Tortellini and Peas + Getting More For Your Money

It was a typical day; no celeb sightings!  I had to stay a little late for a meeting at work and I literally walked in the front door, put down my bag, grabbed the keys and walked out the back door to the car for my middle son's school's open house.

It was over pretty quick and now I am home sitting with the middle one to get him to bed while my husband lays with the big boy.  The kids don't leave me alone all day long, but as soon as it's lights out they are "scared" and endlessly whine "I want Daddy". 

For dinner we had Martha Stewart's Tortellini and Peas.  It was easy and what's not to love about such a simple dish. Plus, let's be real, I needed some carbs!

Tortellini & Peas (and green beans!)

Martha Stewart

Ingredients

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1 1/2 pounds frozen cheese tortellini

1 package (10 ounces) frozen peas 
(we also added a bag of frozen green beans)

2 tablespoons butter

1 clove garlic, smashed

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving (optional)

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook tortellini about 2 minutes less than package instructions. 

 Add peas; cook until pasta is al dente and peas are tender, 2 minutes more. 

 Reserving 1 cup pasta water, drain. 

Set aside pasta and peas

Melt butter in pasta pot over medium-low heat. 

Add garlic; cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Discard garlic.

To pasta pot, add pasta and peas, Parmesan, and 3/4 cup reserved pasta water; season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat. 

Add more pasta water, if necessary, to thin sauce. 

Serve, topped with additional Parmesan if desired.

Now, for my daily weekday tip -- I really wanted to title this blog post "shut the front door" because that is what went through my head the other day when I was flipping through one of the many toy catalogs I have been perusing in prep for Christmas.  

I never buy my kids toys unless it is Christmas or their birthdays.  They have so much stuff and it usually gets destroyed in less than an hour.  That said, I was feeling a little bad for the baby who has stuff, but at this point most of the age appropriate toys we have for him are broken or missing pieces.

Weekend before last I made an effort and bought every battery size out there and then went to work putting them into the toys so the stuff actually worked for the poor kid.  I tossed quite a few things after this exercise.

So,  back to the toy catalog, when I was looking at it on the train I saw a cute plastic farm that was decorated for Halloween with animals dressed up I thought how cute for the baby.

Get It Done Tip:  Anytime I see something in a catalog that I like I immediately google it to see if I can find it cheaper somewhere else. Often times I will just go right to amazon and will usually find the best price there (except sometimes in the thick of the holiday season store prices can be more competitive).  This item was in the catalog for $35 + shipping.  I found it brand new on amazon for $22 + free 2nd day shipping!
I think that is an insane price difference and this is not the first time this has happened.
All of this happened on my daily train ride to the city -- I love when I have a productive commute. ;)

All 3 of the kids have been having fun with this + I love that I saved money!