Eggplant Parmesan

After eating eggplant croquettes and liking them, my husband asked if I could try making eggplant parmesan. I found a recipe for it from Cook's Illustrated which ended up being a bit involved but the results were fantastic. If you are looking for a recipe where you just dump some stuff in a dish this one is not for you but you really just seem to get better results the more time you but into something. 

As the Annoying Orange would say "hey eggplant... knife!"

Sweating it out...

Delicious!

My husband and I loved it (the kids were visiting my mom). The eggplant was cooked to perfection and the homemade sauce was very good (though there was a bitter aftertaste which I suspect is from me using dried basil instead of fresh). I will be making this again and I know when the kids try it they will gobble it right up like we did,

Homemade Bean and Rice Burritos

I have been obsessed with burritos lately. First I was buying the cheap fifty cent ones at Stop and Shop but then realized there must be a reason why they only cost fifty cents so I started buying $1.79 ones at Whole Foods. They are delicious but a little expensive so I decided to make my own.

I made my burritos with brown rice, homemade refried beans, flour tortillas and lots of chili powder, onions and cumin. I based my recipe very loosely on this one, as in I completely abandoned the recipe and just started pouring spices into the pan (I love spicy food- love, love, love).

How did they turn out? I think they are very good. I overcooked the refried beans a bit so next time I will make sure they aren't as dry. On the opposite end of the spectrum I undercooked the brown rice so it was a tad crunchy so next time I will not be oblivious to the fact that I need to taste it to make sure it's cooked right before using it in a recipe. I think I may buy whole wheat tortillas next time to pump up the health factor and maybe I'll get crazy and add some corn.

I made six decent sized burritos which if bought from Whole Foods would have cost $10.74. From my estimations (don't hold me to this because I am not one for figuring out food costs) I spent about $4 on ingredients for a monetary saving of almost $7. The time it took to make this was not bad at all and I know next time it will take even less time as I sort of know what I'm doing now. It's also nice knowing exactly what is in the food I'm eating so that counts for something in the algorithm of making versus buying.

Classic Pot Roast- Great Time Saving Meal

I hate feeling rushed at dinner time so I love when I find recipes that I can make earlier in the day. The other day I decided to try a recipe that I found on the America's Test Kitchen website for Classic Pot Roast.

Ingredients:

- 3 1/2 to 4 pound boneless beef chuck-eye roast pulled into two pieces at the natural seam and trimmed of  large knobs of fat (I did not do this because the roast I bought was not the right shape- I'll do better next time, I promise)

- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

- kosher salt

- 2 medium onions, halved and sliced thin

- 1 large carrot, chopped into medium pieces

- 1 celery rib, chopped into medium pieces

- 2 medium garlic cloves, minced

- 1 cup beef broth, plus 1 to 2 cups for the sauce (I used vegetable stock as it was what I had on hand)

- 1/2 cup dry red wine, plus 1/4 cup for the sauce (I omitted this and added more broth as I am pregnant and do not feel like buying wine that I can't drink)

- 1 tablespoon tomato paste

- 1 bay leaf

- 1 sprig plus 1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves (I used dried as it was what I had on hand)

- ground black pepper

- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

***note*** I did not make the sauce as my family is not into sauces. This means that I only used one cup of beef broth plus 1/2 cup to replace the omitted wine and did not use any balsamic vinegar.

Sprinkle the meat with one tablespoon of Kosher salt and let stand at room temperature for about an hour (meat that is brought to room temperature cooks more evenly).

Adjust the oven rack to the lower middle position and preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Heat the butter in a dutch oven over medium heat. Once the butter stops foaming add the onions and cook until they are softened and starting to brown (about ten minutes).

Add the carrots and celery and cook for five more minutes (don't forget to stir!).

Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds, until fragrant (I love the smell of fresh garlic).

Mix in the broth, 1/2 cup of wine (I omitted this and added an additional 1/2 cup of broth), tomato paste, bay leaf and thyme sprig. Bring to a simmer.

Pat the roast dry with paper towels and season with lots of ground pepper. Using three pieces of kitchen twine tie each piece of meat into a loaf shape so that they cook evenly (remind me to buy a better chuck roast next time). Plop the meat on top of the vegetables. Cover the dutch oven with aluminum foil and then put the lid on.

