Need To Do vs. Want To Do... (Rigatoni with Broccoli and Sausage)

I woke up this morning with the birds singing and the sun shining in.  Literally.  The sunshine I enjoyed, but I wanted to throw a shoe at the birds.  I guess I am not related to Cinderella.  But it was all good because it is Spring Forward Day.  Oh how I love today!  Yes, I may "lose an hour" (which I will gain back in nine eight months, so it really isn't losing so much as postponing it...), but know the sun will be up until later tonight.

7:19 to be exact.

Woot-woot!

I was all ambitious this morning.  I had a list of things I needed to accomplish and another I wanted to accomplish.  My "want to-do" list included things like read The Mockingjay, make another batch of what I made yesterday and take beautiful pictures, watch some CSI.

None of those things happened.

Instead, I conquered my "need to-do" list, or at least most of it.  I am still in the process of doing so.  But I have checked off "wash the dishes", "clean the stove", "run errands", "sweep and mop the floor", and "write a card to my grandpa" (although that one belonged on both lists, really).  There are still more things to be done however.  I guess this is one of those days that I will chalk up to "productive" rather than "fun". 

At least I will have a clean kitchen to show for my day.

But we all know how long that lasts...

But I did get to enjoy some of that tasty dish above.  Last night we had it and it was OK.  Well, truth be told I didn't really like but my husband did.  He really really liked it.  So much so that when I said, "Good, I am glad you like it because I have so much leftover you get it for lunch for the next three days," he replied, "Excellent!"  Now, if you know him you would find this odd because the only thing he can eat three days in a row with out complaining about it is either beans and rice or bananas.  Shoot -- he likes to eat beans and rice with bananas.  Another one of those weird things I just mentally mark a tally under "cultural differences".

Leftovers was the lunch plan for today and so I figured I would just eat it again.  Good thing!  This time it had more flavor.  Like a lot more flavor.  I liked it this time around, a lot.  Now I want to include in our "Meals We Want to Eat Again" list.  I will just make it a day or two before we plan on having it. 

Completely off the topic, <insert brilliant segue here> I bought radishes for the first time in my life.  I don't really like radishes, but they were just too pretty to pass up.

See what I mean?  Besides, I am sure they are very healthy for me and blah blah blah... Truthfully though, I believe that.  So I got them.  I have been slicing them very thinly and putting them into our salads.  My husband doesn't like them either so I am getting practice at being a mom --> sneaking in the healthy stuff so that they don't know they are eating it.  Ha!

The time has come for me to get back to my to-do list...

Whatever, I am totally going to catch up on some CSI.

Recipe from Everyday Food by Martha Stewart, March 2012

Rigatoni with Broccoli and Sausage

Yield: 6 Servings          Total Time: 25 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

• coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 pound rigatoni
• 2 heads broccoli, cut into florets (about 4 cups)
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest, plus the juice of one lemon
• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage (I used chicken sausage... tastes GREAT)
• Parmesan, grated, for serving

 DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions.  In last 2 minutes of cooking, add broccoli and cook until bright green and crisp-tender.  Reserve 1 cup pasta water; drain pasta and broccoli.
2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together oil, garlic, lemon zest and juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.  Add to pasta after pasta is drained, adding pasta water as needed until it forms a light sauce.
3. In separate pan, cook sausage over medium heat until browned and cooked through (about 8 to 10 minutes).  Remove from heat and add to pasta.  Toss well and serve sprinkled with Parmesan.

Cost: $10.69                   Cost Per Serving (6) $1.79

Include a small salad on the side, and your meal is just a little over $2.00