Tomatoes and peppers and garlic...

[GWguy]

I got a bunch of my tomatoes in the ground last weekend. They look great! Decided not to do peppers or anything else this year.

[cattitude (Premo)]

Italian Sausage with Peppers

Makes 4 servings

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 Bermuda onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

1 red bell pepper seeded and thinly sliced

1 green bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced

1 fennel bulb, trimmed and thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 cup canned diced tomatoes

1/2 teaspoon salt

Fresh ground pepper - to taste

1/2 pound cooked hot Italian pork sausage

2 cups penne

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

1. In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil. Saute the onion, bell peppers, and fennel until the vegetables turn golden, 8-10 minutes. Add the garlic and saute' 1-2 minutes longer. Stir in the tomatoes, salt, and fresh ground pepper. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes.

2. Cut the sausage on the diagonal into 1-inch slices. Add to the vegetable mixture; simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until the flavors are blended, about 20 minutes longer. If the sauce becomes too dry, add 1-2 tablespoons of water.

3. Meanwhile, cook the penne according to package directions: drain.

4. Add the basil, parsley, and penne to the sausage mixture; toss to combine.

[GWguy]

Originally Posted by cattitude

Italian Sausage with Peppers

Bertoli Sausage with Rigatoni
Take out of freezer.
Cook in pan (only one required) for 10 minutes.
Eat.

[Nickel]

Originally Posted by GWguy

Bertoli Sausage with Rigatoni
Take out of freezer.
Cook in pan (only one required) for 10 minutes.
Eat.

Those Bertolli meals are delicious, aren't they? It's nice to have a meal that tastes home cooked in only ten minutes when you're in a rush.

[GWguy]

Originally Posted by Nickel

Those Bertolli meals are delicious, aren't they? It's nice to have a meal that tastes home cooked in only ten minutes when you're in a rush.

Yeah, actually I was very surprised at how good they are. And for a single guy, it's great, quick and one pan cleanup. Unfortunately, it's really a 2 serving bag, and I just can't put the second serving away....

[Pushrod]

Originally Posted by vraiblonde

...oh my!

Planted them today in containers and they are sitting on my little patio, where they will get plenty of sunshine and I can watch them.

I have two pots with cherry tomatoes in them. Planted them last weekend. One day this week the local squirrels dug through the top layer of soil in the pots looking for god knows what. I was able to save a couple of the plants that had been tore out and replant them.
My flower beds and garden (even the yard) look like Germany during WWII carpet bombings from all the holes that the squirrels dig. Anyone else have this problem or do they just like to antagonize me?

[vraiblonde]

Originally Posted by Pushrod

Anyone else have this problem or do they just like to antagonize me?

The little peckers dig in my gardens, too. That's why I went with containers for the veggies - the soil is pure with no bugs or nuts or whatever it is that critters are digging for. At least that's the theory; we'll see if it actually pans out or not.

[cattitude (Premo)]

Originally Posted by Pushrod

Anyone else have this problem or do they just like to antagonize me?

I can't imagine trying to have a vegetable garden at our place. I'm at the point now of taking down all of my bird feeders at night and putting them in a large storage container and then putting them up every morning. We have raccoons around our place and they are driving me crazy.

[GWguy]

Originally Posted by Pushrod

Anyone else have this problem or do they just like to antagonize me?

Oh yeah.... Funny thing is the little beggars didn't touch the garden until AFTER I turned it, planted bulbs and mulched. Now I come home from work and have to fill it all back in after they get done "bombing" it.

[Pushrod]

I'm actually thinking about trapping them and taking them out to the country and let them go. They are pretty destructive little critters.