Put the pan into the preheated oven. Cook until a sharp knife easily slips in and out of the meat, about 3 1/2 to four hours, making sure that you flip the meat over about halfway through cooking. Resist the urge to open the dutch oven except for the one time to flip the roast- you'll let out all of the heat which will affect the cooking time.

Once done, transfer the roast to a cutting board and tent with aluminum foil to let rest. Remove the twine and slice. Yum!

I didn't make the sauce, but that doesn't mean that you can't! to make the sauce, strain the liquid from the dutch oven into a four cup measuring cup allowing it to settle for about five minutes. Throw away the bay leaf on thyme sprig and put the strained vegetables into the blender. Skim fat off of the liquid in the measuring cup and then add as much beef broth as necessary to bring the liquid amount to three cups. Pour the liquid into the blender with the vegetables and blend until smooth. Pour the sauce into a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Then add the chopped thyme, 1/4 cup of wine and balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper and pour sauce over the meat, saving half to be passed around the table.

The verdict on this dish was that it was really good! The meat came out so tender which is amazing considering what a cheap cut it was. Next time I make this (and there will be a next time) I will do a much better job at picking out the meat. I really had no idea what I was looking for before but now I do. 

Another wonderful thing about this meal is that I was able to prepare it much earlier in the day so when dinner time came around the only thing I had to make was some mashed potatoes (I could have even made those earlier in the day and reheated them but I was tired and lazy). This will be a great cold weather recipe because here in Massachusetts it won't be long before we start seeing the dreaded snow!

Peppers 'n' Potatoes Beef Skillet Supper

Last night for dinner we tried a new recipe- Peppers 'n' Potatoes Beef Skillet Supper from Rachel Ray magazine.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 chopped onion

1 lb ground beef

salt and pepper

4 sliced chopped bacon (use kitchen shears to cut it)

1 lb baby red skinned potatoes, quartered

2 bell peppers cut into strips

1 1/2 cups frozen peas

15 oz. can tomato sauce

12 oz. bag egg noodles

I adjusted the ingredients a bit when I made it- I only used 10 oz. of ground beef and adjusted the other ingredients down a bit to account for this. I also used different potatoes because I didn't want to buy the more expensive baby red potatoes.

In a large, deep skillet heat up the extra virgin olive oil over medium high heat. Then add the onion, cooking until softened. 

Add the beef (turn the heat down- I didn't and my pan got a little burned) and cook until browned. Season meat with salt and pepper and dump into a bowl.

Add the chopped bacon to the skillet and cook over medium heat until crisp. Drain bacon bits on a paper towel lined plate. Try not to eat all of the bacon while you are preparing the rest of the ingredients (I did eat all of it and boy was it good!).

Add the potatoes to the skillet and coat with the bacon fat. Cover the skillet and cook until just barely tender (about 8 minutes).

Add the peppers and cook until they are softened.

Then add the beef, frozen peas, tomato sauce and one cup of water. Season with salt and pepper and simmer until the potatoes are cooked through (about 10 minutes).

Cook the egg noodles according to the package directions.

Take skillet off of heat and add the cooked egg noodles. Top with the bacon if you have any left.

So, for the important part- did we like it?

Well, my kids would never touch anything like this in a million years- they don't like when stuff is all mixed together (I gave them egg noodles with parmesan cheese). As for my husband and I- we liked it. It tasted good but I don't think I will be making it again anytime soon just for the mere fact that it did take a bit of time to prepare and right now and for the foreseeable future I don't have tons of time to put into cooking something that is not really, really good. I will keep the recipe though and may revisit it in the future when I have more time to commit to making dinner.

Sunday Night Dinner- Roast Lemon Chicken

This week I am in the mood to try new recipes. After looking through my binder of recipes (a mix of recipes torn from magazines, recipes printed from the Internet and Cook's Illustrated magazines) I decided that we would have Roast Lemon Chicken, a recipe I got from Cook's Country.

I chose it for Sunday's dinner because I am trying to use up all of the whole chickens that are in my chest freezer and because it seemed like a simple recipe to cook on a day that I like to be lazy.

Ingredients:

-Whole Chicken (this recipe called for it to be butterflied but I decided to just roast it the normal way)

-3 tablespoons grated lemon zest and 1/3 cup lemon juice from 3 lemons (I only bought one lemon because I didn't read the recipe good enough)

-1 teaspoon sugar

-salt and pepper

-2 cups low-sodium chicken broth (I used homemade stock that was in my freezer)

-1 cup plus 1 tablespoon water

-1 teaspoon cornstarch

-3 tablespoons unsalted butter

-1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Now it's time to cook!

