Recipe Share: Mama D's Pasta Sauce

My dear friend Kiersten asked me to post this recipe a few weeks ago and I'm just now getting around to it.  Can we say "bad friend"?

I am clearly no food photographer.

I'm calling this recipe "Mama D's Pasta Sauce".  There's probably not a whole lot of difference between this and any other sauce recipe, but maybe you'll like it.  It's really more of a ragu than a pasta sauce, I think.  I never measure, so most ingredients are to taste.

Ingredients:

28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

1 small can of tomato sauce

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 onion diced (you can use a whole one if you want)

8 oz sliced mushrooms, diced (or you can use whole mushrooms and cut them up)

1 lb ground beef

minced garlic (to taste, I use like, a tablespoon or so)

salt

pepper

Italian seasoning (however much you like... probably like a couple of teaspoons)

and...

a tiny bottle of wine - a whole one (or you could do less if you want)

1. Brown the meat, mushrooms and onions together; add the garlic.  Season with salt and pepper.

2. Pour in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce and paste.

3. Add Italian seasoning and wine.  Let it simmer a bit.  You could probably put it in a slow cooker for a slow low simmer so you can pretend like you actually slaved over a hot stove literally all day.

4.  Toss with the pasta of your choice.

It freezes up and reheats nicely.

Everyone's got their own family recipe or neat thing they do that's different.  I'd love to hear your recipes or any suggestions to this one.

Recipe Share: Doritos Taco Salad

This again is another easy recipe.  Orientation season is full of 'em.  I cooked up a pound of ground turkey with a homemade taco seasoning (this recipe) and layered it with pinto beans, cheese, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, guac, sour cream, cilantro, green onions and our special guest star - Doritos.

Call me crazy (which I'm sure you all already have) but I love some Taco Bell.  And that Doritos Loco Taco?  Fahgettabout it - mm mm good.  I can't get enough of that ground beef with the texture of cat food - oh, and then chase it with a Mountain Dew Baja Blast.  Now that's fine dining.

Recipe Share: Santa Fe Chicken Soup

Last week, I found a recipe by skinnytaste.com for Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken on Pinterest (which you'll find is where most of my recipes come from).   I was looking for an easy supper that didn't require a lot of slicing and dicing or waiting for rice to cook, so I transformed this into a soup.  I'm not much of a measurer, but here's something that might sort of resemble a recipe.  If you have an electric can opener, go ahead and break it out - there are many cans to be opened.

Recipe Share: Peanut Banana Oatmeal Squares

I found this recipe from Gingerbread Bagels on Pinterest last week.  I'm always looking for recipes for breakfast cookies and I thought this "square" recipe would be another viable option.  I was really drawn to this one for its lack of flour, healthy fats, and is low in refined sugar.  The recipe calls for quick-cook oats, but I used old fashioned oats instead, as I prefer their texture.  When it comes to tasting baked goods, I lack patience, so I cut into them a bit early before it had fully set and it caused jagged edges and a bit of crumbling, but they stay together pretty well otherwise.  I eat boiled egg whites for breakfast like they're going out of style, so these will be the perfect nutritional complement.