Cooking Discoveries That Come as a Result of Your Husband Going Grocery Shopping

Bless my husband's heart. He is always eager to serve. And as we all know, many times you just can't get to the grocery store yourself. In those cases, my husband always cheerfully volunteers to pick up a few groceries for me.

But as often happens with cooking, some items may be hard to find at the grocery store--even for veteran shoppers. And when it's your husband who doesn't cook quite as often as you do who is looking for the item, then you never know what you might end up with.

Here are the outcomes in such a scenario:

1. Your husband finds the right item and buys it exactly as instructed.
2. Your husband finds the right item and is so proud of himself for finding this hard-to-find item that he buys three times as much as you asked for. In this case, you think to yourself "What in the world am I going to make with all of this extra stuff?" This scenario is apparently pretty common. While I was picking up a prescription, I got into a casual conversation regarding this subject with the pharmacist and he laughed and laughed and said that he totally does this and picks up three times as much when he finally finds the item his wife sent him to the store for. The other pharmacist working with him starting laughing in a knowing way too. I have a hunch he has been an offender in this area as well.
   
3. Your husband accidentally buys something completely different than what you asked him to buy. In this case, you think to yourself "What am I going to make with this? It can't be used in the recipe I originally had planned. I need to find another recipe."
   
4. Your husband doesn't find the item at all and you end up short on your ingredient list.

In all of these cases, cooking improvisation is needed. And another great thing is that I have made some pretty fun recipe discoveries as a result of the last three of the above scenarios. I have actually posted a number of recipes on this blog that have been the result of these types of shopping trips made by my husband. And even when it doesn't work out, it still makes for a pretty good story and doesn't it just make your husband even more endearing to you?

My sister shared a silly example of how she asked her husband to pick up a frozen pie crust for her so that she could make a quiche. He brought back a graham cracker pie crust instead. can you imagine how a savory quiche made with a graham cracker crust would have tasted? Interesting... But cute and silly! Just so you know, my sister didn't make a quiche with a graham cracker crust. She put the graham cracker crust to another use later on.

Most recently, I asked my husband to get some spreadable garlic and herb cheese for a recipe. He did actually find some, but he wasn't sure if it was the right ingredient, so he also brought back some Philadelphia Italian Cheese and Herb Cooking Creme. I thought "Holy cow. I've never even heard of this stuff. What am I going to do with it?" But that very day, I got a recipe newsletter (I am signed up for many). This newsletter was from Kraft recipes and it called for the very same mystery ingredient that my husband had just purchased for me. So, I decided to make the recipe. I made a few modifications. But it was GOOD. And if they ever stop making this cooking creme, I'm going to have to find a way to replicate it so that I can continue making this recipe! I have an idea of a substitution possibility that I will include in my notes for the recipe. But the recipe was really good and I hope you like it too.


Baked Penne (as originally written)

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1/2 pound extra lean ground beef
1/2 cup each chopped onions and green peppers
1 jar (24 oz) spaghetti sauce
1 tub (10 oz) Philadelphia Italian Cheese and Herb Cooking Creme, divided
1 cup Kraft shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
3 cups cooked penne pasta

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Brown meat with vegetables in large nonstick skillet. Stir in spaghetti sauce, 3/4 cup cooking creme, and 1/2 cup mozzarella: cook and stir 2-3 minutes or until mozzarella is melted. Add pasta; mix lightly.

Spoon into 2-qt casserole; top with remaining cooking creme and mozzarella. Cover.

Bake 20 min. or until heated through, uncovering after 15 minutes.

Kraft Kitchen Tips: Substitute Italian sausage for ground beef. Substitute your favorite flavor of spaghetti sauce, such as mushroom or garden vegetable. Serve with a crisp mixed salad tossed with your favorite Kraft Light Dressing.

Nutrition Information: 370 calories, 15g fat, 7g saturated fat, 60 mg cholesterol, 990 mg sodium, 37 g carbohydrate, 4 g dietary fiber, 10 g sugar, 22 g protein.

Source: Kraft Recipes website.

Baked Penne (my version)

Ingredients:

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 jar (24 oz) spaghetti sauce
1 tub (10 oz) Philadelphia Italian Cheese and Herb Cooking Creme, divided
1 cup Kraft shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1 box (1 lb.) penne pasta, cooked

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Brown meat and onions in large nonstick skillet. Add garlic, Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper, to taste. Cook for 2 minutes. Stir in spaghetti sauce, 3/4 cup cooking creme, and 1/2 cup mozzarella: cook and stir 2-3 minutes or until mozzarella is melted. Add pasta; mix lightly.

Spoon into 2-qt casserole; top with remaining cooking creme and mozzarella. Cover.

Bake 20 min. or until heated through, uncovering after 15 minutes.

Serves 8 (500 calories per serving).

Notes: I added more beef than the original recipe for two reasons. First, I had frozen ground beef in my freezer, but they were frozen in 1 lb portions. Second, I cook for my in-laws and they LOVE their beef! I excluded the green bell pepper because I thought I had some, but I didn't. I added the garlic, Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper because I like a lot of flavor in my baked pastas. I used a whole pound of pasta because I wasn't sure how much dried pasta I would need to end up with three cups cooked. Besides, I wanted more than 6 servings because then my husband could take some to work for lunch the next day and otherwise, there wouldn't be enough for him to do so.

I almost added all of the cooking creme to the pasta/beef/sauce mixture, but I decided to do as the recipe instructed and save some for the top. I'm glad I did. It added such a nice kick--a great boost of flavor--to the finished pasta and it blended well with the browned mozzarella cheese.

My changes did increase the calories by 130 calories per serving, but I simply served it with a side salad topped with fat-free salad dressing to balance it out so the meal didn't become too high in calories.

If they ever discontinue this cooking creme, I would suggest using a small tub of garlic and herb spreadable cream cheese and whisking it until smooth with about 1/2 cup of milk. I think that would make for a good substitute.