Becky's Spaghetti Sauce

I was taught how to make this spaghetti sauce when I was old enough to start cooking. I have changed it ever so slightly over the years to suit my smooth-sauce loving self.

I can usually have this sauce ready by the time I can get the spaghetti noodles cooked. From start to finish, this meal takes about 20-25 minutes to cook.... MUCH faster then any delivery food and MUCH better for you!

I recently made my brother 9 quarts of this sauce without meat to store in his freezer so he could easily brown hamburger, boil noodles, and have a homemade dinner ready without any trouble. Just in case he'd like to be able to cook it from start to finish, I've taken a lot of pictures and tried to break down the steps to help make this easy sauce even easier.

Sauce with ground venison


Sauce without meat



Start by browning 1 pound of ground beef or venison (not pictured). Scoop out the cooked meat and set aside. Reserve the fat (if it's from grass-fed animals) or drain the fat and add ~2 Tbsp. of olive oil. Turn the stove on medium and start to warm the oil while you cut up the onion (if you have a gas stove, your pan will heat much more quickly so you can turn on your pan after you cut your onion).

I cut my onion in half, trim off each end and peel the skin off.

You can dice the onion by hand or use a food processor (which I used since I was making 9 batches of sauce that day). Pulse until it's a fine dice.

Add the onion to the pan and cook it on medium heat until it's translucent and tender. Stir it enough so that it doesn't brown. If it starts to brown, turn down the heat a bit.

As the onions are cooking, peel and dice 1-3 cloves of garlic, depending on how much garlic you like. I usually use only 1 clove.

If you whack a clove of garlic with something heavy (a mug, a can, etc), the peel will come off very easily.

Peel the garlic

Dice the garlic finely.

When the onions are fully cooked and tender, add the garlic and cook for a few minutes more.

Add 1 small can of tomato paste

1 1/2 - 1 3/4 cups of water (depending on how thin or thick you like your sauce)

3/4-1 tsp. salt (I start with 3/4 tsp. then add a bit at the end if it needs it)

pepper to taste

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

2 tsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

Stir together and set heat on low. Add back in the ground meat (if you want a meat sauce). Simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste for seasoning. Serve with pasta.

This recipe makes enough for 1 pound of pasta.

I've linked this recipe up with Simple Lives Thursday.

Baked Rice and Beans

This is one of the most inexpensive meals that I make. I make a large pan of it and Jon and I will have it for lunch each day for nearly a week. Because this makes so much, feel free to cut the recipe in half and use a slightly smaller pan. Watch cooking times if you scale back the recipe.

Baked Rice and Beans

3 cups brown rice

2 cans of beans, drained and rinsed well

(I usually use black beans or kidney beans but any similar beans will do)

2 tsp. salt**

1 onion, diced

1 can tomato sauce, no salt added, (8 oz.can) or 1/2 can tomato paste

1-2 tsp. chili powder

1/2-1 tsp. cumin

pepper to taste

4 cups homemade chicken stock, no salt added**

1 cup water

2 Tbsp. butter or olive oil

**If you use store bought chicken broth, drastically reduce the amount of salt added to this recipe. Store bought broth contains so much salt that you may not have to add any salt at all. Use your judgement**

Preheat oven to 375*. Grease a 11x13" pan.

Add all the ingredients to the prepared pan and stir until well combined. Cover completely and tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 1 - 1 1/2 hours or until all of the liquid is absorbed in the bottom of the pan. Fluff rice with a fork and serve.

I've linked up with Simple Lives Thursday.

Snow Days

Jon took this picture of Charlotte running around in the backyard when it started to snow Saturday morning. We only got a dusting. That storm missed us by a lot.

The storm coming up from the South on Monday did not miss us. They called off school on Monday in anticipation of the storm. I still worked since they made it a teacher work day. Charlotte was excited to stay home with her daycare buddies.

Tuesday morning we woke up to about an inch of snow and a layer of ice on top. The patio was a skating rink. The snow that had fallen on the slightly warmer patio had melted and refrozen to make the ice even thicker. They closed schools completely for Tuesday.

The birds have been very busy.

There's a waiting line for this feeder. Maybe these are the Three Musketeers of the Gold Finch world.

Here's a video of one of 4 busy feeders in our yard. Jon's playing piano in the background. He didn't know I was taking a video but it worked out well to give the video a soundtrack.

Here's our driveway in front of the cars.

