I cheated...

Do you ever feel like when you take a cooking shortcut that you "cheated"?  I feel like that whenever I use a shortcut.  Not that I'm an "everything from scratch" type person at all....but I'm leaning that way.  I mean, I made homemade oreos once, and I feel bad using jarred pasta sauce, and I'm thisclose to swearing off jarred salsa forever, realizing how incredibly easy it is and how much more delicious it can be than the canned stuff.

Anyway, so after a long work day I realized I not only had no idea what to make for dinner, but I also had no groceries. But I had some CSA greens, I had some leftover pizza dough, and I had a smoked mozzerella spread that I knew would never get used.  Combining the three would capitalize on my miserly, waste not philosophy...but would it be good?

Also, a bit of an experiment was held vis-a-vis pasta sauce making.  I love cream sauce, but have no business eating pasta with cream sauce (got enough fat and calories padding my middle already).  I figured I could mix some milk, chicken broth, a spoonful of the smoked mozzerella spread, and some cornstarch in a bowl, then pour it over the hot pasta and veg to thicken it up and "fake" a cream sauce.  Lo and behold, it worked!  Maybe not as silky and smooth as a full-fat version, but nearly fat-free makes me forgive the texture issue.

Sauteed garlic, CSA wild red onions, CSA kale (not sure which variety), and sliced cremini mushrooms in olive oil/butter; added the pasta and sauce mix, which instantly thickened.  It was so easy....

Leftover pizza dough was rolled out, thinly spread with butter, then topped with chopped garlic and parmesan cheese and rolled up jelly-roll style.  After rising an hour, 20 minutes at 400 degrees resulted in a fairly decent garlic bread roll.

Success, indeed, on the most meager (ok, CSA veggies and leftover gourmet spreads aren't exactly meager...) of ingredients.  Photos were taken, but are still residing on a camera, so forgive me for leaving you to wait for them.