The toddler and I came home HUNGRY today. I had no plan, nothing defrosted, and all I wanted to do was EAT. I still wanted something good, healthy and fast, NOT takeout or fast food.
So I perused the pantry and found this…
Yup! That’s all you need to make a quick homemade meal. A meal, the toddler LOVED, beans and all. Now I did add a little spice and you can take the idea and run with it. The pasta, sauce and beans will give you a good quick base. I served it with some sautéed bell peppers. 
- 4 oz uncooked whole wheat pasta
- Small can (8 oz) tomato sauce
- 1 can (15 oz) kidney beans rinsed and drained (you could use any beans)
- ½ tsp dried basil
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- Salt & Pepper
- Sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.
Cook the pasta according to package.
Drain, rinse and return to the post. Add the all the remaining ingredients except cheese. Simmer on medium low heat stirring to coat the pasta in the sauce.
Serve with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese!
The toddler ate so well we decided to make a fabulous dessert afterwards. So for no dinner plans, we ended up eating like kings! It was a great night. :~)
Now, I’m counting this as 2 large servings. I actually got 2 and half (the toddlers) but three would be stretching it a bit.
| Servings | Amt per Serving | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Half of the recipe | |||
| Calories | Fat | Fiber | WWPs | |
| 319 | 3g | 20g | old: 6 | new: 8 |
| Sugar | Sat Fat | Carbs | Protein | |
| 11g | 0g | 65g | 21g | |
Good old pasta e fagioli. Yum! What could be better?
Roni, that looks great...sort of like a pasta fagioli with red beans. YUM!!!
Similar to what Erin said - I like to make this with a can of spicy chili beans and add some extra chili powder and cayenne pepper. It's really good and so easy! I put grated cheese on top too!
You could totally do this with a Mexican flavor - cumin, chili powder, black beans, green chilies. Yum! We will have to try this. DH LOVES mexican anything.
Thanks for the simple meal for those hungry, hair-raising days!
and that, boys and girls, is why you should always keep your pantry stocked. 🙂
isn't it awesome when the simplest things turn out to be so fabulous? your toddler has good taste! 🙂