At story time in the library yesterday a mother mentioned she never cooks because she doesn’t have time. Instead of saying I completely understand because my time is crazed right now and I have no time, I told her she could try some recipes I’d just cooked. One I told her, took as long as boiling the pasta to make. Her interest was piqued. Now, I probably should have told her that I was up until 1:30 last night sorting and folding laundry because I’d let it go to the point of digging socks and underwear out of the mountain filled baskets, but I didn’t want to tarnish my super-mommy image (actually nobody who knows me thinks I am supermom, because I am usually honest about how messy my house is and how I just can’t do it all). Ah, but one can dream and pretend for a day.
I know that some people choose to keep a tidy house over cooking meals for their kids and I do have some friends that have tidy homes and cook great meals (even a couple that hold fulltime jobs) but they’re just much more organized and less ADD than me! I have a cluttered office, an over abundance of toys to weed through, a laundry situation that constantly eludes me, and a back yard that will soon win the WT award. Cause truth is I’d rather be cooking than cleaning, I’d rather be writing than cleaning and I’d rather have an over scheduled schedule than cleaning. Now, if I start making more money I can hire someone to come clean regularly… ooh, and if I make tons I can hire someone to do my laundry. Well, that means getting more clients and that takes a lot of time. But, for now, messy house and laundry up the wazoo.
Back to the food… Here is one of recipes I told her about. It took about 10 minutes.
Shrimp Bianco with Spinach and Tomatoes
1 pound frozen de-veined shrimp
1/4 onion (or 1 shallot) finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
handful parsley, chopped
baby spinach (I used what I had from my CSA about 2 cups)
handful cherry tomatoes, cut in half
3 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup cream
1/4 cup white wine
sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
1 pound thin spaghetti
Run cool water over shrimp to thaw, set aside. Put salted water on to boil. Chop the onion, garlic and parsley. Heat olive oil and sauté the onions then add garlic, making sure neither get brown. Add shrimp and when they’re just turning pink add wine, cream, parsley. Stir for 30 seconds then add spinach and tomatoes and salt and pepper. As soon as spinach is wilted, strain spaghetti and toss with shrimp mixture. Serve.
My kids loved this dish. I loved that I made it so quickly. I was seriously considering getting a pizza, but managed to save money and give something a little more nutritious in less time than it would have taken for the pizza delivery person to drive over here. And there was not a single whine at the dinner table! 
Unfortunately because it was so quick, I didn’t have my camera ready during the cooking process. Next time!
brown specks are from the potato skins
