We took a break from our potato adventures tonight and enjoyed an old favorite – spaghetti and vegan meatballs! Admittedly, I cheated and used a jar of pasta sauce to accompany the meal tonight, because I had no fresh canned tomato sauce available and, well, it’s Wednesday night and time was short. But I did dress the sauce up with some sliced mushrooms, and that’s half the battle!

When I got home from work, I put a pot of water on to boil and, once it was rolling along nicely, added a box of spaghetti. As the pasta cooked, I heated up the sauce (and mushrooms!) and then got to work on the meatballs themselves. I took a tube of Lightlife Gimme Lean sausage (usually we use the beef style, but sometimes I like to shake things up!), sliced it into rounds, and then formed each round into a meatball with my own two hands. Next, I added a couple of tablespoons of olive oil into a pan, flicked the heat to Medium, and began to brown the meatballs, flipping them every couple of minutes.

Everything came together in a snap, and before long we were spooning heaping helpings of pasta onto our plates and chowing down! Normally, we eat at the dining room table, but tonight we plunked down in front of the television to watch an evening of debates – good, cheap fun if you ask me, no matter what your party affiliation! (I’d say good clean fun, but they were sure going after each other this evening.)

Though the television viewing was fraught with on-screen drama, our meals were delicious and drama-free! Spaghetti and meatballs is one of LeeLee’s favorite dishes, and I’m a pretty big fan myself. So it’s no surprise when we both went back for a second (small!) helping! And it’s no surprise that we’ll be debating against one another tomorrow, when lunch plans roll around. Hello, leftovers!

:)

Friends, first of all, I apologize for my silence these last couple of days. In the name of Recessionista Confessions, I must disclose that our cable modem – which had been on the blink (literally!) for a month or more – finally bit the dust unceremoniously on Tuesday afternoon, and we had to purchase another yesterday. Now, this falls under the confessional category because … well … this is embarrassing. But. We had rented our last modem from Comcast for the last eleven (11) years. Which is not a bad lifespan for a modem, that’s for sure!

It did, however, cost us roughly …

Oh, no. I’ve just done the math for the first time, and it’s not pretty. Not pretty at all.

Friends … our cable modem rental cost us approximately $924. Nine hundred and twenty-four dollars.

For an RCA modem.

(Not to be rude to RCA.)

Sort of makes the model we purchased yesterday at $129 seem like bargain-basement pricing, no?

So chalk that up to one of those recurring expenses I never really thought about and that has, in the end, nearly cost me a grand over the years. We don’t keep too many of those charges on the book, but boy howdy, this one sure snuck by us this time around! Mortifying.

Anyway. Let’s move on to something more comforting and pleasant: Dinner!

Modem aside, this week has been a bit of a doozy. Between starting a new project at work (and pulling some long hours in the process) and spending my out-of-office time enjoying extracurriculars like book club, animal-shelter volunteering, and the like, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind if you want to know the truth. (And that’s not even taking the modem into account!) So tonight I knew I wanted a home-cooked yet speedy meal, and that’s just what I got.

First, I put two vegetarian chik’n patties in the oven (I prefer to bake them rather than microwaving because they come out a bit crispier!) and let them cook for about 20 minutes. As they baked, I heated up a pot of water and brought it to a boil, then added in a box of vermicelli noodles (we used a kit from Near East tonight!).

After the noodles were cooked, about 8-10 minutes later, I drained off the water and added several handfuls of frozen kale (preserved a few weeks ago from leftovers in my weekly box from Great Country Farms), then added the spice bag that accompanied the noodle kit and, finally, a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Then I heated the pan on Medium and stirred frequently, until the kale had warmed through (which didn’t take but a minute!).

Then, all that was left was to plunk the noodles on our plates, add the chik’n patties on the side, and dig in! I topped my noodles with a touch of nutritional yeast; LeeLee topped his with some fresh oregano from the garden. We both feasted like royalty! And we didn’t think a think about the modem. Lesson learned!

:)

Well, friends, after a long weekend away for our annual trip to Ocean City, Md., LeeLee and I have returned rested and revived, ready to take on the remainder of the week. This weekend, we played Skee-Ball. We traveled in a coffin-shaped car through a haunted house. We pedaled a two-person surrey down the boardwalk and back. We lounged on the beach reading two new-to-us used books (both featuring the cast of “Dallas,” I must confess) for hours. We boogie-boarded, we sunbathed, and we relaxed.

