Now, with recipes!

Who wants a recipe? Tough, you're getting one anyways! Ha!

First, of course, I have to ramble on... My dad is the King of Whatever I Have On Hand when it comes to cooking. When I was a kid, he used to make Leftover Soup, which was basically whatever leftovers were in the fridge and some bouillon/water. (My dad is also the original Cast Iron Stomach. Clearly.) He also made Dad Cookies (which were his special secret recipe and came in strawberry and chocolate flavours) and Dad's Barley Soup (which was barley and whatever else was in the pantry that he thought sounded good that day).

The first thing I ever made on my own was Ramen noodles. Its probably the first thing a lot of kids make - boil water, add noodles, add flavour package, eat. Not hard. In the spirit of my dad though, I usually also added frozen veggies and canned chicken, sometimes rice... and always some interesting blend of spices. It rarely turned out inedible no matter what I did to it.

Today, while I love trying new recipes and challenges, I still do Pantry Dinner pretty often. A little of this, some of those, a can of these... I have rarely been unhappy with the outcome, and we have now created dishes that we eat regularly. The meals that have become "regulars" get awesome names like "Noodle Stuff" and "That Rice Junk". This recipe is one of my creations.

Macaroni and Whatever
1 package of macaroni pasta
1 jar of your favourite spaghetti sauce
1 small can of mushroom pieces
1 medium can of sliced olives
1 green bell pepper, sliced up
parsley, garlic and oregano to taste
hamburger (optional)
parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions:
Cook the pasta per the directions on the package. Drain and set aside. If you adding the hamburger, brown the meat and set it aside as well. Cook the sauce per directions on the package, and add the mushrooms, olives and bell pepper (and meat, if you're doing meat). Let it boil and do its thing, and then add the pasta back in for the last minute of cooking and season to taste. Sprinkle the parmesan cheese all over, if you're into that. Eat!

You could add onions to this, or meatballs instead of hamburger, or use penne instead of macaroni, or add whatever else you would like. Its super simple, doesn't dirty up a bunch of dishes, and tastes great as leftovers too.