frozen spaghetti?

last night i whipped up a fast recipe for dinner: chickpeas and pasta. it's an easy one to have the ingredients on hand and it only took me about 15 - 20min.

4 teaspoons olive oil

1 red bell pepper

5 - 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tbsp. finely chopped rosemary

2 tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley

Pinch crushed red pepper flakes

1 14oz. can diced tomatoes

1 16oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained (aka. garbanzo beans)

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

2 cups cooked ditalini or macaroni

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

heat oil. saute bell pepper and all spices for 5 minutes. add tomatoes and bring to boil. reduce heat and simmer for 10 min. add chickpease and pepper. cook stirring ocasionally until heated through. stir in cooked pasta and cheese.

if you read my last post, you know i rarely follow the recipe properly. this works better with

dinner dishes than baking and for this recipe, i changed it a lot:

no garlic (it stays with me way too long)

dried herbs instead of fresh

no red pepper flakes on hand

can of stewed tomatoes instead of diced

a 19oz can of chickpeas

no pepper

spaghetti noodles

it still tasted great. it's a nice no-meat option that's still high in protein. serves 4.

when a meal serves more than 2, i often put it in a couple tupperwares for lunches the next day however, tonight i put the leftovers in my smallest heat and serve and stuck it in my freezer.

yes, spaghetti freezes and reheats great. the heat and serve containers are perfect for freezing and reheating food because they have a raised bump in the center of the base. this keeps your casserole or ground beef from getting that hard, frozen center when you're thawing it in the microwave. and that little pink circle on top vents the steam so that you don't have to take the lid off and get tomato spatter all over the inside of your microwave. nice.

on hand for another night.