But what we did not do was put dinner in the Crock-Pot this morning, for we were not here. So there will be no Crock-Pot Monday this week; it’ll return next week in fine form!

However, we did make it home with time to spare to make a fresh dinner for ourselves. Ocean City was Big Fun, but it was not necessarily a home-cooked health-fest! So tonight I went out to the back yard, cut a stem off our basil plant, and whipped up a batch of lemon-basil pasta.

You might remember that lemon-basil pasta is a springtime and summertime favorite around Chez Recessionista, especially when the basil is fresh from the yard and the cherry tomatoes are at the peak of ripeness! And as it happened, I had a box of rotini on hand, just waiting to be cooked up. So the only ingredients I needed from the store were three lemons and a block of Gruyere – easily procured!

While the rotini boiled, I placed chopped basil leaves, cherry tomatoes, diced Gruyere, lemon juice, salt, pepper, olive oil, and vinegar into a large bowl and mixed everything around well. Then I tossed the pasta with the sauce and veggies once it had cooked through to al dente. And then: We ate!

Actually, we tried to eat, but we spent half of our meal shooing the cat away. She’s not usually a beggar for people food, but our three nights out of town has left her a bit more attention-starved than usual, and that manifests in several (semi-obnoxious) ways. Tonight, her action plan was to attempt drive-by thefts of our food, again and again and again. She did not succeed, but she was also undeterred. Now, she is sleeping soundly on the sofa. Go figure.

We had a great trip, but it’s good to be home. And even better to know we’ve got lemon basil pasta leftovers waiting for tomorrow’s lunch!

:)

Now, if this meal doesn’t bring spring right to your doorstep, I don’t know what will!

Lemon-basil pasta has been a favorite dish of LeeLee’s and mine for more than a decade now. Once, in a galaxy far far away, TGI Fridays actually served a dish very similar to this on their summertime menu, and we both fell completely in love with it back when we lived in Tallahassee. Then, just like that, it was gone, leaving us both bereft.

So imagine our delight when, a few years back, LeeLee perfected a recipe very much like our old restaurant favorite! Some olive oil, some vinegar (sometimes we use champagne vinegar, sometimes white balsamic, sometimes regular old balsamic), some salt and pepper, halved cherry tomatoes, minced basil, diced cheese (tonight we used Parrano), and, of course, plenty of lemon juice always blend together just perfectly and meld with the penne pasta with aplomb. It’s one of the quickest, easiest, and prettiest meals we make!

And it’s easy on the taste buds, as well. LeeLee and I each mowed down two helpings (and he went back for a third – but don’t tell him I told you!). And there’s still plenty left for our lunches tomorrow. We can eat in style, right at our desks!

:)

Friends, I apologize for the radio silence around here these last couple of days. I blame some boys from Athens, Georgia, for my absence:

You see, my beloved Widespread Panic was in town, and I was compelled to purchase tickets for both nights’ worth of shows. This proved to be the correct decision, all told, even though presently I am so tired I can barely type these words. (LeeLee and I aren’t quite as young as we used to be!)

Due in part to my post-concert(s) exhaustion, due in part to indecision at the 11^th hour while standing in front of the pantry, the recipe for tonight’s meal sort of came to be piece by piece. I knew we had a container of Brussels sprouts in the fridge about to go bad – they were supposed to be grilled last weekend, but our Sunday Cookout was rained out – and I knew I had a carton of cherry tomatoes that were hovering above the same fate. We always – always! – have some sort of pasta on hand, and after having been out for the last two evenings dancing the night away, I could sort of stand something carby. So it came to pass that I concocted a new recipe, and it’s one I couldn’t be happier with.

First, I cooked a pot of linguine until the noodles were al dente, and then set the pasta aside. In the same pot – my beloved Le Creuset, of course! – I then heated several tablespoons of olive oil along with a pat of Earth Balance butter. Once it was bubbling, I added about two dozen Brussels sprouts, tossing to coat them in oil, and then added some garlic powder, dried minced onion, salt, and pepper. I cooked the sprouts on Medium heat for about 10 minutes, moving them around quite often to ensure all sides were cooking through and softening up equally.

As they cooked, I heated up four chik’n patties and cut them into strips, then set them aside. I say this now because it’s just one less thing you’ll have to do at the 11^th hour, so go ahead and get them taken care of!

