Quick Weeknight Comfort Dinner

It happens to us all.  It's a Wednesday night, we all need to eat, and mom is tired and not feeling terribly creative.  For this reason, I keep a stash of go-to items so I can still whip up something filling, tasty and that constitutes a decent meal on the fly.

After spending some of my last week in the hospital (what an experience!) I am still dealing with a dull headache, fatigue and frustration as we try to get my meds straightened out.  So, this was one of those "call it in" nights.

Thanks to my beloved Aldi, I had cheese ravioli, jarred Alfredo sauce, regular pasta sauce, and pesto on hand. The ravioli takes a whopping 8 minutes. I warmed up the red sauce for the kid and for Neil and myself, I used the Alfredo with some pesto and extra parmesan mixed in.  I had sliced fresh mozzarella, my basil plant and made a reduction of balsamic vinegar.  Lastly, thanks to my buddies at Publix, there were garlic knots in the freezer. 

Result? It really hit the spot!  And, there's still some leftover ravioli that I can turn into a pasta salad tomorrow. I highly recommend this plan for your busy weeknights when cooking isn't really in the cards for you. I know it's not "real" cooking, but it was just the thing for a Wednesday night!  

Post Thanksgiving Re-purposing

Every Thanksgiving, there are the true "Turkeytarians" like my mom and my husband who start dreaming of turkey and all that it entails.  We've always joked that if my mom were on Death Row, turkey & dressing would be her last meal request.  My husband is the official turkey guy.  He brines it, he roasts it, he watches it, he even photographs it.  Yep, I'm not the only nerd taking pictures of food.

Personally, I'm very (extremely) lukewarm about turkey. But, I get it.  There are those like Mom and Neil who are all in. I know people like them think that a turkey, mayo and tomato sandwich later is like manna from Heaven.  Whatev.  Me, I'm the one thinking of all the ways I can turn that leftover turkey into something way more interesting.  Soup, enchiladas, pot pies, something.  This year, I decided on an old classic....Turkey Tetrazzini.

Start by cooking about 1/2 lb of noodles, whatever type you like.  I chose spaghetti but linguine or fettucine would work well too. 

Chop about 3 cups of leftover turkey.  I'm not a big fan of cubes of meat, so I chop mine roughly so the pieces are not uniform. Chop up a small onion and some mushrooms.  I used about 4 big mushrooms; you can decide how many is enough but not too much.

Go ahead and preheat your oven to 400.  Let's make the sauce now.  In a saucepan, melt about 3 Tbs butter.  Stir in 1/4 cup of flour and cook about 3 minutes or so.  Whisk in 2 3/4 cup chicken or turkey broth, 1/4 cup white wine, 1/4 tsp thyme and a pinch of nutmeg. Whisk until nice and smooth and continue to heat to boiling.  Reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes, whisking frequently.  Remove from heat and whisk in cream.  Set aside.

Melt about 1 more Tbs butter and saute onions and mushrooms.  Mix together turkey, noodles, onions and mushrooms.  

Then, add the sauce to the mixture...

Pour all into a casserole dish and sprinkle with Parmesan...

Then into that nice, hot oven to bake for about 30 minutes, until bubbly and beautiful.

  
 I served ours with some peas because I'm a freak about having something green on the plate.  Actually, the peas are good mixed into the tetrazzini too.  

I've also added pimento for color in past casseroles, which works well too.  I realize tetrazzini is probably the most 1950's type meal you can imagine, but it has stood the test of time for a reason.  It's creamy and gooey, there's pasta involved, it uses up that leftover turkey (or chicken), it freezes well and is a good dish to take to a sick friend.  Frankly, I find it more exciting than a leftover turkey sandwich.  But then again, I'm not a textbook Turkeytarian like Mom and Neil!

Cooking is good for the soul(s)

I love to cook.  It started in high school.  French club, I think.  My school's French club hosted a "French cafe" each year but all it offered was croissants and other pastries.  When I became French club president, I reasoned "hey, it's either a cafe or it's not..." Therefore, I pulled out my mom's International cookbook, selected a savory crepe recipe, a quiche, a side dish (I can't really remember now but I think it was some preparation of green beans) and a dessert.  My club divided up into teams for cooking, loaded my parents' microwave into my '74 Volkswagen and set up a real cafe in the courtyard.  We sold lunch plates and made a killing.  

