Learning to Cook for the Family

I’m happy to say that I’m finally becoming more comfortable cooking dinner for my family.  When I stopped working outside the home, I sometimes viewed cooking as the last hurdle I needed to cross to become a true homemaker.  Perhaps because of that fact, I didn’t exactly embrace the task.

As a result, I have had my share of challenges in putting healthy, tasty meals on my family’s table each night. I’ve mentioned before that I love to bake and I can make just about anything if presented with a great recipe, but can I creatively throw together a few things and make something fabulous?  Only in my dreams.

Over the past couple of months, however, something seems to have clicked.

And you’ll never guess what pushed me over the edge.

Sausage.

It’s true! I don’t eat much red meat and have never really cooked with it.

So I’ve been learning to make burgers and tacos and such but what really helped was my discovery of the many various types of sausages out there on the market today. I’ve found Chipotle Cheddar, Andouille, Chicken Apple, Chorizo and more. The greatest success with my family came from a simple italian sausage I found at our local supermarket. In the morning I sautee it, slice it up and serve it for breakfast, and for dinner, I remove the casing and make a simple and delicious pasta which every member of my family enjoys.

I give credit to my husband for the other secret to making successful dinners: bottled pasta sauce.  Walk down the pasta aisle in any grocery and you’ll likely be floored by the vast array of flavors and brands of sauce.  Rather than just dumping the cold sauce onto your boiled pasta, add fresh ingredients specifically chosen to suit your family’s tastes.

Want to try it? Here is my step-by-step process:

After removing the casing from the sausage, I chopped it up then sauteed it in olive oil with sliced button mushrooms and minced garlic.

I seasoned that mixture with salt and pepper a few times.

Next, I added a cup or two of pasta sauce right from the jar:

Meanwhile I had a pot of water heating to a boil for my pasta.  I chose conchiglie.

I threw a few frozen rolls into the oven to bake for about ten minutes:

At this point, my sauce looked like this:

After draining the pasta, I returned it to the same pan, then added the sauce to it, transferred the pasta to a serving bowl, sprinkled some fresh parmesan on top along with a few pine nuts (I would toast them next time) and it looked like this:

Et voila!  Delicious, simple dinner for your family with just a little more effort.

It’s great for those busy fall evenings when you’re driving around town transporting kids to various activities.  Quick and easy.

You know, this cooking thing isn’t so bad after all.

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