Have you ever had one of those days you just don’t feel like cooking? In the beginning of my pregnancy, I had those days more often than not.
I felt queasy and tired. The last thing I wanted to do was to stand over the stove and cook a big, complicated meal. While it is quite tempting to order in or pop a frozen pizza into the oven, it’s not so healthy. I normally try to serve nutritious meals for myself and my family, but I am especially conscious of it while pregnant. I’m growing a human after all!
So, whenever I am having one of those “take-out kind of a days,” I try to remind myself that by the time we pick out what we want, order our food and wait for the delivery, I could have whipped up something tasty and good for you in no time.
This quick and healthy weekday pasta recipe is one of those recipes I turn to when I’m feeling particularly lazy. It takes about 20 minutes from start to finish and I often have the ingredients already in my kitchen. It’ll be especially tasty as summer comes and brings plenty of fresh tomatoes!
Since I am in a lazy mood, I really don’t want to spend a whole lot of time cleaning up afterward. Everything is cooked on one pan while the pasta boils in the other pot. The recipe calls for chopped mushrooms and tomatoes, but really you could keep them whole and avoid dirtying a knife and cutting board. While I toddler around, I automatically chopped things up into smaller bites.
This dish is so versatile. Don’t like/have mushrooms on hand? Skip them. Vegetarian? Take out the sausage. Have lots of fresh zucchini you need to use up? Throw it in! Since there’s not much to this dish besides a little butter and seasonings, it’s really all about the fresh ingredients.
Check out those pretty tomatoes and mushrooms cooking away!
Now, don’t get me wrong, I certainly take advantage of the amazing technology that is online take-out ordering from time to time. I think it’s a good thing to indulge every once in awhile. Yet, a meal like this is so simple and delicious, you won’t even think to pull up that website to order in.
Ingredients
- roughly 1 lb italian sausage, removed from casting *I used turkey this time
- 2 tbsp butter
- 8 oz package of white mushrooms, chopped
- 1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
- roughly 1/2 lb mozzarella balls
- roughly 1/2 lb pasta of your choosing *I used whole wheat linguini
- 2-3 cups fresh spinach
- handful fresh basil
- salt, pepper, and oregano, to taste
Instructions
- Bring large pot of water to a boil.
- While waiting for water to boil, sauté sausage on medium-high heat until no longer pink. Set aside.
- Lower heat in pan to medium-low and melt butter. Add mushrooms and tomatoes and sauté for about 5 minutes.
- When water is boiling, add pasta and cook for time listed on the package.
- Add spinach, mozzarella, sausage, basil, salt, pepper and oregano to the pan and sauté until spinach is wilted.
- Toss ingredients together with pasta for an easy, healthy weekday dinner!
Let’s hear from you! What’s your go-to weekday dinner to make when you just don’t feel like cooking? Let me know in the comment section below!
This looks so good! I love pasta!
Lauren recently posted…May Family Favorites
Thank you, Lauren!
Yes, I made pasta like this a lot while I was pregnant! Whatever veggies I had in the fridge and whatever meat I had available. I always have shrimp and chicken in the freezer, so we used those a lot. It’s like stir-fry without the hassle of making rice! I don’t know why I hate making rice so much…
haha, I go back and forth with rice. Sometimes I’m on a rice kick and I make it all the time. Right now I’m just not in the mood for it.
That looks really good. I imagine a good olive oil would be nice instead of butter too.
Definitely. It would be healthier too.
This looks amazing! I love tomatoes, love sausage, love mushrooms, and LOVE pasta, so I am all over this recipe. Yum!
Alyssa from The Sparkly Life recently posted…Is It Okay To Kiss Your Kids On The Lips?
Thanks, Alyssa! These ingredients are my favorite!
Great idea. We will use gluten free noodles.
That sounds like a great substitute, Megan!
That looks great. I love the variety of tastes in it! And my husband would appreciate the sausage in it 🙂 Thanks for sharing
You’re welcome, Jill! haha I usually have to add in some meat to my meals since my husband likes it too.
That looks great! I love all the different tastes in it. And my husband would appreciate the sausage! Thanks for sharing
Jill at Maggie May’s recently posted…Easy Fix For A Bag With Cracking Handles
That looks scrumptious! Something that the whole family would like. Thanks for the recipe!
Karen recently posted…Giveaway: Achieving beautiful skin with eb5 Intense Moisture Anti-Aging Cream
You’re welcome, Karen! Thanks for the lovely comment.
We will have to try this with vegetarian sausage. The recipe sounds fantastic. My husband loves fresh mozzarella!
Theresa (Capri + 3) recently posted…Magnify It! Fun and Easy Science for Kids
Thanks, Theresa! Oh I have never tried vegetarian sausage before. My sister-in-law is a vegetarian though, so you’ll have to let me know how it tastes.
This looks delish! When it gets warm out I get so lazy with cooking so I will definitely be trying this soon.
Krista recently posted…Tips for Writing Thank You Notes With Your Kids (Part 2)
I love dishes, like this, simple and fresh! Using fresh ingredients makes a lot of difference. Thanks for sharing!
Ai recently posted…StickerKid Labels {Product Review and Giveaway!}
This looks so yummy! Great inspiration now that it’s summer and will have a lot of fresh produce to throw in.
Twitchetts.com recently posted…2015 Summer Checklist
Wow this looks awesome! And let’s face it, once you have 2 kids you NEVER feel like cooking! Pinning and stumbling this bad boy!
Kristen recently posted…How I Ditched the Mom Guilt When I Missed Graduation
I know that’ll be the truth! Thanks so much for sharing.
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