Easy-Parm Cheesy 15-Minute (or less) Meal

We had just come back home from a long weekend out of town the afternoon beforehand. We hadn't been to the store yet. There was nothing for dinner. Oh yeah...we were short on time as it was getting fairly late. Plus, my hubby had a meeting to be at that evening. Time was short & of the essence!

I decided I would head to the store & figure out something I might be able to do quickly. Pasta is a pretty good dinner to fit that, and the kiddos are all OK with that meal, too. So, I went shopping.

Since we try to save money, too...I headed to our local Walmart. *sigh* You know what? They were out of several things we would usually have with our bi-weekly pasta dinner. Figures. I'd already picked up many of the items, so I didn't want to put everything else back. We would use it eventually. So, even in my exhausted, welcome-back-to-reality state of mind, I had to think quickly of what I could get that I could throw together & make sure the whole family had SOMETHING! And the brain wheels began to turn...

Knorr's has started touting using their side products as main dishes. Just a few additions, badda-bing, badda-boom, badda-dinner! We have Knorr's Sides often enough & really like them! Plus...they are only $1.00 per package at Walmart. So, I stuck with the pasta idea & got the Parmesan version of the side. And then I built up a speedy quick meal that was pretty, delicious, pretty delicious, and FAST!

Here's what I did:

~~~~~~~~~~

EASY-PARM CHEESY 15-MINUTE (or less) MEAL

(from start to finish)

Ingredients:

~ 2 pkg Knorr's Pasta Sides: Parmesan
~ 1 pkg smoked sausage, sliced (we used turkey with a non-pork eater)
~ 1-2 red bell pepper, rinsed, deseeded & thinly sliced *
~ 1 bag green beans (to be steamed, so we got pre-packaged for time)
~ 1 loaf Italian bread from the bakery


Directions:

Read directions on the package of Knorr's; since using more than one package, use slightly less of water & milk asked for (I used 3 packages, so I tried to adjust as such)

Slice the sausage, into about 1/2 inch slices, and slice the bell pepper into strips

When placing the liquid in the large pot to begin boiling, keep an eye on it while preparing other to fix the other ingredients

Start heating a large skillet on the stove & place a table spoon of olive oil or spray with olive oil cooking spray to coat

Turn your oven on the high setting of broil, and * place your bell pepper strips in one layer on a lightly sprayed baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil & sprinkle with sea salt (or table salt if you don't have sea salt)

Prepare to get your green bean bag into the microwave

By now, your liquid should be boiling, your skillet should be good & hot, and your oven should be ready...

Open your Knorr's envelops & empty them into the boiling liquid, stir and let sit, but make sure to stir once in a while so the pasta doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot

Place the sausage slices into the skillet for a couple of minutes. Turn them once in a while being careful not to burn them.

Put the baking sheet of bell peppers into the oven to roast for just a few minutes; turn on the oven light to keep an eye on them to make sure they don't get too dark...but you want them deliciously tender

Start your microwave & steam those green beans for about 7 minutes


OK...everything is good & going now! The pasta, sausage, peppers & green beans have all been started about the same time!

Take these 7-ish minutes to slice your bread to the thickness you desire. Unless you bought pre-sliced. If that's the case, it's one less step!

After about 5 minutes, your pasta may be good & tender (check to make sure); remove from the heat, give a quick stir & allow to set for a couple of minutes.

When the green beans are done (you'll know with the microwave probably telling you), you can turn off the heat to the skillet & pull out the bell pepper strips from the oven.

Guess what? BOOM! Dinner is DONE! The meal is ready to serve: Plate it up with a few sausage on the pasta (or you can mix them together), get some peppers & green beans on that plate, and then add a slice of bread. Bing-Bang-Beautiful!

~~~~~~~~~~

It seems like a lot going on up there, but prep time probably only takes 5 minutes & you can have everything else done & served up in the next 10 minutes! You may not even need the whole 15 minutes! I even made a gallon of stove-brewed tea in that time, too!

And, it's not horrible for you, either.

It smelled great, it tasted great & there were hardly any leftovers! I think it was a winner-winner-pasta dinner!!

I'm now excited to play with some more of Knorr's sides to see what I can make for another speedy-quick dinner!

Game On!

ENJOY!