The Hungry Wife

Simple Pasta Sauce is a something I came up with when I had planned a nice spaghetti dinner, but soon realized that I had used up my supply of homemade Weekend Tomato Sauce, and had no store bought sauce in my pantry.  Dinner was at risk, I had no backup plan and had to come up with a solution quick.  I looked in the pantry, and much to my joy, I realized I could whip up a yummy sauce that wouldn’t take hours to prepare and cook.
Simple Pasta Sauce, continued…

Pasta with Sausage Sauce is a great dish to make when the weather starts too cool down and the harvest has begun.  The simple sausage-cauliflower sauce is delicate and delicious, perfect for when you are wanting pasta but something different then the traditional red sauce.  Pasta with Sausage Sauce is sure to be a new favorite in your kitchen.
Pasta with Sausage Sauce, continued…

Penne in Almond Sauce is a great weeknight recipe.  I love finding recipes where I can use a store-bought rotisserie chicken.  It makes cooking so much easier, and adds a lot of flavor to the dish.  More then just boiling your own chicken breasts.  The almond sauce is a perfect compliment to the pasta and chicken, giving the dish a light, unique flavor.
Penne in Almond Sauce, continued…

Basil Chicken in Coconut-Curry Sauce is a one dish meal that is packed with flavor.  If you like Thai-style food, you will love this recipe.  Even though it has 2 jalapeno peppers and a bit of chili powder, the coconut milk really tames down the spice.  Basil Chicken is just the right amount of spices, and is a great way to introduce new flavors into your meals.
Basil Chicken in Coconut-Curry Sauce, continued…

I used to think that I wasn’t capable and it wasn’t worth my time to make homemade Tomato Sauce, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.  There is something extremely gratifying in making your own sauce, and I’ve come up with a recipe that is pretty simple, perfect for first time Tomato Sauce makers.  Using canned crushed tomatoes and a jar of ready-to-use peeled and minced garlic, makes this recipe a snap to make.  Due to the 5 hour simmer time, I decided to call this Weekend Tomato Sauce, because you can make it on a weekend when you have some free time.
Weekend Tomato Sauce, continued…

Scallops and Vegetables with Citrus Soy Sauce hold a special place in my heart.  This is one of the first meals I made my husband when we had first started dating.  I love scallops, they are tender and sweet jewels from the ocean.  This dish is great for entertaining, and is sure to please even the biggest seafood skeptic.
Scallops and Vegetables with Citrus Soy Sauce, continued…

This Pasta with Easy Summer Sauce only requires a bit of chopping, and the green beans in the recipe cook right along with the pasta.  Here in Columbia, South Carolina it gets hot.  Really hot.  They call Columbia “famously hot” after all, and they weren’t joking.  The temperature is reliably around 90 everyday, and it’s only May.  So, what could be better in hot weather than a sauce that needs no cooking at all?

Pasta with Easy Summer Sauce, continued…

A side dish so simple and delicious everyone will love it.  A new way to eat asparagus.

Fresh Asparagus with Orange Sauce, continued…

So, tonights dinner did not live up to expectations.  Its not that it was awful, we had a perfectly enjoyable dinner, it just wasn’t delicious and special enough to be posted on the blog.  Luckily, The Hungry Wife has a surplus of recipes that do deserve to be posted.  This Spaghetti Squash with Chunky Tomato and Beef Sauce recipe is one that tastes great and is good for you.  The antioxidant lycopene is the disease-fighting agent in this tomato-rich dish.  Cooking the tomatoes helps release the lycopene so the benefit to your body is maximized.

I love cooking up spaghetti squash, and eating it with some delicious spaghetti sauce.  This recipe can easily be made vegetarian by simply omitting the ground beef.