Here I am a "few" years later and I've been cooking ever since.  I enjoy it.  I like it for many reasons...it's therapeutic for me, I like to take care of others through food and I really, really like to try to  impress my husband.  And then there's our daughter, who I want to feed healthily and have her develop a sophisticated palate.  We're well on the way with that, thank God.

Unfortunately, one of our friends was recently found to have cancer.  She is young and healthy, has a beautiful one year old baby and a husband who loves her.  She's been started on chemo right away and is on medical leave.  She is in good hands... 

I wanted to prepare something that they could keep in the freezer and just pop in the oven on those days when she doesn't feel well and her husband doesn't want to fool with the kitchen. I decided to go with The Pioneer Woman's lasagna rolls. I really love her site and so many of her recipes are just awesome.  I made enough for 4 meals for our friends and one for us. I had leftover filling and a little bit of sauce, so I stuffed some shells for our dinner.

So, on to the lasagna...

Getting all the ingredients ready to rock & roll

 

I am an herb-chopping machine

This is about 2 lbs of hamburger and chopped onion

The sauce is simmering away.  Smells divine!

Since these are rolled, you must cook them first

Spread the ricotta/parmesan mixture on the noodle

Roll 'em up!

Four rolls will fit in a standard size loaf pan

Look at all these...from ONE recipe!

Everything is better with cheese on top

Using up the leftover filling & sauce for our dinner

Stuffed shells ready for the oven

Call me an old Southern girl but food is what I do when someone has a problem.  Making these dishes was fun for me and I felt really happy about the possibility that these lasagnas might make life a little easier for our friends as they go through this tough time.  Food is more than fuel for the body. That's what I think anyway. 

Speedy Gonpastez

Tonight was National Night Out.  After karate, the little gourmand begged me to go to the park for the festivities.  It was a great time; saw lots of kids and parents we know, Vivi had a hot dog and there was a Baskin Robbins cart...all gratis, btw! Then, as I spent some time chatting with friends, it dawned on me that the park had the splash pad turned on.  And, since I have an amphibious child, I realized, yep she's all wet by now.  Sure enough, fully clothed and wet to the core.  It was then that we took our leave.

So, by the time we got home it was piano practice time, shower time, get ready for bed time.  As all that was going on, I decided to whip up something for myself since on my first day back to "real food" I passed on the free hot dogs.  I turned to what I had hanging around in the kitchen and made a easy, fast and pretty darn tasty pasta.

I had some cute little orange cherry tomatoes that Vivi picked out at the Farmers Market the other day.  

I also had some "chicken tips" left over from Zorba's.  I use quotation marks because we all know there really isn't any such thing as a chicken "tip."  It's merely bite sized pieces of chicken. But, being from Zorba's, they were nicely marinated Greek chicken pieces and packed with some fla-vah. Here's what I did:


1.  Mince some garlic (how ever much is right for you)
2.  Grate some parm or romano (again, your amount)
3.  Halve about 2 oz. of cherry tomatoes
4.  Chop up some parsley
5.  Cook about 4oz of spaghetti

So, then heat some olive oil and the tomatoes.  Cook until they start letting off some of their juices.  

This picture cracks me up...looks like eggs...no pun intended!

Add the garlic (and in my case, leftover chicken).  Toss around over medium heat.  Meanwhile, drain your pasta, saving some pasta water.  Add the spaghetti to the saute pan and add some pasta water and shake it all around to emulsify the water and olive oil.  Adorn with parsley and cheese and mangia!

So incredibly easy and it was delicious.  The cherry tomatoes that I used were orange and very naturally sweet. Red ones or grape tomatoes may change the flavor slightly but I can't think it would be a bad thing!  

As an aside:  I stopped by the Chef'Store today because I was out of olive oil.  Right now, Bi-Lo has 16oz Pompeian Olive Oil at $8.99.  That's roughly 1/2 liter for $8.99.  At the Chef'Store, I bought 3 liters for $18.58.  Let's break this down:  3L of Pompeian would be $53.94. Uhhhhh, I think I got the better deal. non è questo?

Fresh Pasta

I am notorious for saying things like "uhh, I don't know" or "I haven't even thought about it" or "hmmm, let me think about it" when asked what I want for Christmas, my birthday, etc. Well, this year, I had a break-through.  When my mom asked, I had an answer!  Where did this come from?  The dark recesses of my mind had opened but how, why? My answer:  "I want the pasta machine attachment for my standing mixer."

There, I said it.

