Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce, originally uploaded by Sweet Sugarplums.

Spaghetti sauce is one of those dishes that is closely connected to memories of mom and family. I didn't inherit a spaghetti sauce recipe from Mom. I remember it being bland and rather watery. But, it was familiar and tasted good at the time.

I tried a couple of recipes after leaving home, but wasn't cooking too much until I met Bob. My second general cookbook I bought as an adult is the New McCall's Cookbook, published in the 70's. I adapted the lasagne meat sauce as my basic meat sauce after trying 3-4 different recipes. I always come back to it.

Now the girls are on their own and Linz makes this as her "mom's spaghetti sauce". That makes me feel really great.

I usually serve this on angel hair pasta. I've been cooking with Barilla Plus, a multi-grain pasta with 7 grams of fiber in a 100-gram serving. It has a mild, nutty taste that's not overpowering. They only have the basic shapes, but it's an easy way to get fiber into our diet.

SPAGHETTI WITH MEAT SAUCE
Makes 12 cups

2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 pound ground beef, 95% lean
1 pound ground turkey
2 28 oz. cans tomato puree, or Italian tomatoes, crushed and undrained
2 12 ounce cans tomato paste
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon oregano
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Heat large stock pot over medium-high heat. Brown meats, breaking up with a spoon. When almost cooked, add onions, then garlic. Continue cooking until onions are softened. Pour off grease. If desired, remove meat mixture with slotted spoon and drain on paper toweling set over newspapers.

Return meat to pan. Add tomatoes. You can use whole canned tomatoes, just break them up with your hands as you add them to the pot.

Add remaining ingredients. Simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Makes 12 cups.

Per Serving: 270 Calories; 5g Fat (19.4% calories from fat); 15g Protein; 28g Carbohydrate; 6g Dietary Fiber; 40mg Cholesterol; 1024mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 4 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Tuna Noodle Casserole 2, originally uploaded by Sweet Sugarplums.

Growing up in the 50's and 60's, casseroles were a mainstay in my mom's limited cooking repetoire. Even though she was basically a housewife, she had lost her senses of taste and smell due to a fall when she was a girl, so cooking was not one of her strong suits. She wouldn't make this dish very often, but it was hard to not go for thirds when she'd serve the noodles with creamy sauce and crunchy, salty potato chips on top.

My family is usually not really fans of this dish - Bob doesn't like creamy casserole dishes, Linz doesn't like tuna, and Brandon doesn't like hot tuna. I'm surprised that Kyle eats it, because he usually doesn't like fish or shellfish of any sort.

I had some leftover cooked spaghetti in the freezer and thought this would be a great dish to throw together for the boys and me. Bob's started his week-long solo trip to Mexico. I probably won't be doing a lot of elaborate dishes while he's gone, since it just the three of us and the boys are happy with grilled cheese/hot dogs/mac and cheese, etc.

TUNA NOODLE CASSEROLE

6 ounces egg noodles, cooked al dente
1 6 1/2 oz. can tuna in water, canned, drained
1/2 cup light mayonnaise
1 cup celery, minced
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1 10 3/4 ounce can cream of celery soup
1/2 cup nonfat milk
4 ounces cheddar cheese, grated
3/4 cup potato chips, crushed

Combine soup, milk, and cheddar in bowl. Microwave on low for 1 minute or until cheese is melted. Combine with remaining ingredients.

Top with crushed potato chips.

Bake at 350° until bubbly.

Per Serving: 343 Calories; 17g Fat (44.9% calories from fat); 15g Protein; 33g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 50mg Cholesterol; 546mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 Grain(Starch); 1 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 3 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.