We’re not on the Cape as we’d planned to be this weekend. That’s a bummer. Dinner was far from a Cape meal, but it was fine.

I really mixed it up (insert sarcasm emoticon here) by making my favorite bean recipe with pintos instead of black beans. I think I prefer the black bean version, but it’s also entirely possible that I left out some essential ingredient, thanks to an overwhelmed brain.

Rose and I put together a decent guacamole, which we ate half of in the process of making. There was rice, of course, and weekday chicken for them, and salad for me.

Have I ever mentioned that I don’t like salsa from a jar (or can for that matter)? It has a certain icky flavor to it that I can’t tolerate, I’m not sure what it is. The one and only exception to this rule (that I know of) is Herdez Salsa Casera.

Herdez comes in a can or a jar, both versions are good, and it doesn’t have that weird jarred salsa flavor. I’m not saying it’s the same as when you make it from scratch yourself. But it’s a good thing to have in your pantry, and great in a pinch.

On the messed-up family front, Shane is feeling slightly better thanks to an acupuncturist we found, who makes house calls.

I was hoping to to go to the coffee shop for dinner, it being Wednesday and all. But Rose didn’t want to go, because, you know, she didn’t like her shoes.

The wonderful news is that I’m officially done with partial bed rest. I still have this discomfort that builds during the day, making it hard to be on my feet right when I  really need to be, around dinner time.

Fortunately, I had made Shane a ‘proper’ lunch of pasta with sweet Italian sausage and tomato sauce for lunch, and there was a lot of sauce left over. I made a fresh batch of pasta, warmed the sauce and threw together a simple salad.

For my version, I pulled the sausages out and replaced them with bufala mozzarella chunks. Rose and Shane devoured the sausage version.

Do you know that sausage-tomato sauce is the easiest thing in the world to make? It’s also a great make-ahead or make while you’re doing something else dish. Here’s what I like to do:

• Easy Sweet Italian Sausage and Tomato Sauce •

olive oil
1 yellow onion
3-5 sweet Italian sausages
1 large can San Marzano tomatoes
Italian seasoning
1-2 tablespoons butter
salt and pepper to taste
pasta
cheese for sprinkling 

Pour a decent amount of olive oil (about 3 tablespoons) into a large skillet, add a thickly sliced yellow onion and sauté until soft and translucent. Add sausages, chopped into 1” chunks, and cook for another 5-10 minutes. Add some Italian seasoning, maybe a teaspoon or two, (I like Penzey’s Pasta Sprinkle), a pinch of red pepper flakes (optional) and a can of whole, peeled San Marzano tomatoes. Mush the tomatoes a bit to break them up.

Add a tablespoon or two of butter while the sauce is cooking. When the sausages are cooked through, about 20-30 minutes, season with salt and pepper. Serve over penne or rigatoni with parmesan or pecorino for sprinkling. Pluck out sausages and give to someone else, if you’re a flexible vegetarian. Have a simple green salad on the side.

Back when Shane first had his surgery, a friend made us two meatloaves. I served the first and then we had that crazy heat wave and I couldn’t bear to turn on the stove. So I froze the second.

How thrilled was I when I saw it in the freezer yesterday morning? Thanks so much Julie.

We had it with zucchini sautéed in butter with lemon zest. And yes, I had some. The other night I found myself reaching for a sausage, and realized that the time may have come for me to add a teeny bit of poultry to my pregnancy diet.

Shane was not well enough to eat.