Defrosting Meat is not a sport

We recently had a whole hog processed. Since the hubs didn't ask for my opinion before he ordered it, I barely had enough time to use enough stuff from the freezer to make room for the new hog. And, even then, I'm not sure how I got it all in there. Last night, I went to the full-size upright to get out a package of chicken, and the door was....open. Not far, just a crack, but enough that everything on the top shelf was fully defrosted, and the rest of the freezer was completely frosted over. Then, apparently thinking it would help the door close better, the hubs bent the door.
So, now the door is taped shut until we can go buy a new freezer this weekend, undoubtedly an enormous chest freezer, exactly like the kind I HATE because you can never find anything in them. Ugh.

On the up-side, this week is Wellness Week at work, and among other things (such as the free cholesterol test I had this morning) yesterday we had a Healthy Eating Potluck. In a last minute trip to Walmart the night before, I pieced together an idea from a few different recipes I had seen, but not necessarily tried. I figured, its supposed to be healthy food, which everyone here expect to taste like crap anyway, so its the perfect time to experiment because no one will know the difference, right? No worries about winning the contest for "Best Dish".

Yeah, well, I won.

And it was an awesome dish! Honestly, I didn't know how it was going to turn out, so I didn't take any pictures of it, but I'm going to post the recipe anyway, because it was terribly yummy and I've got to make it again! Enjoy! As a side note, I usually despise whole wheat pasta, because it always tastes gritty to me, but as I was shoppnig I saw a box of Barilla (which I always use) Whole Grain Thin Spaghetti. It said it was new, and I had never seen it before. I trust Barilla, so I gave it a shot. It was good. Really, I'd eat that anytime. Just a plug for another good product! The only thing I might do differently with this dish is use more onion. I had a really big one, but for a whole package of pasta, I think 2 would have been better. Either that or use half the pasta and sausage.

Whole Grain Spaghetti with Italian Sausage and Caramelized Onions

1 package Whole Grain Spaghetti
1 pound Italian Turkey Sausage
1 large Vidalia onion, thinly sliced
1 TB olive oil
1 TB minced garlic
Salt and pepper
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 bunch Italian flat leaf parsley

Heat the olive oil in a deep sauté pan over medium-low heat and add onions, salt and pepper. Allow onions to cook in an even layer, stirring only occasionally over medium-low heat until golden. You must be patient as this process takes around 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in well salted water until just al dente.
Brown the crumbled turkey sausage in another skillet and drain off any excess grease.

Once the onions are caramelized, add a couple of ladles of the pasta cooking water and scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Drain the pasta and add it to the onions. Mix in the browned sausage. Add the Parmesan cheese and mix well to combine. Add more pasta water as needed to keep pasta from sticking together. Chop the parsley and toss it with the pasta.