The Husband was working late tonight, so I made a quick and easy dinner. Actually ended up having dinner by myself, which was nice, for a quiet change. The recipe is a sauce to use on your favorite pasta, and odds are, you have the ingredients on hand already, so it’s a perfect go-to dish for those crazy days when meal planning just isn’t going to happen. At the end, I also added frizzled bits of ham and onion.
Pasta Sauce Recipe
One 14 oz can of chicken broth
One 8 oz block reduced fat cream cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon minced onion
1 clove minced garlic
pinch red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
In a skillet, bring broth to a boil. Add cream cheese; stir until melted and combined. Reduce heat to medium-low and add Parmesan cheese. Stir until melted. Add minced onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to simmer and cook about 5 minute. Mix with your favorite cooked pasta.
I am destined to go down in history as my son‘s DJ. Maybe his chauffeur too, but definitely his own personal DJ. Luckily, I got an iPod for my birthday last year so I can download his favorite songs to create “Nick’s CD.” Any time we’re in the car, pretty much our conversation consists solely of his music requests and my favorite, “Again!” His lineup?
Track 1 and 2 are Barbara Ann by the Beach Boys, the live version and the regular one, differentiated by him saying, “No, mama, not that one, the OTHER one.”
Track 3 is Ashlee Simpson’s “Pieces.” He loves that song, and has since it came out. He knows all the words to the most of the song, “On a Monday, I’m waiting…”
Track 4 is Jo Jo Jo, which toddler translation is Jennifer Lopez’s new single, “Get Right.” Appropriately called Jo Jo Jo for the beat, he happily bops his head whenever it’s on.
Track 5 is “commercial,” which is Lenny Kravitz’ “Lady.” Called “commercial,” of course, because Nicholas remembers the song from the GAP commercial with Sarah Jessica Parker.
Track 6 is “Breakaway” from Kelly Clarkson. He calls it “Anna.” Suffice it to say, the logic of that makes sense, but the story is long.
Track 7 is “Your Song,” a version by Joe Herzog. He was one of the finalists on Oprah‘s Pop Star Challenge last year and did a nice job with the cover. Nicholas calls this song, “Mama’s Song,” since when we’re in heavy rotation of “Barbara Ann,” I plead to deaf ears to hear one of MY songs, anything but his top picks.
So when you want to step into my world, just play these songs 4 times each, over and over, and when you’re tired of listening to them, start the track list over again. And so it goes… :)
TGIF! Catch y’all tomorrow!
For us, it’s Laurie Berkner.
Fortunately, Alex digs music of any kind. We’re listening to a lot of Ultra Lounge these days…all he cares about is ‘more music!’.
And as a former Top 40 radio personality…I feel your pain, sister!