The ice broken on our doormat.

Jon went out mid-day to scrape the cars off and shovel the driveway the best he could.

The road was a skating rink. We saw only a handful of cars brave the road. We haven't seen a snow plow or salt truck.

I got a lot done during our day off yesterday.

I spent an hour organizing my knitting bags, finished projects, and yarn.

I made 9 batches of spaghetti sauce for my brother to bring home with him when he comes for a visit later in the month.

On Monday I made a huge batch of chicken/turkey stock with carcasses of the last few birds we roasted that I had in the freezer. After the stock cooled in the fridge overnight, yesterday I put the stock in containers and froze it.

Last night I used some of the stock to make a big pot of turkey and veggie soup. I made some dinner rolls to go with it.

It was a great way to end a chilly, productive day.

We have off school again today due to icy roads. I'm not sure I feel quite as productive today. I think today's plans include knitting while watching some TV, catching up on some blogging, and maybe baking some cookies.

Autumn Harvest Soup With Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

With an abundance of winter squash puree on my hands, I decided to come up with a meal that is good for you and packed with flavor.
This soup has been one of my favorites for a long time. The addition of apples helps give it a touch of sweetness.
The pumpkin rolls were a huge hit! I reinvented my favorite dinner roll recipe to include pumpkin. The pumpkin made them very moist. They were as soft and delicious on day 3 as they were when they were fresh. Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 c. Earth Balance, melted and cooled (or butter)
1/3 cup honey
2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 tsp. yeast
2 Tbsp. Vital Wheat Gluten (helps whole wheat breads rise)
1 cup warm water
4 1/2-5 1/2 cups White Whole Wheat Flour (you may need more or less depending on humidity)

-In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients except the flour. Stir well to combine.

-Mix in the flour until the dough comes together without being too sticky or too dry. When in doubt, put in less flour. A dough that is too dry will be hard to work with and not as tasty to eat. You can always mix in more flour as you knead if it's too sticky.

- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for 10 minutes dusting lightly with flour to keep it from sticking to the surface and your hands.

-Put dough into an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap sprayed with Pam or a damp kitchen towel. Set in a warm place to rise until about doubled in size (about 90 minutes).

- Preheat oven to 350*. Grease (spray well with Pam) an 11"x18" pan or two 9"cake pans. Form about 18 rolls equal in size (about the size of a large egg,but round)and place in the pan(s). Let them rise until almost doubled in a warm place (about 45-60 minutes).
Place in the preheated, 350* oven for 35-40 minutes or until a digital thermometer inserted into the center of a roll reaches 190*.

-Turn the rolls out onto a cooling rack and brush the tops of the rolls with melted Earth Balance. Enjoy warm or at room temperature.



Autumn Harvest Soup

4 cups butternut squash puree
1 large onion, diced
2 Tbsp olive oil or Earth Balance
2 medium apples, diced (not Granny Smith)
1 quart chicken stock (homemade preferred but LOW sodium if you buy it)
salt

1. In a large pot, saute onions and apples in oil or Earth Balance on medium-low heat until VERY soft. They need to be very soft or they won't puree into a smooth soup. Don't let them brown.

2. Puree onions and apples in a food processor or blender until very smooth. Add back to the pot and turn heat to medium. Add butternut squash puree and chicken stock. Add salt to taste.
(The amount of salt will vary greatly depending on your broth. Store bought broth has so much salt that you may not have to add any additional salt. I use homemade stock without any added salt so I use close to 1 1/2tsp. of salt to my soup. )

3. Let soup simmer until heated through. Taste to be sure any onions were well pureed. If you taste tiny bits of onion, let the soup boil for about 15-20 minutes to fully cook the onions. Check seasonings. Serve. Serves approx. 6 large adults.





I'm excited to enter these recipes in the Naturally Frugal Food Challenge. Wish me luck!

Chicken Enchiladas

This is a great way to use leftover chicken. It's also a great recipe to assemble ahead of time and bake when you need it. I made these enchiladas at nap time one day because our evening was going to be really busy. Homemade enchiladas sure beats fast food on a busy night. This picture really doesn't do it justice. Jon said this meal was "@#%&* Awesome!!" (very quietly so the kids didn't hear). Chicken Enchiladas

2-3 cups shredded chicken
1 1/2 cups corn (I used frozen without defrosting) (optional, leave out if you don't like corn)
salt
~10 flour tortillas
1 recipe of Enchilada sauce (below)
Cheese (optional for adding to the top before baking)

Enchilada Sauce
1 medium onion (diced small)
1/2 can tomato paste
1 8 oz. can no salt added tomato sauce
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. Chili powder (add more if you like spicy foods)
2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
**If you like spicy foods, add cayenne pepper or Tabasco sauce. This makes a mild sauce since I'm a big wimp.**

In a medium sauce pan, saute onion in olive oil or butter until tender and translucent. Add all other ingredients and stir until well combined. Cook on medium for about 15 minutes stirring frequently.


