Lazy Pasta Lunch

I can define myself as a lazy cook who likes to put some effort into my food from time to time.

Sort of.

Alright, I am hard to define when it comes to my cooking and meal practices. People who know me think that it's amazing how I very rarely ever eat out and am always cooking fresh pots of something every week or couple of days. Yes I do put out the effort to cook for myself, but the stuff that I make is really lazy. 99% of what I make is just a one-pot meal (meaning everything goes into the pot, cooks and is done in 30ish minutes) which is so ridiculously easy for any person to do on a regular basis.

You say you're too busy to made home-cooked meals? Nope, not an excuse.

You say you can't afford the fresh ingredients and take-out is cheaper? Nope, not even going to believe it for a teeny tiny second.

Convenience foods (frozen dinners and pre-packaged meals) are cheaper and more time saving? Definitely not cheaper, but maybe a little bit easier if you only have 5 minutes to cook. But when you add up the time and money it takes to buy and make 7 frozen dinners, you can EASILY make one of Adrienne's lazy, but yummy, simple suppers.

I'm only cooking for myself, so I can be experimental from time to time and not worry about impressing anyone. If the meal flops, then at least it's only me eating it. What I do is just make a huge pot of something, portion it out into individual Tupperware containers, pop them into the freezer and VOILA! My lunch is ready for the next 5 shifts. So simple. So convenient. And delicious too (sometimes)!

Here is my creation today:

Adrienne's One-Pot Italian Pasta
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 green pepper, chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 5 large mushrooms, chopped
- 2 tsp dried oregano and basil
- lots of black pepper and red chili flakes (omit if you can't handle the spice)
- 1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 1 can (19 oz) white navy beans
- 2-3 large handfuls of bow-tie pasta (or whatever small pasta you have in the cupboard)

In a large pot, cook the chicken until no longer pink. Add all of the veggies plus all of the spices. Cook about 10 minutes, or until the veggies soften a bit. Add the rest of the ingredients, bring the pot to a boil, cover and reduce the heat so that it gently boils. Cook about 20 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked. Top with some grated parmesan or cheddar cheese. ENJOY!