Meaty Spaghetti Sauce

I got his recipe from Taste of Home magazine. I tried it on spaghetti first, but didn't care for it. Now I just use it for lasagna meat or as a manicotti filling. It makes a huge batch. I can only fit a half batch in my crockpot, but I will write the regular recipe out below. You can always just half it, if you need to. A half batch makes plenty. I have enough to make 4 dishes with just the half batch. I use what I need and then freeze the rest.

Step 1: Cook the beef, Italian sausage, onions and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink, drain.

Step 2: In crockpot stir together tomatoes, tomato paste, water, sugar, worcestershire, and seasonings.

step 3: Add the meat.

Step 4: Cover and cook on low for 8 hours until bubbly. Remember to discard your bay leaves.

Step 5: Freeze your leftovers. Stamp of Approval Spaghetti Sauce ( Taste of Home Feb/Mar 2009 issue)

2 lb ground beef

1/4 c. minced parsley

3/4 lb bulk italian sausage

2 t. dried basil

4 medium onions, finely chopped

1 t. dried oregano

8 garlic cloves, minced

4 bay leaves

4 cans (14.5 oz ea) diced tomatoes

1 t. rubbed sage

4 cans (6oz ea) tomato paste

1/2 t. salt

1/2 c. water

1/2 t. dried marjoram

1/4 c. sugar

1/2 t. pepper

1/4 c. worcestershire sauce

Bacon Cheese Dogs

Step 1: Slice your hot dogs about 1/2 way thru and pull them open a little.

Step 2: Cut a block of cheddar into strips and push the strips into your hot dogs. Place your hot dogs on a foil lined baking sheet and bake at 350 until the hot dog is heated thru and your cheese is melting.

Step 3: Add a strip of pre-cooked bacon to the top during the last few minutes of cooking. I use the pre-cooked stuff that you just pop in the microwave, only you don't need to microwave it for this.

Brined & Roasted Chicken Breast

This is something new I just tried about a month ago. Every few weeks Meijer has been running their split(bone in, skin on) Chicken Breasts on sale for 99 cents a pound. So I bought some and tried a couple different things with it. With grocery prices rising and kids eating more and then the talk of an economic collapse in the future, I figure we can start learning now to survive on less. Yes, depressing I know, but it's better to be prepared, just in case :)

Making your brine. The brine makes the chicken super moist. I never thought I could make chicken as moist & tender as this turns out. You need to do this ahead of time. I put my chicken in the brine overnite, but it needs at least 12 hours to soak.

Step 1: Boil 4 cups of water.

Step 2: Stir in 1/4 cup of kosher salt. (I just used the sea salt I had for my grinder) Once the salt is dissolved, add about 12 peppercorns and 2 cloves of smashed garlic. Now remove it from the heat and let it cool.

Step 3: Once your brine is cooled Pour it over your chicken in a large bag. Put your bag in a bowl or dish first, cause it could leak. Mine has leaked everytime I have made it, it's alot of weight in that bag. Now just stick it in the fridge.

Step 4: The next day take your chicken out of the bag. Discard your brine. I put my chicken breast on a rack on top of a cookie sheet. Then I rubbed some olive oil over the top and sprinkled some chicken something(montreal????) spice on it that I had. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 mins to an hour. Use a thermometer to check temps. It should be 170 in the center.
And of course I forgot to take a picture of the finished product! But it is really good. We like to dip it in a little bbq.

Another idea for the cheap split chicken breasts that I tried, was to cook them on low in your crockpot and then shread the meat. Use it for whatever you like. I did chicken quesadillas with mine. And also some buffalo chicken wraps. There's lots of things you could do with it, and for 1/2 the price of boneless skinless chicken breasts. You can cut the meat off the bone yourself and then you will have the same thing, but I'm too lazy for now :)

Chicken & Stuffing

Well my pregnant brain forgot to take pictures as I was making this, but it's a pretty simple recipe.


Step 1: Prepare stuffing according to package directions. Step 2: Put stuffing in bottom of a glass dish. Place chicken breasts/tenders (whichever you prefer) on top of the stuffing. Sprinkle chicken with garlic salt and paprika.

Step 3: Pour a can of gravy over the top of the chicken.

Step 4: Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour.

See, I even forgot to take a finished picture until after we had already started eating!