You'll need a 9x13 baking dish lightly sprayed with Pam. In a medium bowl, mix together chicken, corn, and a sprinkle of salt (more or less depending if your chicken is already seasoned).

Take a tortilla and dip both sides into the enchilada sauce. Lay the tortilla on a plate and place a bit of filling on the tortilla. Roll the sides of the tortilla into the center and overlap as much a possible. Lay the filled tortilla with the open side facing down in the pan. Continue until you run out of filling.

I had a few extra corn kernels that I sprinkled on top.

Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce over the top (and top with cheese if you like) and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes.

These were just as good as leftovers the next day.

Pizza Rolls With Chef Evan

Last week, while Jon took Charlotte to swim lessons, Evan helped me make dinner. They were the most delicious pizza rolls I had ever had. I think I actually preferred them to regular pizza! Here's how we did it.

Start with the dough: (adapted from King Arthur's Pizza Bun recipe)

1 1/3 cups warm water (maybe a bit more or less depending on climate)
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. instant yeast
3 Tbsp. instant potato flakes
4 tsp. vital wheat gluten (opt)
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Mix the ingredients together in a large bowl (I start with the wet ingredients and mix as I go). Knead dough on a floured surface for 5-10 minutes. Let the dough rise in an oiled bowl covered with a damp cloth until doubled in size.
Roll out the dough on a well floured surface until it's a huge rectangle. You want the dough very thin but not so thin that it breaks.



Evan will show you how to spread the sauce.....

"and do this... and do this... and do this..."
I used a whole small jar of store bought pizza sauce to cover the dough. (clean hands made it easier to spread if you're 2 years old... or you could use the back of spoon if you don't like finger painting)



Here's where you can get creative. I cooked up some local, pastured pork sausage and let it cool. You could add pepperoni or anything you like on your pizza but I would save most of the cheese for the topping.


Evan will now demonstrate proper sausage application....

You'll notice that he no longer has a shirt. Finger painting with sauce is a messy job.







So, after you have your sausage or other toppings evenly spread out, roll the dough starting with the short side. Roll carefully so the toppings don't squish out.

Cut the log into 12 even slices with a sharp knife. Carefully move the slices onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. The sauce will ooze out and look like a huge mess but that's okay.

Let them sit for about an hour to rise a bit more. They won't double but they will look a little puffy by the end of the hour. Preheat the oven to 350*.

Top the rolls with cheese (opt) gently so you don't deflate the rolls and bake them for about 25-35 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown.
The sauce keeps the rolls very moist without being soggy and the dough is so fluffy and delicate.

We're going to have to have these about once a week from now on!

I hope you enjoyed this Chef Evan cooking lesson.

The Food Highlights from Last Week

I haven't been posting as much about food lately since I've been making a lot of the same foods that I've already blogged about. Here are a few new recipes I tried this past week or so...

Charlotte's preschool had a consignment sale and a bake sale so I volunteered to bring cookies. I started with this recipe and tweaked it a bit.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup sugar
2 tsp. molasses
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. vinegar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 large egg
2 cups flour (I used All Purpose but if I were making them for us,I'd use mostly Whole Wheat Pastry flour)
2 cups chocolate chips (all I had were mini chips)

Preheat oven to 375*. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or lightly grease them.

In a large bowl, combine the sugar molasses, butter, salt, extracts, vinegar, and baking soda, beating until smooth and creamy.

Beat in the egg. Mix in the flour, then the chips.

Use a spoon and scoop Tablespoon sized balls of dough onto the cookie sheet.

Bake for about 11 minutes or until they're nicely golden brown.





Homemade Tortillas using lard...

These were not a great success because they ended up being really dry. I think I tried to add too much white whole wheat flour... or I used too much flour to roll them out. I'll try them again another day and hopefully I'll have a recipe that works out better for me.

