As I sit here with a nice cup of hot candy cane green tea (decaf of course) and a mini iced gingerbread cookie, I am finally able to stop and reflect on my very busy and somewhat hectic Saturday. For whatever reason, this Saturday was full of too many things to do and not enough sitting and relaxing. After working all morning, I had just enough time to fix my husband and kids a quick lunch before my husband had to rush out the door to work. My Sister arrived and we ventured out to run a few errands in Walnut Creek. I had to be home by 4:45 to leave for worship practice, so I figured we had a good two and a half hours to leisurely get a few things done. Boy was I in for a shock! Walnut Creek was bustling with half crazed lunatics, searching for holiday bargains and weekend sales. Between fighting for a half decent parking spot at Target and weaving our way through undecided shoppers at Trader Joe’s, by the time I looked at my watch, it was now 4:30 and I needed to rush home, drop off the kids and my Sister and get back to worship practice by 5:00! I zoomed home (at the posted speed of course;) only to turn back around and zoom back to practice. When I got home, it was 7:30 and my stomach was growling, reminding me I hadn’t eaten since noon. Thankfully, my Sister was one step ahead of the game and already had started our dinner. We had decided on a semi-homemade approach to Fettuccine Alfredo. We had picked up a package of Farfalle (bow tie) pasta and a jar of Alfredo Sauce with Romano and Parmesan at Trader Joes. We also had grabbed a loaf of Par-baked Artisan bread that only needed 7-10 minutes in the oven to finish baking. My sister had already minced some fresh garlic and thrown it in a saute pan with some extra virgin olive oil to start cooking. Once the garlic was fragrant, we threw in some of Trader Joes frozen grilled chicken strips. Since they are already cooked, all that they needed was to sizzle away in the garlic and olive oil until they were nice and tender. The sauce was easy too…just put into a saucepan and heat over low heat until heated through. At the last minute, we threw a few handfulls of fresh baby spinach in with the garlic and chicken to quickly wilt down and add some nice green color to the dish. The bread had been drizzled with olive oil, and sprinkled with garlic powder and fresh grated parmesan cheese and had been toasting away in the oven at 400 degrees becoming nice and golden and bubbly. All that was left was to drain the noodles, toss with the sauce and top with some more fresh grated parmesan. Pair it with a few slices of warm and crusty garlic bread and you have yourself a fantastic and simple “semi” home-made meal in under 20 minutes. My tummy is full…well, I do have room for maybe a few more of those mini iced gingerbread cookies. It’s off to sip on my hot tea, and enjoy some time cuddling on the couch with my kids before we head off to bed.
Happy Cooking Everyone!!
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