-Put the oven rack to the middle setting and preheat the oven to 475 degrees. 

-Mix the lemon zest, sugar and one teaspoon salt and then rub two tablespoons of the mixture under the skin of the chicken. 

-Season the chicken with salt and pepper and then plop that baby into your roasting pan (try not to use a non-stick pan because it may make the chicken brown too quickly and do not use an aluminum pan as it may react with the lemon juice).

-Whisk together the chicken broth, one cup of the water, lemon juice and the rest of the lemon zest mixture and pour it into the roasting pan with the chicken. 

-Roast chicken until an instant read thermometer inserted into the thigh reads about 170 degrees (cooking time depends on if the bird was butterflied and the actual weight). 

-Move the chicken to a plate and let rest for twenty minutes (letting it rest will allow the juices to redistribute themselves throughout the meat which means you bird will be very tender).

While the chicken is resting it is time to make the sauce.

-Pour all liquid from the roasting pan into a saucepan (about 1 1/2 cups) and try to skim off as much fat as possible with a spoon. 

-Cook liquid over medium high heat until it has boiled down to about one cup of liquid.

-While the liquid is cooking down, whisk the one teaspoon of cornstarch into one tablespoon of water and then add it to the saucepan making sure to mix it in well.

-Simmer the sauce until it has thickened a bit and add in the butter and parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

The chicken came out really good but I am pretty sure it would have had more of a lemon taste if I had actually read the recipe and bought three lemons instead of just one. The sauce was very good too though my husband wouldn't touch it because he is just not into gravy.

Homemade Focaccia Bread- This Recipe is a Keeper!

Meet my yummy homemade focaccia bread- so good in fact that my picky husband loves it.

I guess I shouldn't say it's my bread because I go the recipe from America's Test Kitchen (a cooking show made by the creator's of Cook's Illustrated magazine which is my all time favorite and the only magazine I pay an arm and a leg to subscribe to).

The recipe is here, you do need to sign up for their site but it is completely free to do so and allows you free access to this seasons's and last season's recipes (there a a ton that I printed out and want to try).

I know when you read through the recipe it may seem like a lot of steps, but it really isn't so bad and this bread is pretty much fool proof- take it from me because I am horrible at getting bread to rise properly.

Now, I know the recipe is for rosemary focaccia but I made mine plain because honestly, I didn't want to buy fresh rosemary at the grocery store. It tastes great without it but I'm sure it tastes great with it too. A word of advice though- the past two times I have made this my dough was very sticky so make sure when you get to the part where it says to lightly flour your counter that you really, really flour your counter well (and your hands). Also, the olive oil is a large component in the final taste of your bread so make sure you use a good quality olive oil (I used Zoe Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil- I got it from Amazon awhile ago and have been very pleased with it so far).

This recipe is for two loaves of focaccia and in my house here is how we consume it- one is eaten at dinner and one is eaten the next day entirely by me (hey, I'm pregnant- I'm allowed to indulge sometimes). Yum!

Disclaimer: This post includes my affiliate link to Amazon.

Potato Wedges- OMFG Are They Good!

Last night for dinner the menu plan called for cheeseburgers and cheesy potatoes. I looked in my pantry and the box of cheesy potatoes (my husband loves these and buys a box whenever I send him to the store for something) that my pregnant brain thought was there was not- I am seriously going crazy.

What to do... well I went to my all time favorite site All Recipes and did a search for a potato wedge recipe since we had three potatoes left that were about to go bad. I found this recipe and though I was a little scared because the mixture smelled very garlicky the potato wedges were absolutely delicious- my husband loved them, my son loved them and even my oh so picky daughter loved them.

As for the cheeseburgers, well those went in the trash because I totally burnt them to a crisp. Somehow I am just not able to deal with screaming kids, getting dinner together and grilling at the same time. Oh well, at least the potato wedges came out awesome and the kids got to eat peanut butter and jelly on wheat bread sandwiches for dinner.

New Recipe of the Week- Hachis Parmentier

Picture Courtesy of Boston.com

This past weekend my husband saw a recipe in the Boston Globe Magazine and thought it looked really good so last night I tried my hand at making it. It's called Hachis Parmentier and it really wasn't to hard to make and was not as fancy as the name makes it seems.

