One Pan Wonder! + a Small Pot

So I just got home from the store after stocking up my empty fridge and pantry.   I went later in the day, and now I am faced with the “what’s for dinner question?”  Or the “I have all this food, now what?” question.  The good news is, nothing is frozen.  Bad news is I dodn’t feel like cooking, but I really want something to satisy my hunger.  I looked at my now unpacked bags and this is what I came up with.

“The Noodle Meat Dish!”  (Real original I know ;)  But the great news is, it’s really easy. And Fast. And filling.

All you need is

1 cup Elbow noodles

½ cup Onion (red or white)

Small garlic clove

1 teaspoon chili powder (optional)

Hot sauce (any amount optional)

¼ of a pound of Hamburger

Tomatoes (Grape tomatoes are best, and what I used)

So what you want to do is put a little olive oil in the bottom of a pan, chop up the garlic and onion into pieces and sauté.  Keep a medium low heat so you don’t burn the garlic.  Bitter!

While the onions get soft, start a pan of 2 cups water (for the noodles) and bring to a boil.  When it reaches a boil, add the noodles.  Then while that cooks, add the meat and some salt and pepper and chili powder to your pan with the onions.  While meat and noodles cook, chop up about 6 grape tomatoes in half, or a half a cup of diced tomatoes.



Onion meat mixture-Noodles cooking behind.



The noodles should take about 5-8 mins. to cook, but taste one 5 minutes in to make sure it reaches your desired tenderness.  Meet should take about 5 mins.  You should add the tomatoes to the meat slightly before the noodles are done.  All you want to do is get them soft, hot, not cooked to mush. 

When noodles are done, pour off the water, and add the noodles to the pan of meat.  Mix well with your preferred hot sauce.



Perfect time to add some cheese if you want.  Serve Hot!



Now this made just enough for me to eat the whole thing.  (I was hungry! Don’t give me that look) But it should also be enough for 2 or leftover. If you want to make it for a family, just double or triple the recipe.  Once again, it’s a dish you can add you own flavors to.  Oh, and if you want, add a handful of shredded cheese at the end and let it melt all over.