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Comment by Pamela Drake on January 30, 2013 at 4:22am

Good simple sauce recipe, Shara!  BTW, you can make a mock meat sauce that'll fool your average 'sloppy Joe' by including Morning Star Grillers Crumbles fake meat.  Just saute 1 package of crumbles with the olive oil and garlic for 3-4 minutes, stirring and breaking up to defrost; then add the other ingredients, stir all together well and simmer.  Tastes deceptively meaty -- and your hubby ate vegan and didn't know it!  (Morning Star products are sold in the freezer section of many markets, near the frozen veggies or the ice cream.  They're at ShopRite and Key Food near me.)

Comment by wiffledust on January 26, 2013 at 10:45pm

welcome to creative cooking, cindi! cindi is a new member, folks!

Comment by wiffledust on January 26, 2013 at 1:13pm

oh yum, shara! who doesn't love a good bowl of spaghetti and meatballs. i couldn't agree more about the REAL cheese. it's crucial. however i never made sauce quite like you do, and i think i'm going to try this and see how it is. i can smell it from here, and it's making me hungry!! :-) 

Comment by Shara Faskowitz on January 26, 2013 at 1:08pm

Tonight I'm making spaghetti and meatballs, a favorite here as everywhere I guess! I use whole wheat pasta always, actually prefer it as it is more naturally al dente. Here's my sauce recipe:

I warm 3 T olive oil in a 12-inch pan, crush 3 garlic cloves with the back of my knife and throw them in the oil to warm gently. Then I add a 28-oz can of crushed tomato, an 8 oz can of sauce and a 4 oz can of paste, plus 8 oz of water. Add a half teaspoon of salt and a quarter of ground pepper. Let it cook very slowly on medium low heat till it all comes together well (5-10 minutes). If I have a leftover bit of sauce in the freezer I throw that in, too. Then I add a heel (from my stash of saved cheese heels) of parmesan reggiano cheese. It has to be real parm reggiano or it doesn't taste right to me, but you could use romano or whatever you like. I also grate about a quarter cup of the parm into the sauce. Finally I add a splash of red wine. Chianti is great but cabernet is what I usually have. Any full bodied red wine is good. Then simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.

I add some of that sauce to my meatball mix but also get enough to portion out in freezer containers for pasta or pizza. It's so fast and easy to make and comes out really good. 

Comment by wiffledust on January 14, 2013 at 2:37am

as i find them, i'm going to post foods that DO NOT have high fructose corn syrup in them. it's important. the more we know and all that. here are breads that do NOT contain high fructose corn syrup:

• Amana Multi Grain Bread
• Aunt Millie’s Old Fashioned Butter-Top Wheat
• Brownberry’s Arnold Natural Health Nut Bread
• Country Hearth 12-Grain Bread
• Dave’s Killer Breads
• Earth Grains 100% Natural 7-Grain Bread
• Ezekiel breads/English muffins
• Franz “McKenzie Farms” Old Fashioned Buttermilk Bread
• Franz Whole Grain White
• Milton’s Bread (most, if not all)
• Natures Own 100% Whole Wheat bread (note, other varieties do contain HFCS, but not this one)
• Nature’s Pride
• Open Nature Bread (also contains no trans fat)
• Oroweat Mult-Grain Bread (but watch out for HFCS in their other varietes)
• Martin’s Breads & Rolls (including hot dog buns/rolls and such)
• Pepperidge Farms 100% Natural Breads
• Pepperidge Farms Whole Grain Wheat Bread
• Rudi’s Organic Bakery Buns
• Sara Lee Soft and Smooth 100% Whole Wheat
• Tandoori Roti/Naan breads
• Vermont Bread Company breads
• Wheat Montana breads/rolls

Comment by wiffledust on January 14, 2013 at 2:08am

looks delicious, pam! thanks for sharing this!

Comment by Pamela Drake on January 13, 2013 at 11:33pm

To make my lasagna, I first make a marinara, at least 6 cups, the day before by sauteing onion and garlic until clear over medium heat in olive oil, then adding Italian Seasoning and 1 26-ounce can each crushed tomatoes and tomato puree and 1 jar of marinara sauce (I recommend Francesco Rinaldi, not Ragu or Prego), plus 1/4 tsp each fresh ground pepper and red pepper.  Cook it all covered over low heat for about 45 minutes.  This makes enough for pasta for 2 the day before and a 13 x 9 inch pan of lasagna the next day.  When ready, assemble 18 lasagna sheets, the sauce, a pan of cooked meat or meat substitute (i.e. soy crumbles or soy sausage), 2 eggs and the cheeses: 1 tub each Bel Gioioso  Romano Shred and 4 Cheese Shred (the secret ingredient), 2 12 ounce bags of mozzarella and a medium container of ricotta (32 ounces).  Reserve 1 cup of mozzarella and 1/2 cup of ricotta for the top of the casserole; then, in a large bowl, beat eggs and fold in the rest of the cheeses gradually.  Then spray the 13 x 9 pan while preheating the oven to 375.  Spread 1 cup of tomato sauce on the bottom of the pan, then place 6 lasagna sheets overlapping themselves to cover the sauce, then 1/2 the meat, 1/2 the cheese mixture and 1/3 the sauce. Place another layer of 6 lasagna sheets, then the other 1/2 the meat, 1/2 the cheese mixture and 1/3 the sauce. Place your last layer of lasagna sheets on this and cover with the last 1/3 of the sauce and the reserved mozzarella and ricotta, then sprinkle with pure garlic powder and Italian seasoning.   Bake at 375 degrees under foil for 55 minutes, then remove foil and brown the cheese for the last 5 minutes of cooking.  Let it cool for 20 minutes, slice, get out the Italian bread and salad and serve. (What do you mean, you didn't buy Italian bread? This is LASAGNA we're talking here! This is not a dress rehearsal!)

Comment by Pamela Drake on January 13, 2013 at 11:17pm

I made my lasagna.  Boy did I - the pan was full to the brim!  Very cheesy, tomatoey, and lusciously textured.  What I love about lasagna is how all the ingredients cook together into a whole greater than the sum of its parts.  It's mouthwatering.

Comment by E. Martisdottir on January 10, 2013 at 12:17am

Not fired - fried!

Comment by E. Martisdottir on January 10, 2013 at 12:17am

I fired an onion and four cloves of minced garlic in olive oil. I made my chili with ground turkey, which I added to the onion/garlic and browned. Then I added a can of diced tomatoes (I used the tomatoes with jalapeno peppers in it, but you can use plain, or any other you like. Tonight, my daughter wanted to try something a bit different, so she asked if I would add a bit of rice - this is really unorthodox, but it cam out well.

  I needed more liquid for the rice,  so I added a can of tomato sauce (plain) and a generous fistful of rice. Two cans of beans went in next; this time I found a 3-bean mixture, pinto, kidney and black beans, but you can use any of the above in any combination.

Then- SPICE!  I added more garlic, granulated, because I can't get enough garlic, oregano, cumin, chili powder (at least 4 tbsp - the others to taste) paprika and a little cayenne, although you don't have to. All these spices can be added or not, except for the chili powder - that's a must, of course.   This all simmers on low for at least half an hour. I made my daughter gluten-free biscuits, because she was craving, and I did an other unorthodox thing: I cubed up some cheddar/jack cheese.  Mighty good eating for a chilly night (pun intended!). Enjoy!

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