Uncle Mike's Spaghetti Sauce

2 Medium Onions, diced
8 oz mushrooms chopped
8 cloves garlic, minced
2 lbs hamburger
2 tsp oil
2 8 oz cans tomato sauce
1 can tomato puree
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
8 cups water
2 cans stewed tomatoes
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp italian seasoning
1/4 tsp dried basil
1 tsp parsley flakes
2 TBS butter

in saucepot brown hamburger until well done. In a separate frying pan place oil, onions, mushrooms, and garlic. Saute for 4 minutes. Combine and cook for 5 minutes.

Combine with tomato sauce, puree, and pater. Add all of the seasonings and butter. Bring to a boil .

Reduce heat to low and cook for 3-4 hours.

Creamy Tomato Gnocchi

This recipe is from Meatless Monday. I was a little skeptical about a vegan "Cream" sauce, but was pleasantly surprised. My kids and Dave all seemed to enjoy it too, and really, there is nothing terribly unusual about it. Ground nuts give it the creamy texture.

My notes:

--I didn't have raw cashews. After much deliberating amongst me, myself, and I whether I should try roasted cashews or another raw nut I went with raw almonds. I thought it turned out to be a good choice.

--Next time I will grind the nuts up a bit before I add the other ingredients. Almonds bouncing around in tomato sauce made a big mess.

--I have never heard of chunky tomato sauce so I used crushed tomatoes.

--2 tsp. of red pepper flakes seemed like a lot for my kids based on previous red pepper experiences so I reduced it to 1/2 tsp. Next time I'll use at least 1 1/2 tsp.

Serves 4

For the sauce:

• 3/4 cup low sodium chunky tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/4 cup cashews, raw
• 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
• splash of white wine

To complete the dish:

• 1 pack gnocchi, cooked according to package instructions
• 1 cup whole cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 cup zucchini, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• basil, chopped for garnish

To make the sauce:

Combine tomato sauce, water, tomato paste, cashews, red pepper and white wine in a food professor and blend until smooth and creamy. You may need to add more water to get to the desired consistency.

To complete the dish:

Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the tomatoes, zucchini and sauté for 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for 3-5 minutes more, or until garlic is golden.

Pour the sauce from the food professor into the sauté pan and mix thoroughly. Turn heat down to medium low and simmer for 4-5 minutes.

Add the cooked gnocchi to the pan for 3-5 minutes, or until gnocchi is heated. Remove from heat and garnish with chopped basil leaves.

Pesto Pasta Salad

• 3/4 pound fusilli pasta
• 3/4 pound bow tie pasta
• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups pesto
  
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 1/4 cups good mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 1 1/2 cups frozen peas, defrosted
• 1/3 cup pine nuts
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Cook the fusilli and bow ties separately in a large pot of boiling salted water for 10 to 12 minutes until each pasta is al dente. Drain and toss into a bowl with the olive oil. Cool to room temperature.

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, puree the pesto, spinach, and lemon juice. Add the mayonnaise and puree. Add the pesto mixture to the cooled pasta and then add the Parmesan, peas, pignoli, salt, and pepper. Mix well, season to taste, and serve at room temperature.

Recipe from Ina Garten/ Food Network

Chili Mac

How could my boys not love the fusion of two of their favorite foods--chili and macaroni and cheese? Dave and I felt this was pretty good, though we still rank chili and mac made separately above the combination. Drew and Isaac wanted leftovers for both lunch and dinner the next day. I'd say it was a success.

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, minced
3/4 tablespoon chili powder (next time I'll add more)
1/2 tablespoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 8 oz. cans tomato sauce
2 cups water
8 ounces (2 cups) elbow macaroni
1 (15 oz) can beans (next time I'll two, or maybe 1-1/2)
2 cups frozen corn
1 4.5-oz can chopped green chiles
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
2 cups shredded cheese (I used half cheddar, half Monterrey Jack)

Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add onion, chili powder, coriander, cumin and teaspoon salt. Cook until onions are tender. Stir in garlic and brown sugar and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in tomato sauce, water, macaroni and beans. Cover and cook, stirring often and keeping the heat at a steady simmer, until the macaroni is tender, about 12 minutes, adding a small amount of water if necessary (careful not to make it too soupy).

Stir in 1 cup of the cheese, frozen corn, green chiles and cilantro and sprinkle remaining 1 cup of cheese over the top. Cover and let sit off the heat until the cheese melts, about 2 minutes.

Pasta with Squash and Garlic

I saw this recipe on a cooking show. They didn't so much give the recipe as describe the method, and although I've made this several times, I really can't be much more specific. I just kind of make it as looks and tastes good to me. It is a easy and fast dinner with ingredients I usually have on hand, during zucchini season anyway.

Cook desired pasta, I use spaghetti, according to directions. Make sure the water is well-salted. Drain pasta and reserve 1 cup or so of cooking liquid.

