Making Something out of Nothing: Tomato Pesto Pasta

      Since I'm now back at school, I find that my recipes all fall into one of three categories. First, there are the gigantic Wednesday night diners, designed to feed (and meed the numerous dietary restrictions) of my 12 housemates. Then, there are my occasional weekend projects, the results of which, I usually freeze to feed myself throughout the week. Finally, there are recipes like this one, that I make just for myself in 30 minutes or less, with zero planning. This is my kind of college food. I just walk into the kitchen, thinking that there's nothing to eat, but somehow find enough hidden treasure in the pantry and/or freezer to create something delicious. In fact, other favorite college recipe of mine, my pesto mac and cheese was born the same way. I'll admit that sometimes do eat Lean Cuisines for dinner, but on nights when I decide to put in just a little bit more effort, the results are worth it. So this recipe isn't necessarily meant for you to follow exactly, as much as to inspire you to put away the ramen, be creative, and use what you have on hand to step it up a notch. So on a day when I  thought I had nothing, here's what I found:

INGREDIENTS: (makes 2 servings)
1/3 of a box of medium shell pasta
a hunk of leftover frozen ground beef (maybe 1/4lb)
2 mini sweet red peppers, chopped (or just part of a regular bell pepper)
1 really small onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons of sundried tomato pesto sauce

DIRECTIONS:
1. Boil the pasta according to the directions on the box.
2. In a medium frying pan, brown the beef, then add the onions and cook until tender. Then add the pepper and garlic and cook for another minute.

3. Drain the pasta, and add it into the pan with the meat and vegetables. Then add about 2 tablespoons of sauce, stir well, and enjoy!

And that's how you can make something out of (seemingly) nothing!