Pasta, Chicken and veggies....the wonderful thing about this is that you can have all the ingredients at home at all times... the chicken and the veggies in the freezer and you'll be able to find some sort of pasta in the pantry.
Here is what I do:
I keep mixed frozen veggies and tyson's all natural chicken in the freezer and use it whenever I need a fast dinner. The chicken is easily prepared in the grill/toaster oven, while the pasta is cooking on the stove. The veggies I sear in a little pan or pot, either in oil or in butter adding salt and a tiny little pepper to taste. Some times I add some shredded parmesan cheese (my kids eat anything with cheese on it ;-))
After the pasta is cooked I usually toss it in a little extra virgin olive oil. Just for the taste...
That's it... tonight my kids wanted tortellini... (the benefit... a serving of beef. To get them to eat any other meat than chicken is pretty hard) .
For dessert we usually have fruit...any kind of fruit. Lately we love clementines...
Looks great! As for the olive oil: my Spanish neighbor used to add it to mashed food when her children were babies -- lots of good fat for the little ones! A pasta favorite for us is bolognese with TONS of veggies (spinach, peas, peppers, broccoli, carrots, beans...you could even toss in some sweet potato in if you pop it in the microwave to soften it first). The whole sauce can be minced with a stick blender if you want to disguise the veggies. I make a big batch and then freeze the sauce in tupperware containers for another day. It only takes 15 minutes if you are using a frozen batch and not really that much longer from scratch. We have an "alligator chopper" to save time chopping fresh vegetables and things like spinach and peas you just toss in. Come to think of it, I have just taken a swipe of vegetables from the freezer and poured them into a bubbling sauce - saves the chopping.
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