30 minute ravioli

So, It's Tuesday (just...pretend). And you're at a mom/toddler "Thanksgiving" party thrown by your lovely friend Linda. Who took over for you because you were sick. But means she totally went way beyond whatever you were going to do. (Man, it was good.)

But you don't really want to eat, because you still have to go home and cook for the hubby. You do, however, grab some green beans and let yourself get talked into a piece of pumpkin pie. Your toddler chows on grapes, a corn muffin, and pumpkin pie.

So you get home at 6:25 pm and the hubby is starving. You let him make himself a sandwich (his choice). But there's nothing for lunch tomorrow. What to do?

Enter the less-than-30 min ravioli.

Step 1: Start boiling water for ravioli.
Step 2: Heat a little canola oil in a nonstick pan
Step 3: Chop and drop...green onions, red bell pepper, 3 stalks celery. Cook until soft, then add 2 garlic cloves, the rest of a can of chickpeas. Cook until the chickpeas are browning in place. Add a can of diced tomatoes, some dried basil, oregano, and pepper. Use the back of a wooden spoon to break up the tomatoes.
Step 4: When boiling, add 1/2 lb mini ravioli. Boil according to package directions.
Step 5: Add some olives to the sauce.
Step 6: Drain pasta, toss with sauce, serve.

27 minutes, start to finish. We've had some for lunches this week, and it was quite tasty.

30 minute ravioli:
1 T. canola oil: 0.03
1/2 lb dried mini ravioli: 1.00
3 celery stalks: 0.45
4 green onions, sliced: 0.25
1 red bell pepper: 0.85
2 cloves garlic: 0.10
1 can diced tomatoes: 0.62
1/2 can chickpeas: 0.45
a few olives: 0.40
basil, oregano, pepper: 0.20
Total: $4.35 for about 6 servings, or $0.73 per serving.

Of course, after all that, at about 7 pm, toddler says "where's dinner", but is perfectly happy topping off the "dinner" with a banana.