Then, with about 5 minutes left in the cooking time, I added my carton of cherry tomatoes to the mix, stirring again to coat. About this time I also added the juice from half a lemon (and, for once, no seeds – hooray!).

Finally, right as the tomatoes were beginning to soften up, I added the chik’n strips, stirred everything around once more, and began to combine in the pasta, which had been hanging out on the counter (in a colander, of course, not just lying on the countertop). I did this slowly, adding a little extra olive oil as I went to help everything meld together a bit more uniformly.

Right before serving, I garnished the top with some additional salt and pepper, the juice of the other lemon half, and a hearty handful of chopped parsley from our backyard herb garden. Then LeeLee and I dug right in and gave the meal a thorough taste test.

Wow, did this dinner pass with flying colors! The garlicky olive oil sauce was so light and airy, yet flavorful enough to hold the veggies together in a cohesive culinary unit. The sprouts had softened into crisp-tender goodness, and the cherry tomatoes kept their shape but were only too ready to fall apart when we bit into them. The chik’n strips added a meatiness to the meal that I think really helped the overall composition. And the linguine had the perfect heft to carry the vegetable load.

I’m thrilled to know that we’ve got a whole container left over for our lunches tomorrow! And I can’t help but wonder how much better this meal would be with homemade pasta instead of store-bought. Guess we’ll have to try it again soon!

The recipe’s below.

LINGUINE WITH BRUSSELS SPROUTS, TOMATOES, AND CHIK’N.
Serves 4

What you’ll need:

1 package of linguine
8 cups water
4 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. butter
24 (or so) Brussels sprouts, washed
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. dried minced onion
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 carton cherry or grape tomatoes, washed
1 lemon
4 chik’n patties, heated
3 tbsp. minced fresh parsley

Cook the linguine according to the package instructions, then set aside.

In the same pot, heat the olive oil and butter over Medium heat, then add the Brussels sprouts and sauté for 10 minutes, stirring often to coat them in the oil. As they sauté, add the garlic powder, minced onion, salt, and pepper, and stir to combine.

After 10 minutes of cooking, add the tomatoes and stir again to combine. Then add the juice of half a lemon.

When 15 total minutes have elapsed, add the chik’n patties and stir once more. Once the patties have been mixed in with the rest of the ingredients thoroughly, add the pasta in several batches, combining the noodles with the vegetables as you go. You may have to add a little extra olive oil if your pasta is sticking together.

Finally, just before serving, add one last dash of salt and pepper, plus the juice of the other half of the lemon. Garnish with the parsley, and enjoy!

:)

Now here’s a recipe that used to be a mainstay in our repertoire, but that we haven’t enjoyed in ages and ages! Ramen with Rotel – plus a chik’n patty – is always a filling, easy, tasty meal to make when one is short on time and, perhaps, patience in the kitchen. That makes it perfect for tonight!

I dropped by the animal shelter on the way home from work for an hourlong volunteer stint in the cat room, where I spent a good amount of time cuddling with and baby-talking to about a dozen of my favorite felines. One of my current besties is this fellow, Chester, who started out so shy and timid but has now blossomed into a little social butterfly:

Hey, Handsome!

It amazes me how downright relaxing my time at the shelter can be. I know, I know – “relaxing” isn’t necessarily the first adjective that comes to mind when you think of an animal shelter. But this one really is (at least for much of the time). There’s just something about sitting on the floor in a kennel with a cat on your lap that sort of puts the rest of the world into perspective, you know? And then to come back a week later and see that your buddy’s been adopted and that there’s now a new buddy in his place, well – it does a heart good.

Anyway, by the time I arrived home post-shelter (and fed my own Wonder-Cat), I was very hungry and also ready to relax for a few minutes. Enter: Ramen with Rotel!

All this dish requires in order to achieve perfection is a two-minute stint in the microwave to heat up the chik’n patties, and then about five and a half minutes to heat up a microwaveable bowl of two ramen packets (minus the seasoning), one can of Rotel (to be honest, we used Harris Teeter brand tonight), and about half a can’s worth of water. Once everything is heated through, I stirred the ingredients thoroughly, added a pat of butter and a dose of nutritional yeast, and divided the servings between LeeLee’s plate and my own!

I’m pleased to say that I haven’t lost my touch, either. We both mowed down our helpings and found ourselves pining for more. There was no more to be had, but no matter; a helping of dessert trifle settled the score just beautifully.

:)