Basically it is a ground beef mixture with mashed potatoes on top. All of the ingredients are things that I always have on hand- except for the gruyere cheese which I omitted because it was $8 for a small block of it at Stop and Shop (yeah, I'm not going to spend $8 on cheese that I don't know if I'll like it and that I most likely will only use a little of and throw the rest away). I also had to substitute regular canned tomatoes for the tomato paste because the can I bought (got for free after a coupon) at Stop and Shop was expired. I cut the recipe in half because the original serves six and even that was a bit too make for my husband and I (the kids would not touch this meal- they are picky little buggers). My husband thought it was delicious as did I and I will definitely make this again. It really is a nice way to use a cheap ingredient like ground beef and elevate it above the everyday recipes like tacos, meatballs and American chop suey.

Hachis Parmenter

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion (chopped)

1 bay leaf

salt and pepper

2 1/4 lbs lean ground beef

3 cloves garlic (minced)

2 teaspoons fresh thyme (I used dry- fresh herbs are not my forte)

1/4 cup tomato paste

3 tablespoons flour

1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth (used homemade that I had in the freezer)

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (I used frozen chopped parsley)

6 to 8 medium-large russet potatoes (about 3 pounds) peeled and cut int one inch chunks, rinsed in two changed of water

3 tablespoons butter (melted)

2/3 cup milk of half and half

1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan

2 eggs (beaten)

3/4 cup coarsely grated gruyere, about 3 ounces (omitted)

In a large skillet over medium high heat, heat up the oil and add the onion, bay leaf and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion softens, about four minutes. Add the ground beef to the skillet and cook until no longer pink. Add the garlic, thyme and tomato paste for about one minute. Turn the heat down to medium and then add the flour stirring constantly for 1 1/2 minutes. Add the broth and 3/4 teaspoon salt and turn the heat up to high. Bring to a simmer and scrape the bottom of the skillet to loosen anything that stuck. Turn the heat to medium-low until the mixture thickens but is still saucy (about 15 minutes). Take the skillet off of the heat and set aside to cool. Remove the bay leaf and add the parsley. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour the meat mixture into a broiler safe 2-quart casserole dish and spread evenly.

Steam the cut potatoes in a steaming basket set on top of a pan with boiling water for about 20 minutes or until very tender. Use a potato ricer to mash the potatoes (I just used my trusty blender because I don't have a potato ricer). Add the melted butter and once stirred in add the milk or half and half, 1 1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper to taste and the Parmesan cheese. Let cool and then stir in the beaten eggs.

Adjust the oven rack to the upper-middle position and pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees. Spread the potatoes evenly over the meat mixture making sure it touches all of the edges (to make it easier to spread, plop dollops of the potato mixture all over the meat mixture and spread with a flexible spatula). Sprinkle dish with the gruyere cheese. Bake the dish for about 20 minutes or until the filling is heated through and the potatoes are slightly puffed. Turn on the broiler and broil until the potatoes turn golden brown. 

The Most Wonderful Pizza Dough Ever!

Tonight I made pizza using a dough recipe from Cook's Illustrated and it came out really good- more than really good, it came out just wonderful!

I recently bought myself a subscription to Cook's Illustrated and it cost a lot more than I have ever paid for a magazine but it was so worth it. The recipes in this magazine are all winners and I have learned so much through the three issues I have received so far. I am not getting paid to say this, no one at Cook's Illustrated even knows who I am- I just really love this magazine and I urge anyone who likes to cook and who loves to make really good food for their families to at least sign up for a free trial issue (you can write cancel on the bill and won't owe any money).

So, on to the pizza. I used this recipe (just the dough part). I know it seems a bit weird to make your dough three days before you are planning on having pizza and letting it rise in the refrigerator for all of that time but it really is worth it. It actually works out so well doing it this way because you make the dough earlier in the week when you have a little time and then when it is pizza night you pull the dough out of the fridge an hour before you want to make your pizza and you're set.

For a little back story on my pizza making past- my husband and I bought a pizza stone awhile ago and every time we tried making pizza it stuck to the stone and tasted blah. This is why we were so amazed with this recipe- the dough did not stick at all (even with minimal flour between it and the pizza stone) and the crust was crispy and tasted like Papa Gino's pizza crust.

