My Cooking Mind

I have two recipes that I really liked. They were easy for me.

I'll post Pesto Pasta first because I have a picture:

This may have involved two pots. I made this awhile back. 

- almost a full box of bow tie pasta

- I believe those were several tomatoes chopped up

- I substituted pine nuts with honey roasted sunflower seeds

(I'm sure the first was healthier but they cost 3xs as much for half the serving)

- basil pesto from the jar (one day I'll make my own)

- a full container of mushrooms

- some chicken 

I know there was something more than just basil pesto...

I think I added like a quarter of cream cheese

with a small amount of whatever red sauce I had in the fridge

and knowing us, some mozzarella cheese was added

It would be even better if you added spinach!

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NEXT was something I made up last night.

And decided not to take a picture mostly due to laziness

(and it wasn't that pretty)

I'll call it Bean Stew

{so obviously mr smith loved it}

sarcasm - BUT - thinking that was all there  was to eat, he did have a helping.

then I told him there was left over bbq chicken for quesadillas (we love that recipe)

Basically, we made the quesadillas the night previous, and I had almost half a can of corn and black beans left over, along with some lentils I made a few days before that. A friend brought over some fresh garden tomatoes and I had some green onions and bell peppers & potatoes to use up.

I started boiling potatoes thinking of mashed potatoes (mr smith's staple)

I was hoping not to use chicken. But what else goes with potatoes!?!

I decided to sauté the bell pepper in a pan (you could also insert an onion if you must)

I then added the leftover lentils, black beans, & corn

I add some s&p, cumin, and garlic powder

I cut up the tomato & green onions and inserted them

I thought this would be great on rice, but I had potatoes to use up.

I then added a drop of sour cream and then wah-la! realized I could add some cooked potatoes to the pot to make it more creamy. Done and done with a little bit of cheese on top.

This was so delicious. It probably simmered all together for like 20 min on low by the time it was all said  and done. I also had leftover mashed potatoes for mr smith knowing he'd hate the beans.

I enjoyed my own creation AND cleaning out the fridge.

All I needed to add was a sweet dessert. 

or something like this would be awesome... (sigh)

{two good recipes to make mention: brunswick stew & southwestern chicken wraps}

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