Everyone runs into it…the dinner rut. The dilemma of changing it up but having no inspiration. So this is the first of my easy dinner ideas to add to your menu.

Pasta with Sausage Marinara & Simple Salad

The Main Dish: (See how it is made here in my Snap Cook section)

1. Depending on how many you’ll feed, measure the corresponding amount of your favorite pasta (there will be serving size suggestions on the package). I’ll assume that you know how to cook pasta.
2. While the water gets up to boiling temperature, brown a package of your favorite Italian sausage in a large pan. Hot or sweet, pork, beef, chicken, or turkey…it doesn’t matter. About a pound for a standard jar of marinara sauce.
3. Once the meat is browned, drain off the fat. Leaving the heat on medium, add a store-bought jar of your favorite tomato-based sauce. I like garlic and basil in mine, but use what you like.
4. Once the pasta is just al dente, drain it and add it to the sauce and sausage, and allow it to simmer in the sauce for a minute or two, tossing to cover all of the pasta with the sauce. Serve with Parmesan cheese!

The Salad:

1. Use pre-packaged “Herbed Greens” or “Herbed Salad Mix” from the produce section of your grocery store. This gives the salad lots of variety without having to do much prep.
2. Add your favorite salad dressing. Vinegar and Oil works if you don’t have any dressing on-hand.

I find this simple dinner to be really satisfying and fast to make. If you have time on your hands and additional ingredients, by all means add other veggies or buffalo mozzarella  to the salad, and throw some bell peppers and onions in while you brown the meat and simmer the sauce. If you have bread on-hand, toast it to dip in the sauce on the plate.

What quickie dinners do you like to make? I like to have a few things that take very little prep or thought for those nights when the time got away from me and I’m not in the mood to think or work too hard to get food on the table.

You’re done! Go eat!