Cilantro Pesto Pasta Recipe

Sisters, Do you use CILANTRO in your homemade food????  You should.  It is SO yummy!
I had some leftover from my black bean salad recipe that I made last week and I wanted to use it.  I was also in a time crunch and had to resort to a spaghetti dinner, but I thought maybe I could do something with the cilantro for a different sauce.  Thanks to Rachael Ray for this one.

Ingredients

• 1 clove garlic, cracked away from the skin--I used the jar of garlic from Costco 1/2 tsp
• 2 inches fresh ginger root, chopped--I just used powdered ginger
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes--these make it spicy, so cut them down or out if that's not your thing
• 3 ounces, about 1/2 cup, macadamia nuts--I used raw peanuts (cuz that's the only nut I had)
• 1 lime, juiced (I just used lime juice)
• 1 cup cilantro leaves
• 1/2 cup evoo -- extra-virgin olive oil, eyeball it
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt, eyeball it in palm of your hand
• 1 pound spaghetti, cooked to al dente, 1/2 cup pasta water reserved

Directions

Place first 8 ingredients in food processor or blender and blend until smooth, then add the pasta water. Toss with hot pasta, adjust seasonings, then serve immediately.

SOOOO easy and delicious!!!

How Gran Makes Stew

For a small crowd...
Brown stewing meat with onion in a little bit of olive oil
Salt and pepper it
Add a little water to just cover the meat
Add carrots, potatoes, celery
Water should not cover vegetables completely, but should been seen through them
 Simmer on very low for 2-3 hours
Watch it so it does not burn and stir it so the vegetables get the brown on them
Thicken with flour or corn starch

(For "Tomato Brady" add tomatos with vegetables)


For a large crowd...
In a roasting pan put a lb of stewing meat, 1/2 inch pieces of onion, big chunks of potatos, carrots, and 1 inch slices of celery and tomatoes.  Add a few beef bouillon cubes and a about 6 Tbsp of tapioca (not instant), maybe some barley, salt and pepper.  Basil and thyme are nice to add too.  Add water until you just see the water through the vegetables.
Maybe add peas at the end.
Put it into oven at 275 for 6 hours.

And 2 Bonus Meals... that are easy, quick and cheap
courtesy of Gran

Meal #1
In a casserole dish place...
1 lb ground beef (defrosted but not browned)
Then sliced onion over the top

Then sliced potato and if you want sliced carrot too
Cover with cream of mushroom soup and bake

Meal #2
In a casserole dish place...
1 lb ground beef (defrosted but not browned)

mixed with sliced onion
Then pour applesauce over it
And bake