pasta for lunch

I was watching Criminal Minds and saw the episode where Agent Rossi had the team over for cooking lessons in his home and he cooked pasta. That made me want pasta so I hunted in my refrigerator and kitchen cabinets for anything I could throw together into a pasta dish.

I am so sorry that I totally forgot to take a photo of the cooked dish because the moment I smelled/saw/tasted it, I lost all control and just gobbled it all up.

But here is the recipe in case you want to see and taste for yourself:

1. Cook bacon until crisp then set aside.
2. Saute in olive oil some garlic, then add fresh mushrooms.
3. Add the tomatoes (I use whole canned tomatoes.)
4. Let simmer for a minute or two.
5. Add bacon.
6. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, oregano. and basil. Taste and adjust the seasonings as preferred.

By this time you should have cooked the pasta al dente.

Serve the sauce over pasta.

snapshots

I am still trapped with work so to keep this blog alive I am posting stolen snapshots throughout the super busy days. My sister has been staying over at my place to help me out with data transcriptions.

My sister has been taking charge of breakfast to help me out with the daily tasks and chores. This one is scrambled egg with toast and butter.

Lots of caffeine keep us awake at least until midnight. Then we start nodding off no matter how much coffee we take.

My sister's version of Omurice for breakfast : first she fried rice in onions, a bit of soy sauce, and a bit of tomato catsup.

Then scrambled egg cooked into a pancake shape is put on top.

And then it's ready to eat! I would like to try this with fresh tomatoes instead of tomato catsup.

The occasional treat -- caramel sundae especially after an intense kendo practice.

Kendo practice has to fit into the schedule somehow because of the exam in February. It's pretty tough pushing myself physically after days of incomplete sleep hours and full days of mental fatigue.

Fruits to help refresh and revive the mind. Dragonfruit is soooooo delicious!

Pasta with salmon and cream which I invented for lunch yesterday.

Mogget caught sniffing at the onions... 

Mogget : What the heck is that smell?

Mogget : Seriously, what is that smell?

A special thank you to Chrystina who has been visiting and commenting frequently -- I'm definitely appreciating the online company especially through the wee hours! :)

Also happy to see Hana back to posting about her happy adventures and dropping by to visit this blog a few days ago. :)

Am loving all the visits from happy creative people!


Have a great Friday everyone!

a quick-cook lunch

I should have completed my meal plan and gone to the supermarket about, oh, four days ago. But I got busy (and distracted) and then also beaten up at kendo so I am almost out of food.

Brunch today was a result of digging through an almost empty pantry.

I found:
1 can of whole tomatoes
bacon (sliced in small pieces, about 4 strips equivalent I think because I got the kilo of bits and ends which comes out cheaper)
garlic (I used about 4 cloves, sliced thinly and in small pieces)
dried shiitake mushrooms (the last straggling pieces which barely filled half a cup, soaked in water
olive oil
fresh basil picked from the plant that I bought last night 
pasta

Saute the garlic briefly in olive oil then add the bacon and let it fry a bit until the edges are crispy.
Add the mushrooms (excess water squeezed out). Stir them around a bit.
Add the tomatoes, season with salt and pepper.
When it's simmering, throw in the fresh basil leaves.

And it's done! Don't forget to cook your pasta ahead and have it ready to be topped with sauce!