Dinner Challenge: Cooking With What You Have

So let's jump right in with a tasty recipe and some ideas about food.  If you're like me you find yourself making a run to the grocery store for a few last minute things every time you cook dinner, while the stuff you bought last week is going bad.  So here's a challenge:  Tonight I want you to make something great, that you've never made before, only using what you already have at home.  It's a great way to start thinking and it will help you save time and money by not wasting what you already have(maybe nearing it's expiration date) in your fridge.

Totally lost?  I'll give you an example of one I did this week

I had some amazing spinach feta chicken sausage from Whole Foods sitting in the freezer, but what to do with it?  I also had a wide variety of veggies in the fridge that I needed to hurry up and use.  In the veggie drawer I had yellow squash, kale, onions, and a tomato.  As always, I used all organic ingredients and with all the fresh veggies this recipe is packed with nutrition. Here's what I came up with.  Take the challenge yourself and please share with me how it turned out!

This will make 2-3 servings

Start by throwing 2 links of your sausage in the oven at 400 and let cook while you prepare the rest.

In a small sauce pan saute 1/4 cup chopped onion and 1 Tbsp minced garlic in olive oil.

Cube 1 yellow squash and saute in olive oil in a separate pan(I used my favorite iron skillet)

After a few minutes add chopped kale to your squash and season with salt and pepper. Continue to cook on medium heat.

Once your garlic and and onions are translucent, add 1 chopped tomato, a few dashes of basil, and a little salt and let simmer.

Once your chicken sausage starts to bust open in the oven, you know it's ready to come out.  Take it out of the oven, cut into slices and add it to your squash and kale and brown it up a little more.

After about 10 minutes of your tomato sauce simmering it should be good.  I got a little naughty and added a little bit of cream and parmesan but you can leave it as it is. You can also leave it nice and chunky or, like me, use your immersion blender to make it a little smoother. 

As a base you can use a lot of different things: pasta, rice, quinoa, spaghetti squash, whatever, just make sure it's a small amount and doesn't take away from all the yummy toppings.  You can also do this by itself with nothing underneath.

 Top whatever you've selected from your pantry with the squash, kale, and sausage mixture, then pour your tomato sauce over the top.  Top with parmesan and voila! 

Take the challenge and share your experience, or try my recipe and tell me what you think!