So you may ask, "Wow, where did that come from?"  For years, I've read a gazillion recipes calling for fresh pasta, if available. I've also read countless articles about how fresh pasta just can't be beat for lasagna, ravioli, you name it.  You may have come across recipes that describe to you how you can roll pasta dough out by hand and then cut into the shapes you want.  Yes, I suppose that is possible.  But rest assured, to roll pasta to true pasta thickness would take you about 2 hours of rolling pin work.  No thanks. You need a pasta machine.

As I'm sure you've surmised, mom and dad came through with the Kitchenaid attachment. I was elated!  As soon as I got it home I had to try it out.  Here's the coolest part of this story: it is insanely easy to make pasta. I made a basic egg pasta dough, then used my machine to create fresh spaghetti.  If you have a Kitchenaid mixer, you simply mix up the dough in the mixer.  Let it rest for about 20 minutes, then attach the pasta roller to the front.  You effortlessly roll the pasta to the right thickness, then switch to one of the cutter attachments (I have spaghetti and fettucine) and viola! you have pasta.  

I bagged some up for mom and dad then cooked up some for the three of us to try.  Vivi wanted hers plain.  Neil and I had it with a basic red sauce.  The noodles were so tender!  Store bought noodles never have this subtle tenderness.  Right out of the pot, they taste good from the simple salted water.  Since making the initial batch, I whipped up a little lunch for Neil using the fresh spaghetti, some cooked chicken I had in the fridge, leftover asparagus, parmesan and olive oil. He left not one noodle in that bowl!

My next attempt is going to be lasagna.  This is one of my mom's favorite dishes and I can't wait to make one with fresh pasta sheets.  We'll start with traditional but then I want to try out a recipe in one of my Williams-Sonoma cookbooks for duck lasagna with a cabernet sauce.  Oh yeah...

And Presto! It's Pesto.

I remember my first introduction to pesto.  It came out of a packet. No, really.  This would have been somewhere in either the late 80's or early 90's.  I spotted it in a grocery store; a packet of pesto sauce made by Knorr Swiss.  You see, this "exotic" green sauce hadn't really become mainstream in America at that time. Not only had I never tasted it, I'd never even heard of it.  What came out of that packet was indeed delicious, but years later when I finally found fresh pesto being served in Columbia, I quickly realized the difference.  This, of course, led me to "Hey, why don't I just make this myself?"

Pesto originated in the Ligurian region of Italy and remains today their culinary star.  Just as France dictates that champagne can only come from Champagne, the Italians have restrictions on true Pesto alla Genovese.  They insist on the proper ingredients, preferably all local.  So, pesto involves basil, pine nuts, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, parmesan, pecorino romano and sea salt.  If you're a purist, which I am not, invest in a mortar and pestle to grind the ingredients into a sauce.  This is the most pristine method of preparation.  I use either my blender or food processor simply out of convenience and speed.  Some Ligurians would say that the heat generated by the machine may alter flavor a bit, but <<newsflash>> I'm not Ligurian.  I'm a busy American mom whose attitude is:  when I want fresh pesto, I want it now!

Truthfully, if I had a nice mortar and pestle, I'd use it.  But I don't, so the blender it is. The funny thing is that some people I know have no idea how ridiculously easy it is to make your own. And, how fast.  Just this morning, we sat out on our patio and had coffee.  Neil and I both glanced over at our pot of basil and decided today would be a great day to whip up some pesto.  Now, the reason I'm posting this at all, is to show you how fast and easy this is.  If you're not in the habit of making pesto, I want you to start after you finish reading this.  

Pay attention, this is tricky...Pick a good packed cup of basil leaves.  Put those in your blender with 1/4 cup of parmesan, 1/4 cup pine nuts, 2 tsp minced garlic.  As you begin blending, pour in a 1/4 cup olive oil through that opening in the lid of your blender.  You may need to thin it with a little bit of water.  You be the judge.  

VOILA! PESTO.  

See?  Wasn't that ridiculously easy? Now you're ready to toss this magical emerald sauce with hot pasta, stir it into a baked potato, add some to that pot of minestrone you have on the stove or mix it into a cream sauce and drizzle over grilled tuna.  If you're not ready to use it, you might like this: I freeze mine in ice cube trays.  Once frozen, just pop them into a ziploc and when you need pesto, each cube will give you about 2 Tablespoons, depending on the size of your ice cube trays, of course. Here's an interesting tidbit:  years ago, I wrote to Vegetarian Times magazine and told them about my ice cube tray trick and guess what?  They published my letter.  15 minutes of fame.

