the vegies.
Chop into chunks the broccoli, mushrooms, artichokes ('cause they are yummy and Costco sells them in big jars and when all else fails for additions to noodles, you have them!) and frozen peas. Yes, peas. Just trust me, will ya?
Don't chop the peas. That would be... interesting.
If you have other veggies hangin' out in small amounts in the frig, toss them in. Squash, cauliflower, carrots, spinach. They all work well. I happened to just want these in today as I have freshly procured them from the local market. (Remember, buy local!)
Saute over medium heat.
At this point your carrots should be good and bubbly. If they aren't cooking fast enough, throw a saucer (or lid if you actually remember where you put them) to speed the cooking.
Next. Noodles. The star of the show.
I am a noodle-a-holic and a sauce making aficionado.
Grab a jar of alfredo from your favorite brand out of the pantry.
Sigh.
Yes, if you want, I will supply a recipe for making it from scratch. It's easy. No really, it is. It just requires more time and more ingredients.
Onward.
Grab noodles of choice. I found, on sale even, dried organic tortellini, the multi-colored kind. Everything should be multi-colored! It makes life more entertaining!
Stupid steam.
Dump noodles in water. Toss in some salt and oil. Olive is my fave, but any will do. If you are feeling REALLY adventurous, you could have heated up some broth instead. MMMMMMMM.
Nom nom nom. Crunch. Nom nom nom.
Oh. Sorry. Chips.
Hum a song. Go study for 5 or 10 minutes. Remember to stir the veggies so they don't burn. The water from the frozen peas and the sweat from the mushrooms should be enough lubricant to prevent that, but you never know.
I'm obsessed with cast iron. It gets hot fast.
.
.
.
Ok. Noodles are done. Dump the sauce into the vegies. Darin the noodles. Or heck, drain them even.
Turn off the stove. (Important tip)
Assemble on plate. Noodles with sauce and vegies over top, carrots on side. If you have bread, use the damn toaster spread it with butter, sprinkle over some garlic powder. Instant garlic bread.
I didn't have bread. I keep forgetting to go to the used bread store by work.
I didn't mix the vegies in the sauce 'cause I have some picky eaters. They need to be able to pick out the mushrooms with ease. Crazy people who don't like mushrooms. I mean really.
So there it is. My simple, final meal.
Wish me luck on the test tomorrow. Now I must go die. 4 am wake up to go to work.
It will mark my last day to be able to cook beyond the box for awhile, if things go as planned. We can always hope for more free time than planned, but, well...so ya.
I made pasta. And veggies. A simple, easy meal. And I did it while studying for my exams. Stir. Study. Chop. Study. Stir... you get the idea.
Let's call it... Tortellini Primavera with Orange-Ginger Glazed Carrots.
OOOOOH. That sounds fancy!
Ok so, don't do what I did. You WANT to start with the carrots. They are hard. They take too long to cook. They are yummy when lubed well with butter, brown sugar and ginger.
Oh ya! Start the ginormous pot you use for noodles with water or broth.
Grab some regular sized carrots. I feed a family of 5 (3 adults 2 monkeys) so I grabbed 5 or 6. Chop the carrots thinlyish if you are thinking you will be short on time (for instance, forgetting to cook carrots until the noodles were mostly done and then crying holy shit! The carrots!). Chop evenly about 1/4" thick if you remember to do it before the noodles.
You'll also want:
1/4 c Brown Sugar
1/2 t Ginger
1 Orange (squeeze juice into pot with carrots)
Salt and pepper
Dump all ingredients together in small pot with maybe 1/2 c water. Medium heat, cook until tender. Or until noodles are done, whichever.
Move on, move on. "Clean cup, clean cup, move down move dooooowwwwwn"
Sorry. Channelling my inner Mad Hatter.
Snack.
Gasp! Is that? Why yes, yes it is. The leftover mango salsa (the guac was gone). And a few chips.
I was starving, so sue me.
You will want to add vegies to your noodles. Because you do. Trust me on this.
Sorry, it was steamy. Lenses on cameras and steam don't mix.
See it looks yummy!
Just add the darn veggies, k? K.
My sis is vegetarian, so usually I don't do meat. It's expensive and it's a pain in the butt to make multiple versions. If you want to add chicken, oooh or ham, go for it. No hard feelings. I buy the big bags of frozen, pre-cooked chicken strips at Costco to add in small amounts on occasion.
Back to the vegies.
Chop into chunks the broccoli, mushrooms, artichokes ('cause they are yummy and Costco sells them in big jars and when all else fails for additions to noodles, you have them!) and frozen peas. Yes, peas. Just trust me, will ya?
Don't chop the peas. That would be... interesting.
If you have other veggies hangin' out in small amounts in the frig, toss them in. Squash, cauliflower, carrots, spinach. They all work well. I happened to just want these in today as I have freshly procured them from the local market. (Remember, buy local!)
Saute over medium heat.
At this point your carrots should be good and bubbly. If they aren't cooking fast enough, throw a saucer (or lid if you actually remember where you put them) to speed the cooking.
Next. Noodles. The star of the show.
I am a noodle-a-holic and a sauce making aficionado.
Grab a jar of alfredo from your favorite brand out of the pantry.
Sigh.
Yes, if you want, I will supply a recipe for making it from scratch. It's easy. No really, it is. It just requires more time and more ingredients.
Onward.
Grab noodles of choice. I found, on sale even, dried organic tortellini, the multi-colored kind. Everything should be multi-colored! It makes life more entertaining!
Stupid steam.
Dump noodles in water. Toss in some salt and oil. Olive is my fave, but any will do. If you are feeling REALLY adventurous, you could have heated up some broth instead. MMMMMMMM.
Nom nom nom. Crunch. Nom nom nom.
Oh. Sorry. Chips.
Hum a song. Go study for 5 or 10 minutes. Remember to stir the veggies so they don't burn. The water from the frozen peas and the sweat from the mushrooms should be enough lubricant to prevent that, but you never know.
I'm obsessed with cast iron. It gets hot fast.
.
.
.
Ok. Noodles are done. Dump the sauce into the vegies. Darin the noodles. Or heck, drain them even.
Turn off the stove. (Important tip)
Assemble on plate. Noodles with sauce and vegies over top, carrots on side. If you have bread, use the damn toaster spread it with butter, sprinkle over some garlic powder. Instant garlic bread.
I didn't have bread. I keep forgetting to go to the used bread store by work.
I didn't mix the vegies in the sauce 'cause I have some picky eaters. They need to be able to pick out the mushrooms with ease. Crazy people who don't like mushrooms. I mean really.
So there it is. My simple, final meal.
Wish me luck on the test tomorrow. Now I must go die. 4 am wake up to go to work.
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