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Lasagna with Homemade Noodles

This was so easy! I've made homemade pasta once before but I've never made lasagna with homemade noodles. I found it easier then trying to boil and separate the store bought kind. I used this recipe but I made it in the food processor and used half white whole wheat flour and half semolina flour. The dough came together really easily. After it rested for a bit on the counter, I rolled it out with the pasta maker and put the sheets straight into the lasagna.

The noodles cooked perfectly with everything else. It was a big hit!

Becky's Favorite Rolls (aka: King Arthur Flour "Chain Restaurant Rolls")

I didn't make them into the log shape that they recommended so this recipe made 12 smaller rolls. They taste very similar to Outback Steakhouse's rolls (except I didn't use the caramel coloring that gives their rolls their dark color). These are fantastic! I cut back the honey to 1/3 cup and use mostly White Whole Wheat flour and only a cup of All Purpose flour. They're slightly sweet, soft, and filling. I think I need to make another batch this week.

I forgot to take a few pictures of some other successes this week. These peanut butter cookies are amazing. Too good really... I couldn't stop eating them.

I've also made bread using this great basic recipe this week.

I'll be sure to keep the camera close by this week.

This Week In Food

Wow, I'm really slacking with the blog this week. We've had such wonderful weather that we've been spending a lot of time outside lately. I have a lot to catch up on. I'll start with a post full of food. I like to post the successful new recipes that I try so I can keep track of them. I tend to have a stack of printed out recipes with scribbles all over them with the changes I've made. Posting them keeps them much more organized and readable.


Homemade Ice Cream
adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe

8 egg yolks
2/3 cup of sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
3 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla

In a large sauce pan, whisk together all of the ingredients except for the vanilla. Stir constantly over medium heat (I switch to a wooden spoon after the sugar is dissolved). Cook until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the wooden spoon. Take the custard off of the heat and stir in the vanilla. Transfer mixture into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap (making sure the plastic wrap touches the top of the custard to avoid a skin forming) Refrigerate until the custard is cold. Pour it into your ice cream maker... simple as that.

I like to freeze ours in small storage containers so no one is tempted to eat the whole batch in one sitting. Though I know no one in this house (Jon) would do that.

Super Easy Peanutty Snack Mix (from the top of the Smuckers Peanut butter)

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup peanut butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. cinnamon

4 cups Cheerios (I used 2 cups honey nut and 2 cups regular)

1 cup peanuts

1 cup mini pretzels (I didn't have any so I used another cup of plain cheerios)

Heat oven to 350* and line a baking sheet with foil.

In a microwave safe bowl, combine butter and peanut butter and microwave until the butter is fully melted. Stir in vanilla and cinnamon.

In a large bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients. Pour the butter mixture on the cereal and mix well. Pour onto the baking pan and bake for 10-12 minutes. Let it cool and store in airtight containers.

**I also added raisins to this mix AFTER baking. This recipe can be really flexible. I think you could probably substitute any similar cereal for the cheerios. I bet Chex would work well. You could change out the peanuts for another nut... or add other dried fruits. I loved how the cereal stayed nice and crunchy even after 5 days.

"See my cheerio?"

Evan is a good cinnamon shaker.

I'm going to be making a double batch of this before we go on our next trip. It would be a perfect car munchy snack.




Oven Roasted Crispy Potatoes

This is more of a method instead of a recipe. I've roasted potatoes before but have never gotten them crispy. I finally have figured out how to oven roast them so the bottoms are nice and golden brown and crispy.

Potatoes (I like Russet for oven roasting)

Olive Oil

Lard

Salt (I used sea salt)

Pepper

Preheat oven to 450*. Cut up the potatoes in large chunks. Put them into a large casserole dish or on a baking sheet. Pour enough olive oil on the potatoes to coat them heavily. Put little bits of lard around in the pan so it'll melt when the pan goes in the oven. I put about a tablespoon total. The lard was the essential crisping ingredient. Sprinkle liberally with salt and as much pepper as you like. Toss the potatoes around so they're coated and bake for 45-60 minutes. (I stirred the potatoes about 10 minutes after I put them in the oven so that the melted lard would be evenly distributed)

I used this same method over the weekend for french fries but cutting the potatoes into spears and laying them in one layer on a baking sheet. YUM!





Mini Fruit Pies

I had leftover pie crust and decided to use it to make mini fruit pies using a muffin tray.

I used a large drinking cup to cut out circles from the pie crust.