Ok, that's it.  If you don't have any basil in your garden or on your patio, get in the car and go to Lowe's or a garden center.  That's step one.  

Now get going and buon appetito!

 

Quickie Greek-ish Dinner

This has been one insanely busy weekend and I didn't even do any work (well, not my normal work.)  Here's a list of what we crammed into Friday night through Sunday evening: Circus, playground, pizza with friends, Carolina Ballet performance, church, USC basketball.  It was a lot of stuff.

Viv and I left the Lady Gamecocks as they were 41-41 with Texas A&M.  As a side note, I haven't watched women's basketball in a long time.  They are aggressive as hell and they spend more time on the floor than I remember any team...not just the Gamecocks but the other team too.  It just seemed like they were constantly tripping over feet, just flat out running into each other, whatever you wanna call it...all I know was somebody was on the floor pretty much every play.

By the time we got home, it was time to get back to reality: baths, picking out school clothes, reading and of course, dinner.  I was so tired I just "thought on my feet" and whipped up and dinner that much to my delight (and apparently to my daughter and husband as well), I came up this dish: We'll call it "Elvin's Greek Chicken Pasta." Okay?

Here's what I did:
I took about 6 chicken tenderloins and sprinkled with Cavender's All Purpose Greek Seasoning.  This is something my family has always had in our cabinets.  If you've never used it, find it and be thankful.

So, next I heated up a griddle, melted some butter and added my chicken.  I used a grill press to put pressure on the chicken to quickly create the sear and that beautiful grilled color.  Plus, this cooks the chicken quicker.  I stored them under foil as I continued with other step.  All this time, I had whole wheat penne on the stove.  

Here's the thing about whole wheat pasta.  Most people think it sucks.  Know why?  If you don't cook it right, it does suck.  Wheat pasta must be seasoned with salt while it cooks and it has to cook longer than white pasta.  Simple.  Salting the water liberally will truly add some flavor to the pasta and will take away that wheaty bready cardboardish flavor. And, it must be cooked longer to make it soft and pliable; it's simply different than "regular" pasta.

Then, I used about 1/2 a package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed it and drained it.  I cut up some black olives, then cut the chicken up into bite sized pieces. (Full disclosure: Neil actually handled the chicken for me.  Fantastic job, honey!)  While he was busy with that, I started the sauce.  I like to make roux. Actually I don't really know how to make a sauce or gravy without doing so.) I used about 3 Tbs of butter, 2 Tbs flour..got that cooking, stirring until it got "blonde" and "nutty" smelling then I added about 2 cups of warm milk (having the milk warm or hot is important so you don't end up with clumps) whisking vigorously.  As it began to thicken, I added a little Parmesan and Feta.  That's the sauce.  Easy, huh?

So, after draining my pasta, I put it back in the pot, mixed in the black olives, spinach, chicken (now in bite sized pieces) then mixed it all up with the sauce.  It was ridiculously easy to whip up in a hurry and I got big thumbs up from the 6 year old and the 45 year old!  So, if you need quick entrees in your repertoire, you might want to include this one.

Pictures never give it justice

My six year old loved it and my husband had three helpings.  Go ahead, try it, I dare ya!

New Product Review

Many of you know this about me, but I'll say it again.  I am a coupon addict.  It pains me to go to the grocery store without a stack of them.  I love the rush of feeling like I just robbed the store.  I plan, I plot, I wait, I watch.  Then, I swoop in and buy, buy, buy!  Now, before you get concerned, let me clarify: I only buy stuff we actually use, unless I can get it for free and then I donate it; I have not built an addition onto my house to house 3 years' worth of groceries and I don't clean out an entire department of my grocery store in one fell swoop.  But, I do sleep well knowing that I have my own little personal hoard of olive oil, soup, rice and beans.  (and occasionally feta cheese, pie crust, spaghetti sauce and pickles)

Well, last week, I noticed that this new product that I'd never heard of was on sale at Publix.  It's Progresso's "Recipe Starters."  Now at first, I thought this was like those new concentrated stocks that a lot of the broth people have introduced. I downloaded some coupons and decided to check this stuff out.  Turns out they're not all stocks.  They are bases to start recipes with and the can actually has a recipe on it, in addition to the URL of more recipes and ideas.  I selected a variety to give it a try:  Creamy Parmesan Basil, Fire Roasted Tomato, Creamy Roasted Garlic and Creamy Three Cheese.  

