Hey, I made dinner!

I have to admit, I didn't want to make dinner.

After yesterday's dinner flop. And all the past dinners that were on plan but just ... okay. Sometimes I just want to be a fantastic cook, regardless of the health quotient. But that's not what we're aiming for right now.

The Grand Lunar reminded me that simple things are often better.

And so I made Pasta Mexicali for The Grand Lunar and I, tonight. The kids ate bean and cheese burritos, with just a smidge of cheese. Always a favorite. I don't usually cook two meals, but bean burritos are super easy, and more than that, I wasn't up for any complaints. Plus, I'm trying to get them to eat up the cheese so it's gone.

I'm trying out new cookbook software, so this recipe format is slightly edited from it's text export. I tried the HTML export but it was all fancy, more fancy than I wanted.

Name: Pasta Mexicali

Source: Marla's Marvelous Meals ~ Penne Mexicali

Course: Supper
Category: McDougall Friendly
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 1 ~ very easy!
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 8 servings or so

Ingredients:
8 ounces pasta original recipe called for penne
1 cans Ro-Tel or chopped tomatoes with chilies 10-15 oz. can
16 ounces salsa
1 cans red beans rinsed and drained
1 cans black beans rinsed and drained
1 cup frozen corn kernels
2 teaspoons dried onion flakes or onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon chili powder
chopped cilantro for garnish (omitted)

Directions:

1: cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain.

2: Place all other ingredients in a pot and simmer while pasta cooks.

3: Add cooked pasta and heat through OR serve sauce over pasta. Garnish with optional cilantro before serving.

note: I used Rigatoni, the closest thing I had to the Penne called for. But in retrospect I would have preferred a smaller pasta. I also used 16 oz. pasta rather than 8 oz. and I don't regret that. Also, I used a fresh salsa, but those aren't The Lunar's favorite, he's not a fan of the cilantro that's usually in them. So next time I'll use a nice jar of cooked salsa, like he likes.

All in all, I was really pretty pleased with this, and he liked it enough to have seconds. I needed that, after yesterday. :)