I sprayed a muffin pan liberally with non-stick spray and then lined each one with a crust disk.

I still had a quart sized bag of frozen strawberries leftover from last summer so I tossed them with 2 Tbsp. of corn starch, 1/4 cup of sugar, a little cinnamon, a little salt, and a bit of vanilla. I baked them at 400* for about 40 minutes.

Before

After

The cornstarch left a bit of white powder on the tops of the pies but otherwise I was over the moon pleased with these. The juices gelled nicely so that the pies held together and were easy to get out of the pan. Between Jon and I, these only lasted 2 or 3 days. Very, very delicious.




Whole Wheat Banana Bread (adapted from King Arthur Flour recipe)

(I doubled the following recipe so I could freeze one loaf)

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

3 very ripe bananas

3 Tbsp. peach jam (or any other slightly tart jam)

2 Tbsp. honey

2 large eggs

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt (because I use salted butter... if you use unsalted butter, use 1 tsp. of salt)

2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

Preheat oven to 325* and grease a 9x5 loaf pan.

In a food processor, puree all wet ingredients (butter, sugar, honey, vanilla, jam, bananas, eggs) until smooth.

In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients well. Pour in wet ingredients and stir just until combined but DON'T OVERMIX!

Bake for 45 minutes, lay a piece of aluminum foil over the top of the pan to prevent over browning and the bake for 25 more minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool the bread in the pan for 10 minutes then turn it out onto a rack to cool completely.

*This banana bread is great on it's own but it's heavenly when you toast a slice and top it with plenty of butter.




Peach Pie

Before

After

No recipe to go with this one. I used the same recipe as my apple pie but I used a gallon sized bag full of frozen peaches from last summer. This pie had great flavor but because I left the peaches mostly frozen, the bottom crust didn't get quite done enough. It also leaked all over my oven because the peaches were so juicy. Next time I think I'll let the peaches thaw halfway, drain any extra liquid from them, and definitely put them on the bottom rack of the oven lined with a cook sheet to pick up any spills.

Her cousin, the apple pie behind her, was delicious just the way it was. Miss Apple Pie also didn't leak all over my oven. Not that I'm playing pie favorites....

Honey Wheat Rolls (from King Arthur flour)

I actually didn't change this recipe at all except to make the rolls larger so I could use them as hamburger buns.

These made delicious hamburger buns (they're topped with butter in case you were wondering what that was in the picture). I wanted a softer, potato bread style bun and this was it. I'll definitely be making these again as dinner rolls or hamburger buns.

Lentil Brown Rice Casserole

After reading a few recipes online for various lentil/brown rice dishes, I came up with this one. It was amazing. Jon even loved it and he's not a bean lover like I am. It was healthy, filling, and so inexpensive. It took me 5 minutes to get it ready for the oven. I'm going to be making this a lot more often.

Preheat the oven to 300* (yes, a low oven).

In a 9x13 pan, add the following:

5 cups of chicken stock (I used unsalted homemade stock.. skip the extra salt if you use salted stock)

1 1/2 cups of lentils

1 cup brown rice

1 onion, chopped

3 medium carrots, chopped

1 tsp of salt **see note with the stock.. you may need to reduce the salt**

pepper

Stir all of the ingredients together. Cover with foil. Bake for about 2 hours. You'll know it's done with the broth has been absorbed. Stir in a few tablespoons of butter before serving.

Ginger Snaps (adapted from this recipe)

This recipe makes a lot of cookies. I froze half of the cookies after I baked them.

2 sticks of butter, softened

1/2 cup lard, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup molasses

4 cups flour (I used 3 c. whole wheat pastry & 1 c. All purpose)

4 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

3 tsp. cinnamon

3 tsp. ginger

1 tsp. nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375*.

Cream butter, lard, sugar, and molasses until fluffy. Add eggs one at at time and the vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture a little at a time until full combined. Put the batter in the fridge to firm up for a few hours.

Roll the dough into balls about an inch around. Be sure to put the cookie balls about 1 1/2 " away from each other since they spread into discs. Bake for about 11 minutes. Cool on a rack.

The cookies on the left were baked for about 12 minutes and are crispy all the way through. The lighter cookies on the right were only baked for about 9 minutes. They were crispy on the edges but chewy in the center. Either way is perfectly delicious.

These have been a hit around here. They're spicy, a bit sweet, and wonderfully crisp.

Well, I'm hungry now... how about you?