Just a couple of days later, I received an email from MyBlogSpark to introduce me to "Progresso Recipe Starters" and it included a link to a high value coupon for it.  They have encouraged me to post this coupon link for you, my faithful reader, to download and give the product a try.  I decided to use one of them myself so I could give you my two-cents' worth, in case you're interested.  I used the "Easy Weeknight Bacon Mac n Cheese" recipe right on the label.  You can view the recipe right here. 

I served it with a grilled flatiron steak and green beans.  This dish was very tasty (BACON!) and very creamy.  I think the flavor could be boosted even more with a sharper cheese thrown in, like blue cheese maybe.  And, it was a snap to prepare.  It absolutely fits the bill for an easy weeknight dish.  If you are the type who prefers the old school, drier oven baked macaroni from your grandmother, this may not do it for you.  But, if you are one who digs hot, cheesy, creamy pasta...this is a winner.  If you're interested in trying out this product, the nice people at Progresso have made this coupon available to us.

And, their generosity doesn't end there.  They also included a coupon for Progresso Light Soups.  These are low calorie soups; some as low as 100 calories!  Please note that this information and the coupons were provided to me from MyBlogSpark and Progresso.  Download the coupons and try out the products.  Thank you Progresso!

Bellacino's

I realize Bellacino's isn't new.  I remember when the one in Lexington opened, gosh, probably 10 years ago, one of my Realtor (r) friends used them all the time to cater Agents' Open Houses.  But, even after all these years, I had not ever actually gone into the restaurant.  Just had their catering on numerous occasions.

Bellacino's in Lexington, SC

Yesterday, my mom and I found ourselves in the area and decided to pop in and give it a try.  If you don't  know anything about Bellacino's, here's what I know.  It is a chain, but the Lexington & Irmo locations are owned by the same person.  Their menu is pizza, sandwiches (they call theirs 'grinders'), pasta and salads.  Neil tells me that any place that calls their sandwiches 'grinders' is a good thing in his book.  Apparently, years ago while working in Connecticut, he fell in love with grinders.  

As we walked in, the first thing I noticed was how clean the place smelled.  Restaurant cleanliness should go without saying, but as we all know, some restaurants get this and sadly, some do not.  So, after being greeted with a clean smell, I looked around and saw that the place is very neat, clean and tidy.  Good vibes so far.

We looked over the menu and decided to give the pizza a try.  We ordered a 12" with pepperoni, sausage & black olives. A classic combo, in this wanna-be's opinion!  You order at the counter and then the staff delivers your food to your table.  The dining room is large but has some dividers so it doesn't have the wide, open, banquet hall feeling to it.  I also noticed they have covered patio seating.  

Our pizza arrived and certainly passed my visual test.  Looks good and makes me wanna eat it.  Bellacino's cuts a round pie not into traditional slices, but slices it into a grid.  I like this idea actually because those of us who don't care for crust (kids) can get a nice gooey piece of pizza without the crust wastage.  For those of us who do like our crust, Bellacino's was nice and crusty, crispy and a medium thickness.  The sauce was nice, a little on the sweet side.  The toppings were also generous, especially the olives, which is a huge plus for me.  As a kid, we always went to our friends Dupre's pizza joint in Irmo called McIntosh's.  We ordered double black olives every time.  And every time, Dupre saw that double black olive ticket come in the kitchen and he knew it was us.  

Ummmmm

As most of you know, I am a life-long pizza devotee and a principal pizza proponent.  I've met very few pizzas that I didn't like.  Bellacino's is good and I'll gladly eat their pizza pie again.  However, on my next visit, I'll have to exercise some pizza lovin' self control and try out a 'grinder' or a salad.  

 la vita è più dolce con un po 'di peperoni in esso

The Great Ravioli Switcheroo

I have never made fresh pasta.  Not because I don't want to but because I don't have a pasta machine nor do I have the counter space to roll it out by hand.  One day I suppose.  So, we are forced to eat dried pasta and other store-bought pasta.  I like the "fresh" refrigerated pastas from time to time but I think they're overpriced.  But one thing I really like having in my freezer is ravioli.  They go on sale often and coupons are pretty easy to come by as well.

Why do I like this stuff so much?  It's quick and easy to cook and it's ridiculously versatile.  Obviously, you can serve it with red pasta sauce.  I like them coated in bread crumbs and toasted.  Another way that we really like to prepare them is simply with toasted walnuts and a drizzle of olive oil.  And, of course, we cannot forget about pesto!   

