Long summery days

This weekend, we got some stuff done around here. The Man mowed the grass twice (we hate bagging), cleaned the back porch, and laid more sand down on the brick patio. He also caught up the laundry.

The Stepson got gas money in exchange for washing my SUV, inside and out, and cleaning off my clotheslines.

I weeded, watered, thinned out onions, and cleaned the house. And basked in my little empire by taking a 4 hour nap with the Gidge this afternoon. So now my butt is dragging on the floor and she's totally fired up.

I had taken out a beef roast to make for dinner tonight, but naturally The Man screwed up those plans by making OTHER plans to go to a friend's house to watch the Sopranos. Because, you know, you need to hang out for 2 hours before the show starts. So I put the roast into the fridge for tomorrow and rooted through the cabinets and fridge to see what I could find to eat. After grabbing bags and boxes, I got to work. And if it tasted like crap, well, there was always cheesecake!

I will have to upload the picture later; Flickr is being a PITA.

Fusilli with Two Beans

8 oz fusilli pasta (I use Tinkyada)
1 15 oz can garbanzo beans, drained
1 15 oz can pinto beans, drained
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes (retain juice)
1 small onion, roughly chopped
1/2 a green pepper, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
Sea Salt
1/4 cup pecorino romano, finely grated
1 tbsp fresh basil, roughly chopped

Prepare the pasta according to package directions. Set aside.

Preheat a skillet over medium heat; add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the onion, garlic and green pepper; saute until just beginning to soften, about 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes and a good pinch of salt; stir.

Drain the beans. Add them to the skillet; reduce the heat to low and cook for 5 minutes, just to heat the beans through. Pour the pasta into the skillet, along with the basil and pecorino romano. Toss gently to coat and serve.



And no, I didn't need to eat cheesecake for dinner. Why is it that very often, the most spontaneous, come-out-of-your-butt recipes taste better than something you've slaved over for hours?