Everything But the Kitchen Sink

When I went to make dinner on Thursday, I really hadn't planned ahead at all, or had time to go to the grocery store. All I knew was that I needed to use up the fresh vegetables we had bought at the Farmer's Market, because we probably weren't going to be doing much cooking over the weekend.

So, I decided to use a classic method that Clay and I are known for in this situation. When we have a lot of vegetables that we need to use and don't know what to do with, we make either pasta, or rice, and throw all those veggies (and usually chicken) in some sort of sauce or spice blend, and serve it over the starch. This time I went with pasta. The sauce that I made truly did turn out to be one of those "everything but the kitchen sink" kind of deals. I don't usually cook like that (I always like having a more concrete plan), but it worked out, which was exciting! Here's what went into it:

 veggies galore! Baby squash and zucchini and cherry tomatoes from the Farmer's Market, as well as a little pile of leftover peppers and onions from Fiestita night. Plus two cloves of garlic.

 It all went into the pan (how wonderful and colorful does that look?!), seasoned with salt, pepper, vegetable blend, and Italian seasoning.

The sauce midway through (it actually ended up looking a little different than this). 

I started out thinking that I would just pour the jar of vodka sauce I had over all the veggies, until I poured a little out and realized that vodka sauce was something I had tried once before and not liked!!! Oh no! I quickly started making a plan to salvage the situation. I needed more sauce, and I needed it to not taste like the vodka sauce I didn't like. I added a hodgepodge of things I found in my kitchen: diced tomatoes, with their juices, the leftover ricotta mixture from my Stuffed Chicken, leftover cream cheese from Guac #7, olive oil, parmesan, and lots of crushed red pepper. Let me tell you... it totally worked!! I salvaged the sauce and made it into something that I was excited to eat and tasted really yummy!

 My little bowl! I wasn't that hungry after snacking at the bakery. My favorite part was the squash/zucchini! I love them, but don't eat them enough!

Look who decided to join me at the table so I didn't have to eat alone! :) :) :)

I packed Clay a feast! The pasta, leftover beans from our makeshift frozen pizza meal, leftover potatoes from dinner at Nicole's, Cheddar Garlic, and a few sweets I got take when I closed up shop for the night! Not too shabby for a dinner on the run in a car!

I have to be honest and confess that I kind of ruined my good efforts of the evening. We got to Harrisonburg with plenty of time to spare, and spent our extra time at IHOP. :( It made sense, and everyone wanted to, but I was upset about ruining my eating for the day. I tried to at least be a little good by ordering an egg and cheese sandwich rather than a huge stack of pancakes slathered in butter and syrup. It still probably wasn't good for me at all. Oh, well. Gotta brush it off and keep working!