Spaghetti Squash with Chunky Tomato and Beef Sauce, continued…

French Dip Sandwiches are a favorite of mine.  I used to only eat them when out at restaurants, not having a good recipe to make them myself.  This is about as simple as it gets.  Even though the cooking time is long, your not really doing much, but letting the slow cooker do its job.  The great thing about making this roast beef in your slow cooker, is that unlike roasting beef in the oven, you don’t have to worry about the meat drying out.  The final product is a super moist, tender and flavorful beef.
French Dip Sandwiches, continued…

Southern Banana Pudding is the ultimate dessert comfort food.  It is rich and creamy, with the subtle flavors of banana and vanilla.  Living down south for the past few years now, I have embraced the cuisine and on the hunt for the most delicious dishes.  Banana pudding is a great way to use up those bananas before they go bad.  Sometimes I will make a banana bread, but, this is my favorite way to make quick use of ripe bananas.
Southern Banana Pudding, continued…

Chicken Vesuvio, or Pollo alla Vesuvio, is another recipe from the cookbook, Whatever Happened to Sunday Dinner? by Lisa Caponigri.  Chicken Vesuivo is a simple stove-top braise that is incredibly delicious, giving you super tender chicken with a wonderful light flavor.  Just be sure to brown the chicken and potatoes well before proceeding with the recipe – the caramelization adds lot of flavor and the browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan become the basis of a fantastic pan sauce.
Chicken Vesuvio, continued…

Spinach Balls come out of a cookbook I picked up while living in Virginia.  They are ment to be made and served as appetizers.  However, when I made these up, I was a bit impatient.  I didn’t feel like rolling about 100 small spinach balls, so instead, I made them meatball size.  This saved me a ton of time, and also made for the perfect meatball substitute.  Not only are they totally yummy to eat by themselves, but they are even better when mixed with a nice pasta sauce and placed on top of your favorite pasta.  If you want to sneak spinach into your families diet, this is a great way to it.

Spinach Balls, continued…

Beef Shepherd’s Pie is a traditional, all-in-one comfort dish.  Shepherd’s Pie is full of flavor, and with the veggies mixed in with the beef filling, it is the perfect way to sneak in veggies to picky eaters.  The creamy mashed potatoes on top are one of my favorite parts of this dish.  To help make the preparation easier, you can purchase frozen potatoes that are ment for mashing.  Simply cook in microwave and you are ready to mash away.  Much faster then peeling, cubing, and boiling your own potatoes.
Shepherd’s Pie, continued…

Stuffed Bell Peppers are a classic American dish, that is an all-in-one meal.  You get your meat and veggies in one delicious dish, although, I do like to serve them with a side of french fries.  This filling in the peppers is very similar to a meatloaf recipe.
Stuffed Bell Peppers, continued…

Matzo Ball Soup is simple, yet it packs some super flavor.  Hailed for its cold curing properties, Matzo Ball Soup rivals chicken soup for the ultimate cold remedy.  Perfect for those with diet restrictions, such as, vegetarians or those on kosher diets.
Matzo Ball Soup, continued…

Every household should have delicious, foolproof recipes for affordable cuts of meat.  The Hungry Wife Flank Steak recipe is just that.  Flank Steak is a relatively long, flat cut of meat and used in a variety of dishes, such as, London Broil and fajitas.  Because it is a tougher cut of meat, you want to make sure you take the time to marinade and cook it just right.  Paying attention to not over-cooking is very important so that you have a tender steak and not a tough, chewy steak.
Flank Steak, continued…

There is nothing better than a Chicken Pot Pie to comfort you, especially on chilly nights.  This is one of my all time favorite dishes, but I never really made it that much until I found this awesome Chicken Pot Pie recipe.
Chicken Pot Pie, continued…

Chicken Nuggets are something that everyone has had before at some point in time.  If you have picky eaters in your house, you might have them more often then others.  Parents often pick up Chicken Nuggets in large bags from the freezer section or at fast food drive-thru’s.  These are not Chicken Nuggets, don’t fool yourself.  They are seriously lacking in flavor and texture.  Instead of feeding your family the fake imitations, serve up some of these awesome, flavorful, and easy homemade Chicken Nuggets.
Chicken Nuggets Recipe, continued…

Spinach Lasagna is a healthy, super flavorful pasta dish that the whole family is sure to love.  A few weeks before my son was born, I decided I wanted to stock the freezer with pre-made dinners that only had to be reheated in the oven or stove top.  This would help us in the first weeks after bringing baby home, and ensure we were still eating well.
Spinach Lasagna Recipe, continued…