Warm a couple tablespoons of olive oil in large skillet, not too hot or garlic will become bitter. Brown whole cloves of garlic on the oil--I would say at least four. When garlic is brown, place zucchini in a single layer in pan. Let zucchini cook until it is good and brown. The carmelizing really enhances the flavor. Turn zucchini and brown the other side.

When zucchini is good and brown, add cooked pasta to the skillet, stir around to let pasta deglaze the pan. Don't do this for too long though or you pasta will get tough.

Serve with ample amounts of shredded parmesan.

Fettucine Alfredo (My Go-To Recipe)

Recipe adapted from KraftFoods.com
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) cream cheese, cubed

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup butter

1/4 tsp. white pepper(or black if you don't mind seeing it)

1/8 tsp. garlic powder

8 oz. fettuccine, cooked, drained
1/2 lb cooked, peeled and deveined shrimp (optional)

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

In skillet over medium low heat, mix cream cheese, Parmesan, milk, butter, pepper and garlic powder until smooth.

Serve over hot fettuccine and shrimp. Sprinkle with ground nutmeg.

Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce

This recipe is another keeper. All five members of the Heber Sullivan clan gobbled it up. The recipe came from here, but I made some slight modifications. The way I made it serves about 6.


1 T. olive oil
1/2 C. finely diced onion
2 t. minced garlic
1 can diced tomatoes
1 t. salt
1/2 t. sugar

2 C. heavy cream
dash of cayenne pepper
3 T. finely chopped fresh basil leaves

½ C. shredded mozzarella or cheddar cheese
1/4 C. parmesan cheese

1 diced fresh tomato

Heat oil in saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and saute until translucent (about 4 min). Add minced garlic and saute an additional minute or two. Dump in tomatoes, salt, and sugar, bring to a boil, and simmer for 5 minutes. Reduce heat and stir in cream. Lightly simmer (do not let it boil) until mixture is reduced by 1/3. Remove from heat and stir in cheeses.

Pour over 12 oz hot cooked whole wheat pasta, I used rotini. (You really want to use whole wheat if you are serving this as a main dish to make it more filling. This is a great sauce to cover the texture if you aren't used to whole wheat.)

Clam Sauce and Linguine

1 lb package linguine
1/2 cup butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz chopped mushrooms
1 or 2 chopped green onions, white and green parts separate
2 (6.5 oz) cans minced clams (chopped are too big)
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp ground pepper
salt to taste
1/4 cup grated fresh Parmesan

Cook linguine to al dente in salted water.

Melt butter in medium skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic, mushrooms, onion whites until lightly browned. Add minced clams, parsley, salt, and pepper. Continue cooking until hot.

Toss sauce with drained hot pasta. Garnish with Parmesan and onion greens.

Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com here.

Complete the meal ideas:
Asparagus with lemon, and muffins.
Honey-Nut Green Beans, no-knead bread.

Lemon Sour-Cream Pasta with Peas

This recipe from Prudence Pennywise was pretty good. We found it a little dry and a bit too lemon-y, so next time I'd probably increase the sour cream and reduce the lemon. It had a good flavor though and the peas were a nice touch. I served it with a spinach salad and muffins.

Stuffed Shells

I just followed the recipe on the back of the large shell pasta box, except I followed this tip I read on Bread and Honey: substitute half of the ricotta (or cottage cheese) with silken tofu. It's a bit healthier, helps the cheese firm up a bit, and no one had any idea. Ha ha, I'm so sneaky!

Baked Ziti

Baked Ziti

Delicious and creamy, easier than lasagna and just as satisfying. I made my last batch meatless and still loved it. This is also a great recipe for sneaking in whole wheat pasta because it is so saucy. You can also substitute ricotta or cottage cheese for all or part of the sour cream.


Ingredients

* 1 pound dry ziti pasta
* 1 onion, chopped
* 1 pound lean ground beef (usually make it without)
* 2 (26 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce
* 6 ounces provolone cheese, sliced
* 1 1/2 cups sour cream
* 6 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
* 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes; drain.
2. In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce, and simmer 15 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer as follows: 1/2 of the ziti, Provolone cheese, sour cream, 1/2 sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce mixture. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheeses are melted.

Cheese Ravioli with Tomato and Artichoke Sauce

1 (9 oz.) pkg. cheese ravioli
1 (15 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp. olive oil
½ c. chopped green onion
1 (6.5 oz.) jar marinated artichokes
3 cloves crushed garlic
½ c. seeded Kalamata olives, sliced in half
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

Cook ravioli. While pasta is cooking, prepare sauce. In a large nonstick skillet, heat olive oil over a med. heat. Add tomatoes, artichokes, green onions, olives, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are warmed through. Add drained ravioli to skillet and combined with sauce. You don’t need to cook it any longer, just make sure all is warm and combined. Garnish with parmesan cheese.

I suppose you'd need to serve this with whole wheat rolls or something to make it a complete protein meal.