that bag of ikea meatballs

Mum, in case you were wondering what I've been up to for the last couple weeks, I haven't done much cooking and neither has dad. Between dad, bro and I, we've hardly made a dent to the fridge and freezer stocks. When you get back this week, it will be as you've left it. We did start getting rid of the stuff that was starting to rot unlike the last time you were away.

So much for my grand plans to do a bit more cooking whilst mum was away! There's just been no time and how very convenient it is to buy some food on the way home from work or pop something into the microwave. The very few times I've cooked, my mind was off elsewhere (usually thinking about how many loads of washing there was to do, remembering to water the flowers, paying bills), my mind just wasn't on cooking an elaborate meal. Actually, it was probably the thought of cleaning up that put me off it.

I did manage a few quick meals (not exactly the most exciting) but one would call them practical and great when you're sick of eating out or if you do feel like cooking but only feel like spending 15 minutes at it.

Ikea Meatballs with carrots, pasta and a tomato based sauce. I previously posted about that bag of Ikea meatballs, I'm still chomping my way through it and another third of the way to go. They're really quite handy - dish out a bowlful, microwave for about 2-3 minutes and they're good to eat! For this pasta, I cook them in the microwave and then pan fry them to give them a crispy skin.

There were carrots in the fridge. What I ended up doing was blanching them first in the pot of hot water I had going for the pasta. Fished them out, cooked the pasta in the carrot water, the carrots were added to the pan of sauce and meatballs for further cooking. (The sauce was a bottle we had in the pantry.) The pasta and sauce can be cooked at the same time. Once the pasta is done, strain and toss through the sauce. This entire exercise takes about 15 minutes from start to finish which I think is great.

Serve with grated parmesan.

You'll notice that I cook a lot of pasta. It's one of my favourite things to cook because it's easy, always turns out delicious and great for taking to work the next day (which I did and am eternally grateful for because it saves me having to think about what to eat from that foodcourt that's near my work. After a few years of working at the same place, you do run out of things to eat!)

Speaking of pasta, I did end up buying the The Silver Spoon Pasta Cookbook; a collection of more than 300 pasta recipes - yay! Anyway, more 15 minute recipes to follow.