Got 5?

Minutes that is!  If you have FIVE minutes, you can whip up the easiest dinner EVER.  I'm not kidding - FIVE minutes.  Did you ever think you'd be able to cook a dinner for your entire family that fast?  I bet the answer is NO!  You can't even microwave a meal for more than one person in under 5 minutes, let alone cook a meal!  OK, I'll let you in on my little secret:

Trader Joe's "Just Pasta" can be found in the freezer section at your local Trader Joe's.  You can get either Penne or Spaghetti noodles and each bag costs ONLY $2.49.  Pop it in the microwave for 2-3 minutes, and your pasta is cooked!  YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO BOIL WATER.  It's a miracle!  You don't have to wash your pasta pot or colander afterward either!  Having to wash fewer dishes after a meal is a great thing in my book.

Inside the bag there are two 8 oz. bags of pre-cooked spaghetti.  I cook both bags for the two of us and there are usually enough leftovers for one person the next day.  I think they must measure the pasta once it's been cooked because even thought it's 16 oz. of pasta, it makes a lot less than 1 pound of dry noodles would make.  Either way, it's still the fastest dinner you will EVER make.

Just as I put the noodles in the microwave, I pour a can of sauce in a sauce pan to heat it up on the stove.  My favorite sauce is the Organic Tomato Basil Marinara ($2.29) from Trader Joe's.  I find that it has more flavor than other sauces you can find at the grocery store.  And if we're going to eat sauce from the jar, then it should at least taste good right?

If you don't like to use sauce from a jar, then you can use the sauce from this post which I like to make and freeze so I have it handy when I need it.

A group of women from my neighborhood were getting together on Saturday night for drinks a few doors down so I wanted something easy to cook before I headed out.  This time I browned some ground beef and added it to the pasta.  I prefer to use the organic ground beef you can find at Costco that comes in convenient 1 pound packages:

I store the individual packages in the freezer and they keep well.  So all you have to do for this entire dinner is brown the meat, heat the sauce and microwave the noodles.  It's as simple as that and you have dinner in FIVE minutes!  YUM!

Wondering about that garlic bread there?  That's the Barefoot Contessa's garlic ciabatta bread.  It was the best home made garlic bread I've ever made so I'll definitely write a post on that later!

I'd love to hear what your favorites are from Trader Joe's too!  I hope you'll share so we can all try them out!