The only thing I want to change the next time is using different cheese. We used Kraft mozzarella and it tasted so bland compared to the awesome crust. Maybe I can try real mozzarella cheese or a blend of different cheeses to get the taste I want. My goal is to make a pizza that far surpasses any take out pizza we can buy.

In conclusion to my rantings of a mad woman, this recipe for pizza dough is a keeper- I swear it is better than any other recipe out there!

Sorry that there is no picture but this pizza was scarfed down pretty quickly.

Beef Stew with Carrots

Tonight for dinner we had Beef Stew with Carrots which is a new recipe for us. It came out really good and I am sure if I followed the recipe and let it simmer for a couple of hours instead of rushing it would have been even better. I do want to say that this is not what I would consider a healthy recipe but sometimes cooking with bacon fat is just so delicious you can't say no.

Along with not cooking it at the correct temperature for the correct length of time I changed a couple of other things. We are not really a carrot loving family so I cut way back on the carrots and added some potatoes. I also substituted water for the brandy because I don't drink brandy and don't keep any on hand. I did add the wine though because I always like to have wine on hand- it feels so nice to relax on the couch at night when everyone else is in bed and drink myself silly.

This recipe is a keeper- especially because my son loved it. My daughter- well that is another story. I am losing Operation No More Picky Kids with her- she is so darn stubborn and refuses to try anything new. I have been having to cut her meal times short because she has started throwing all of her food on the floor while looking at me defiantly- I am so dreading when she is a teenager if this is how she is acting at twenty months old. But guess what my dear little Allison- I am way more stubborn then you'll ever be so I will get you to eat new foods!

New Recipe of the Week- Meatball Stew

Tonight for dinner I made meatball stew. I am not entirely sure where the recipe came from because I found it in a folder that I collect random recipes in.

I used homemade meatballs from the freezer but if you don't have any on hand here is their recipe

1 egg, lightly beaten

3/4 lb lean ground beef

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

3 tbsp plain bread crumbs

1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Stir together the egg, beef onion, bread crumbs, parsley, parmesan, salt and pepper. Form into 1-inch meatballs (about 20) and set aside.

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup ketchup

1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp low-sodium beef broth

1 1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar (didn't use this, none on hand)

16 oz baby carrots (used way less- we aren't carrot lovers)

3 large parsnips cut into 2 inch pieces (used potatoes instead, what the heck is a parsnip?)

1 medium size onion, chopped (I finely chopped because we don;t like big chunks of onion)

1 tbsp cornstarch

Stir together 1/4 cup ketchup, 1/4 cup broth and the vinegar. Place carrots, parsnips and onion into slow cooker and put meatballs on top. Drizzle with ketchup mixture. Cook on high for 3 1/2 hours or low for 5 hours.

Stir together parsley, salt, pepper, 1/4 cup ketchup, one tablespoon broth and cornstarch. Gently stir into slow cooker. Cook until thick, about 5 minutes.

Now, I didn't use a slow cooker- mostly because I didn't realize the recipe called for one until it was too late. I decided to use my dutch oven (every time I say that name I laugh... maybe I'm the only one). I put the stuff in that the recipe called for, including my frozen homemade meatballs, and simmered until the carrots and potatoes were cooked through. Then I added in the cornstarch mixture and let thicken while I waited for my homemade rolls to finish cooking.

Another thing that I did differently was I used the whole can of broth and adjusted the ketchup, cornstarch, salt, pepper and parsley accordingly. What was called for in the original just didn't sound like enough for what I think a stew is though next time I would make a bit less.

My husband liked it as did I (my son ate a meatball and a bite of a carrot and a potato because he doesn't like saucy food and my daughter put a carrot in her mouth and spit it out- I will break them of their pickiness if it kills me). Next time, to make it a bit healthier, I think I might use canned plain tomato puree in place of the ketchup.

Here is my plate- it may not look good but it sure did taste good! Don't mind the crappy looking roll at the top of the plate- I decided to follow the roll recipe I always use exactly as it was written and now I know that I was right in not beating the initial dough mixture on high speed. The rolls tasted good but they were definitely not as fluffy as they usually are.

Is That Chicken? What the Heck Happened...

Say hello to a butterfly cut whole chicken. This is a great way to cook a chicken because it cooks quicker than a regular whole chicken. Yes, I know it looks really weird but it is still just a chicken. For directions on how to make a chicken look like a freak of nature go here (they also tell you how to grill a butterfly cut whole chicken- I can't wait to try it).

