The hit heard 'round the World

Last night was Family Science night at the kids' school. It was pretty neat; a whole bunch of tables set up with different interactive science experiments in the auditorium. We made some neat stuff, and I found that my kids have a knack for building simple circuits out of Christmas lights, foil, and drinking straws =]

One of the problems I frequently run into with being a parent of grade-schoolers is how easily our schedule can get thrown off. "Family Nights" usually start around 6:30pm. If they are earlier, many parents would not be able to go because of work. Later, and the kids end up staying up too late. Unfortunately for us, 6:30 is dinner time!

Last night, I was faced with making dinner in less than half an hour, with only ground beef defrosted. Hot dogs, or even fish, would have been no problem. Throw some frozen veggies in the microwave, fry up some fish (we always have a ton of fish in the freezer), and butter some bread. THAT would have been easy.

Instead, I came up with this "recipe", using almost all pre-prepared ingredients. What makes this special was that EVERYONE in the house ate it! With no complaints! And it was comparatively healthy. I actually got compliments at dinner time! Seriously, one for the books, ladies and gentlemen. I served seconds for the first time since...well, since the last time I ordered pizza, actually ;)

Started some spaghetti cooking in a large pot. Then, I pulled out these:
1lb ground beef
1/2c chopped onions
1tsp garlic salt
Browned together in large deep skillet, and added:
1 jar prepared vodka sauce
1c frozen chopped spinach (I buy it in the bag, not the little frozen bricks!)
Simmered, stirring occasionally, until heated through, and pasta was done.

I'm just finishing up the [very scarce] leftovers now, and it is sooo good =]

I found a way to work around my missing camera problem. I went and bought a little memory card for my old camera ($10), and am using that for now. **Stay tuned for tonight, when I will have a new crochet pattern for the most adorable little toadstool...with pictures! =]

**I am starting to believe that the universe does not want me to post pictures on the internet =/ I tried to upload the pictures from my old camera, but it seems my USB cord has been damaged (one end is all rusty). BOOOOO! Well, regardless, have a mushroom pattern, and I *will* find a way to get the pictures up...eventually!