The wunderkind usually does well with these too.  Until the other day.  When I mentioned having ravioli, she announced that she doesn't like the kind that I cook.  She prefers ravioli from a can.  Picture me looking over each of my shoulders to see who on Earth she's talking to?  As I embark on my (very) logical explanation of why this is so much better than canned, Neil waved his hand very slowly at me and gave me that mystical "I've got this" look.  I stopped talking and just walked away shaking my head.

Here's what the genius did.  He opened a can of something, put it in a tupperware and removed the label.  Then he cooked some of the frozen ravioli, tossed it in sauce and put it in the can.  Next, he found the Vivver and showed her that he had indeed discovered a can of ravioli in our cabinets.  She was delighted and daddy headed back to the kitchen to warm it up in a pot.  Peace.  Everybody wins.  


Why the hell didn't I think of that?

Childhood Favorite, Just Remembered

As I'm munching on a few slices of turkey pepperoni (it's spicier than regular, you know) my mind travels back to a childhood dish invented by my mom.  It was the ultimate special treat for me and Katherine.  Come to think of it, it ties into my lifelong love of and advocacy for pizza.  The dish, you ask?  Dottie Webber's "Pizza Macaroni."

It's been years since I've had it.  As a kid, it was the ultimate "awww right!" dinner at our house, at least for us kids.  Not real sure how dad felt about it.  When I was in college, I cared for 5 little girls after school as their dad recovered from cancer and I made it for them.  But, that was a long time ago, so now, I'm relying on memory.  Of course, I could call mom, but I doubt she has it written down.  

So, here's the memory.  Elbow macaroni in a 13"X9" casserole dish.  Layered then with pepperoni, hamburger meat, cheese and sauce.  Back in the 70's, it's highly likely that she used cheddar because it was sort of the everyday staple.  And, since my mom was raising two "eclectic" eaters, she added black olives.  All this was baked and was the most excellent supper on the planet. 

Now that I'm the mom, I'm thinking about how I'd go about making it for the Vivver.  She is a sausage fan, so I think I'd brown sausage & hamburger (add garlic of course) together.  Maybe throw some onion in there during the browning.  Turkey pepperoni and black olives definitely.  I'd probably use a pasta or pizza sauce if I'm in a hurry, otherwise I'd make a simple tomato sauce with herbs.  I've learned from Neil's pizza creation that I will use a combo of mozzarella & cheddar.  But the elbow macaroni?  No change!  Sometimes fancy pasta shapes just make me mad.  Don't mess with a good thing.  

Dottie: The "Pizza Macaroni" Creator

Now that I've remembered this casserole, it's time to try it out on Vivian.  I hope (and I bet) she'll love it as much as Aunt Katherine and I always did.  And do.  I'll go one step further...I bet if I made this and took it to my sister, she'd flip her proverbial lid!  Thanks once again mom, for a fond and delicious childhood food memory!

Pretty Perfect Pesto

Pesto is one of the most magical sauces on Earth.  Not as magical as bearnaise, but pretty close.  How can anyone not be enamored with the basil:  it's a flavor that you can smell and an aroma you can taste.  And the pine nuts are subtle, yet provide a "toothsome-ness".  Then there's the nutty, kinda smoky undertone of the heavenly Parmesan.  All of these are married together by the almighty olive oil.  It's just brilliant.

Before I became Super-Mom (I am, you know) I used to grow myself a bumper crop of basil each year and make my own pesto.  It made great circes for friends but it was also so awesome to put some away so that in the dead of winter, I could pull a little bit of Summer out of my freezer.Once, I wrote in to "Vegetarian Times" magazine to share that I froze my pesto in ice cube trays.  Then, I'd store the cubes in a ziploc and could just grab a few to thaw for sauce, or toss the cubes into a marinara, etc.  They actually published my letter.  Yes, I am a published author.

Being a coupon addict, I recently bought some Buitoni pasta and pesto, since I was on my weekly trip to 'rob' Publix.  (I bought the reduced fat one). What better quick, weeknight supper for Super-Mom and Super-family?  My expectations for the pesto weren't low, because Buitoni is a pretty good brand, but they weren't overly high either.  After all, it's not my homemade pesto.  Well, guess what?  It was really good.  I mean really.  The basil was very fresh and bright tasting and it was a little thicker than homemade, which I really like.  So, until I can start making my own again, I'm going to be buying this stuff with pesto zesto.