I decided to try a new recipe tonight- well, I was going to try it last night but for some reason meat does not defrost all that fast in my refrigerator so the chicken was still hard as a rock. Today, I took out the chicken and defrosted it in cold water.

The original recipe for Jamie Oliver's Tray Baked Chicken is here. I, of course, did not follow the original recipe. I used a whole chicken instead of a whole chicken cut into pieces (I am not at the level that I can butcher a whole chicken- someday) As far as the brine that is called for, I didn't do it the way he said to. I was feeling a bit frazzled and just threw the chicken in some water with a cup of kosher salt for 1 1/2 hours.

Here is my version of Tray Baked Chicken:

One whole chicken, butterfly cut

2 slices bacon, chopped (I put it into the pan raw)

5 peeled red potatoes, sliced thinly

1 onion, sliced thinly

4 cloves garlic, sliced thinly

dried sage (my grocery store didn't have fresh sage)

olive oil

kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

2 cups homemade chicken stock

2/3 cup milk (no heavy cream in the house)

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

four pats of butter

Just like in the original recipe, I placed the potatoes, garlic, onion, bacon, sage (I just shook the dried sage on until it looked like enough- a chef I am not), a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper into the pan. Then I poured the stock over everything, mixed it up a bit and put into a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes of cooking I took the pan out of the oven and poured in the milk and Parmesan cheese and mixed it up. I moved the veggie mixture over to the sides an plopped the chicken in the middle. I put salt and pepper on the chicken and then placed four pats of butter on it. I cooked it until the juices ran clear, or for those of you who have an instant read thermometer that works- until the chicken reaches 180 degrees.

The potatoes came out to die for. They had a light cheesy taste and the smokiness from the bacon put them over the top. As far as the chicken goes- it came out ok. My major issue was the pan I used. I was going to use my usual baking dish but went into a last minute panic when I realized that a butterfly cut chicken would not fit into it. I found a pan that would fit the chicken but it had really high sides; high sides equal longer cooking time and not too much browning of the skin. Next time I will find a pan with lower sides. I will also defrost the chicken the day before and the day of cooking I will make a proper brine and brine it for eight hours. I will also leave myself enough time to bake the chicken at 325 degrees- I find that it comes out way more moist being cooked at that temperature.

So, all in all, it was a good recipe (healthy, um- no). The potatoes were awesome and I see myself serving them a lot in the future as their own dish. Next time I make the chicken I am sure it will come out perfect-o, as long as I do a little bit of planning ahead (not a skill that I am very good at).

New Recipe of the Week

One of my goals for the new year was to have my husband pick out a new recipe each week for me to prepare. I really like this idea because I actually would like to become a better cook and making the same old stuff all of the time won't help me accomplish that.

This week he chose a pretty simple dish from Rachel Ray magazine (P'sghetti and Meatballs)- it is basically a spaghetti and meatball dish. The sauce and meatballs are both made from scratch. Here are the basic ingredients (I'm not going to write everything out because it really wasn't a keeper):

three 28 oz cans peeled Italian tomatoes

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

6 smashed cloves of garlic

salt and pepper

1 small chopped onion

2 eggs plus 2 egg whites

1 pound extra lean ground beef

2 slices whole wheat bread ground into breadcrumbs

grated Parmesan cheese

whole wheat spaghetti

The sauce tasted nothing like what you would buy in a jar- which I thought was really good. My only issue is that the cooking time for the sauce was over an hour (it used whole canned tomatoes) whereas I get the same taste when I make my super quick sauce.

Erica's Super Quick Sauce

one can of diced tomatoes

chopped onion

oregano

salt pepper

whatever other things I feel like adding

throw everything into a pan and simmer while your pasta is cooking. mix pasta and sauce and then liberally add grated Parmesan cheese. yum.

So, I will not be making Rachel Ray's sauce again. The meatballs were really good, but I didn't follow her exact recipe because I was only using 10 oz. of ground beef instead of 16 oz. so I just did what I usually do when I make meatballs- I added what seemed good to add. What I did do that her recipe called for was I cooked the onion in olive oil until it was soft and once it was cooled I added it to the meatball mixture. My husband absolutely loved them! I ended up making eleven and he ate eight of those. I feels good when you make something that someone else loves.

In the end, even though the sauce ended up being a long winded version of what I usually make, I learned a new technique for my meatballs. Also, I actually got my husband to eat whole wheat pasta which is completely amazing.