quick meal: mac n' joe.

Ideally I recommend eating a diet that consists entirely of whole organic foods, preferably locally sourced and in season, prepared simply.

Sometimes when you are a new mom of twins, that is impossible.

This is a super quick meal, originally thrown together when trying to find something quick with a bit of protein. It's pasta & sloppy joe mix. Instead of mac n' cheese, it's mac n' joe.

Ingredients:

• Pasta
• Sloppy Joe Mix
• Tomato Paste
• Olive Oil

The sloppy joe part could be made from scratch if you're going for taste, but I just use a box of Fantastic World Foods Sloppy Joe Mix, which requires a can of tomato paste and a tablespoon of olive oil. It can be made with whatever pasta you've got, though macaroni-type-pasta keeps it living up to its name.

Directions:

1. Make the pasta according to the package. 
2. Make the sloppy joe mix according to the package. 
3. Mix it all together.

Et voila. Quick, easy, comfort food. This isn't a meal to eat if you want to feel uber healthy. It's a meal to eat if you haven't eaten much all day, only have 5 minutes to make it and/or it's a blustery rainy day in spring. (Wait, it's already mid-May?! When did that happen??!)

It is also extremely easy to individualize this one. Throw whatever extras you want on a plate next to the stove and have people add whatever they fancy. Have some non-vegans in the house? Grate up some sharp cheddar. Kids or kids at heart? Black olives. Stinkers like me? Onions and garlic. Want a touch of something healthy? How about some spinach or mushrooms or roasted kale? The possibilities are endless.

This has become a staple in our house since the boys were born, and I'm sure as they get older it will become one of the cop out easy meals they grow to love, too.

Bon Appetit!


(I promise that not all recipes will be like this one; I can't, however, promise that this will be the only one of its kind!)