Happy Monday! Let’s start this Monday off right with a delicious recipe that your kids will LOVE – if you can get them to eat it….I just can’t seem to do that!
Right before we went on vacation, I threw stuff together from my kitchen. I felt like I was playing “Chopped” – can of tuna fish, leftover pasta, canned pineapple and ranch dressing – GO!
I made one great recipe that I threw together (you’ll see it eventually) that Dan loved so that was a plus. But after we got back, I still had some odds and ends I wanted to get rid of. Enter: Pinterest. I had a box of Ditalini in the back of the pantry and plugged it into the almighty Pinterest search bar. Lots of pasta salads came up (hubby is not a fan) so I kept on looking. And there it was. In all its “back to college” glory – Homemade Spaghettio’s.
Now, I had reservations at first because D apparently has a very “refined” pallet and does not like spaghetti-o’s or canned ravioli. But loves Easy Mac (over the boxed stuff) – go figure.
I added the ingredients to my shopping list and off we went.
I made them tonight, and boy am I glad I did. I added meatballs also because that’s how we do it in this house!
Here’s the recipe….(and my commentary in bold)
What you need: (total time: about 30-35 minutes)
In a large pot mix together the sauce, water and milk. Bring to a boil.
Once it reaches a bowl, stir in the cheese and turn it down to a simmer. Continue to stir until the cheese is melted.
Add in the garlic and stir.
Pour in the uncooked pasta. Simmer on low for 20 minutes. (I did about 25 minutes. I wanted my sauce a little thicker than it was at 20 minutes) Stir occasionally during the first 5-6 minutes to prevent the pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pan. (I had to stir during the whole 25 minutes to avoid it and the cheese sticking to the pan.)
Check the pasta after 20 minutes, if it’s not as soft as you’d like cook it a little longer. Sauce will thicken even more over time. (It sure does!)
Update: I loved the leftovers, Dan did not, which is very odd for us!
