Dinner Tonight.... Homemade Pasta Primavera

I wasn't sure what I wanted to make for dinner tonight... thought about spaghetti, but talk about blah... so I perused the freezer and cupboards and in addition to the spaghetti, and canned sauce (both bought for $1 at the store last week), I came up with a bag of Normandy blend vegetables that need to be used in the freezer and a pound of lean ground beef.  Pasta Primavera came to mind, actually started sounding really good the more I thought about it.

Canned spaghetti sauce always seems so sparse to me, tasting like nothing but glorified tomato sauce,  so I "beefed it up" by added a can of WELL drained and re-chopped collard greens.  The only taste it added was a rich flavor and great color too! I also added three garlic cloves (chopped), paprika, basil and a dash of cinnamon... {my mother in law always adds sugar to her sauce - think it's a "Northern" thing - well I don't like sweet spaghetti sauce so I thought the cinnamon would give a hint of sweetness without actually making it too sweet.  I was right! It's awesome.

Okay so here's how I made it... 

Start pot of water for the pasta first and foremost...  

Then start on the sauce.... 

3 cloves of garlic (peeled and chopped)  add to pan with a small amount of olive oil

then add the pound of lean ground beef, brown 

1 can of collard greens (drained well -I mean squeeze the liquid out!) then chop and mix into ground beef in pan.

Add spaghetti sauce + 1 can of tomato sauce (or diced tomatoes or another can of sauce or whatever you have on hand)

When water starts boiling add in the frozen veggies (yes I use the water for double duty) once the water starts boiling again add in pasta (you can also take the veggies out before adding the pasta if you'd like, if you do just use a slotted spoon or strainer scoop and add to sauce)

When pasta is al dente drain into colander; with veggies if they are still in the water.

Serve and enjoy!   

This is a super cheap meal that covers all of your bases.

I did manage to snag a pic when I dished up the hubs' dinner, but it's on his phone and he's left for work, so I will add it tomorrow. =o)