Homemade Tomato Sauce

Homemade Tomato Sauce

1 Can (28 oz) Crushed Tomatoes

1 Small Can Tomato Sauce

1 T. Olive Oil

2 T. Italian Herbs

2 Garlic Cloves, minced

1 T. Sugar

1/2 Cup Red Wine (optional)

Salt & Pepper to taste

Saute garlic in olive oil over medium heat until it's golden. If using red wine, add to the pot and reduce by half. Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, Italian herbs, and salt & pepper. Simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add sugar, and simmer 15 more minutes.
Makes about 2 1/2 cups.

Super Easy Itallian Meatballs

Super Easy Italian Meatballs

ground beef, 1.5 lbs
egg, 1, slightly beaten
grated parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup
italian breadcrumbs, 1/3 cup
minced garlic, 2 cloves
milk, 1/3 cup
italian seasoning, 4 tablespoons


Combine all ingredients together in large mixing bowl. Shape into meatballs and place in a pan WITH SIDES. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until no longer pink on the inside.
Delicious! Enjoy!

Delicious Homemade Fajitas

2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts OR 1 lb beef fajita meat
olive oil, 1 tablespoon
lemon or lime juice, 2 tablespoons
chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon
cumin, 1/2 teaspoon
cayenne pepper, 1/4 teaspoon (more or less according to your tastes)
garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon
onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon
black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon
table salt, 1/2 teaspoon
onion, 1
bell pepper, 2 (green or red, whatever you like)
tortillas
shredded cheese
diced tomatoes
guacamole

Trim fat from chicken (or steak), and cut into thin strips. Squeeze lemon (or lime) juice over meat and make sure the meat is covered. Mix the chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper and salt in a small bowl. Pour 1/3 of the seasoning into a Ziploc bag, put half of the meat on top, pour another 1/3 of the seasoning over the meat, add the rest of the meat, and the rest of the seasoning. (I find this way it is easier to make sure all the meat gets saturated in seasonings.) Make sure the bag is zipped up good, then shake and mix everything until all the meat is saturated in the seasoning. Put the bag in the fridge and let marinate for an hour or so.

Slice the onion and peppers into thin strips and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat, add onions and peppers and cook until onions are translucent and limp. Remove veggies from skillet and set aside. Add marinated meat to the skillet and cook over medium high heat until cooked through. Add the veggies back to the skillet and mix with meat mixture. Serve over warm tortillas with your choice of toppings and enjoy!

Baked Penne

This is my version of a baked ziti recipe I recently tried. The original recipe was a bit too bland for my tastes so I made some changes and the results were amazing! Have a go at it...

Ingredients:

• penne, 1 lb.
• lean ground beef, 1 lb.
• onion, finely chopped, 1 cup
• spaghetti sauce (your favorite or homemade), 6 cups (48 oz)
• provolone cheese, 6-8 slices
• sour cream, 1 cup
• mozzarella cheese, shredded, 2 cups
• parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup
• garlic cloves, minced, 3
• crushed red pepper, 1 T (more or less to your tastes)

Directions:

1. Cook penne according to pasta directions, and drain. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large skillet, saute onion and garlic until slightly golden, add meat to skillet and brown over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce and crushed red pepper, stir and simmer for about 15 minutes. (If you're using jar spaghetti sauce, I recommend adding some sugar to your meat mixture in the last few minutes of simmering.)
3. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer as follows; 1/2 of the penne, half of the meat/sauce mixture, provolone cheese, sour cream, remaining penne, remaining meat/sauce mixture, parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese.
4. Cover the dish and bake for 25 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.
5. Serve with a salad and some garlic bread! Enjoy!

Mexi Macaroni Casserole

Okay, so that picture I posted yesterday made your mouth water, didn't it? Yep, I know it did. HERE is the original recipe it came from. Buuuttt I tweaked it to my tastes. Here's a list of changes I made:

For starters, lets discuss the ingredients; I used 3 minced garlic cloves (because measuring fresh garlic into tablespoons is too much work). I did not use a whole onion, just half because some people in my household (cough, cough, Joe and the kids) do not even like onion, but I did not want to leave it out completely because it gives the dish more flavor. I completely omitted the red pepper flakes (too spicy for kids), the bacon pieces (just did not appeal to me), the green pepper (did not have one on hand), and the brown sugar. Since I left out the red pepper flakes, I did add a little bit of cayenne pepper to give it a little zing. I also only used one package of taco seasoning (the store bought kind) because after reading the reviews it sounded like using two would overpower the dish; especially with me leaving so many ingredients out.

About the tomato sauce and soup... I'm not a huge fan of tomato soup, so instead of using the one can of sauce and two cans of soup it called for, I used one small (8 ounce) can of sauce, one can of soup, and one can of rotel. After mixing these into the pot, I filled the small sauce can with water and added that as well to loosen up the dish.

And last but not least; after cooking the macaroni, I decided it was too much and ended up using only about 3/4 of what was made.

After making all of these changes, I pretty much just made a whole new recipe. But it turned out delicious. I had my grandmother come over and take some for dinner, she loved it. Then when Joe got home from work he had 3 plate fulls! And all that was left after us eating it was a little bowl for Joe to take for lunch the next day. I will say that it was not a big hit with my children. They are the pickiest children alive. My daughter pretty much just ate the cheese off the top and whatever little meat pieces happened to end up in her mouth by accident. My son ate some of the noodles but not much. However I will be adding this recipe to my cookbook and using it again. Hope you enjoy!