Spaghetti Bolognese aka Spaghetti and Meat Sauce (with actual pictures!)

Today we take a break from serious stuff with… talking about my money problems. Well, sort of. Mostly, it’s about a very nice weeknight recipe!

I am never in a very good situation financially, but I LOVE good food. Even though I cook almost every night, cooking is still one of my favorite things. So it’s kind of a challenge for me to come up with ways to cook delicious food with as few inexpensive ingredients as possible.

There are many different methods to save money on groceries and food. The way I do it is usually to buy mostly cheap ingredients and jazz them up with a few more expensive ingredients I buy when I have the cash. I’ve also invested some time in finding which ingredients can be bought cheaply and which should be bought more expensively in the first place.

As far as any prices I mention go: The food prices I am quoting are from stores in Central Indiana--Krogers, a local organic grocer, and a Luckys' Market. I wax poetic about Lucky’s Market and how its prices have enabled us to sometimes afford fresh fruits and vegetables and decent meat, but that is a subject for another post!

Spaghetti Bolognese

1 lb ground beef (on sale for $2.99 at Lucky’s Market)

1/2 lb ground mild sausage ($1.50 at Kroger. I would probably have ordinarily just used ground beef but I had leftover sausage, and it was great.)

32 oz tomato sauce ($0.29 for an 8oz can at Kroger)

Approximately 1/4 cup dry red wine

Approximately 1-2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more to toss with pasta

Freshly grated parmesan cheese, to taste

Garlic powder

Dried basil

Dried oregano

Dried parsley

Salt

Pepper

1 box whole wheat spaghetti ($1.19 at Kroger)

Place the ground meat into a large lidded frying pan (a.k.a. all-purpose pan) and cook over medium heat, breaking up any large chunks, until the meat is cooked with no pink spots. Drain.

Yup, pretty much what that looks like.

Pour the tomato sauce into the pan on medium-low heat. 

Cheap tomato sauce. It's all right.

Stir in the meat, olive oil, and wine. Add the seasonings. I still have the problem with recipe writing and seasonings, but I used somewhere around 3/4 tsp garlic powder; 1/2 tsp basil; 1/2 tsp oregano; 1/2 tsp parsley; 1/2 tsp salt; 1/4 tsp pepper. 

Awesome organic red wine for only $8 a bottle at my local organic grocery store.

Stir everything up really well and place the lid on the skillet. Reduce the heat to Low.

While the sauce simmers (still stir occasionally to prevent sticking) bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the spaghetti for the least amount of time mentioned on the package. 

      I use whole wheat spaghetti because not only does it have a better taste and texture to me, but my fiancé has hypoglycemia and whole wheat products seem to be very helpful in causing his blood sugar to raise and lower more slowly. 

Drain the spaghetti and return your attention to the sauce!

The delicious, delicious sauce.

Stir the sauce and taste it, re-seasoning if necessary. (If I am cooking for more than just me or me and my fiancé, I use the two-spoons tasting method my grandmother taught me—pour sauce from a “stirring teaspoon” into a “tasting teaspoon” and only get the “tasting teaspoon” near your mouth!)

Next, grate parmesan cheese into the sauce. 

I only had this little bit (about a one-inch or one-and-a-half inch cube-ish) left, so I only used this little bit! I would usually use a little bit more. 

Stir the parmesan cheese throughly into the sauce. Taste it one more time just in case you need extra seasonings. Leave the heat on low and simmer uncovered for a few minutes while you toss the spaghetti with a tablespoon or two of olive oil. 

I also made salad at this point.

Red leaf lettuce ($2 at Lucky's Market), grated carrot, and homemade ranch dressing.

Simply put spaghetti on a plate, pour the sauce over the spaghetti and eat! Yum. :)

In Which I Get Real, Accompanied By Some Pleasantly Distracting Illustrative Memes: Part One in An Occasional Series

Not as real as this though.

Very recently I have joined a gym. The 24 Hour Fitness in my town was having a summer sale that brought the price of a membership down considerably, so I asked for it for my birthday. I feel so upper-middle-class having a gym key on my keychain, like a woman in a TV sitcom who is always whining about how she doesn’t want to work out.

Although this sort of thing is quite a problem among that set.

Some might assume I have joined a gym because I am getting married in a few months. Not true, actually, although it helps. Really, I’m doing it because I’m at a point where I can. I’ve had some very sucky things happen to me in my life, and I’ve also had a lot of sucky physical problems. Now, I know many other people have also had sucky things happen to them and I am I no way unique, nor am I playing a “my problems are worse than yours” game! In fact, I've had quite a lot of awesome stuff happen to me, too.

Anyways, we all know cats have it worst.

Still, my particular sucky things have insisted on following me around for years. They have cost probably hundreds of thousands of dollars, affected the way I think, the way I respond to everything, what I can and cannot do, and what I have allowed myself to do. When you have certain types of experiences or challenges you become “trapped” in them, and to some degree that’s unavoidable.

This guy gets it.

However, I have (with more than a little help from my fiancé) recently come to realize that you can’t build a life on top of negative things. I find it odd (almost offensive, in fact) that people talk about others ‘conquering’ their challenges, ‘overcoming’ their life experiences, etc. Honestly, some things can’t be “overcome”. It’s always going to be there, every single day, even if (and most especially if) I repress it. It’s not a movie where the main character has a breakthrough, everything is suddenly all right, and the credits roll. All I can do is work around it and the symptoms associated with it. 

Like this one.

But! That stuff is not my life; that stuff should not define me. 

Unless I choose to become a serial killer.

There are two accomplishments which give me great pride and satisfaction: Working to learn a new technique to use in my art and, now, completing a workout, no matter how rudimentary. I’ve always been the awkward tall kid with physical problems and crippling anxiety, chronically picked last in gym class. 

This shirt is my life, right here.

I have had many people—teachers and other supposedly supportive and respectable individuals included—make comments about things such as my weight and athletic ability. And I don’t deny that my skill set does not run towards active things as it does for some people. I can, for example, write a ten-page paper with few problems, yet ask me to play soccer and you might be totally and completely out of luck.

Preach.

Even though I am no longer upset and scarred by what the school nurse said to me during weigh-in in third grade or how much I got teased in middle school or whatever (I've got bigger fish to fry, trauma- and otherwise! Plus, I'm an adult, or so I've heard...) I still often let myself behave in the ways I developed to deal with it back then, and I still let myself fall into the patterns of thinking I was taught. 

This would help a lot too.

And guys, that’s what makes this so freaking cool. I got an asthma inhaler so I could actually breathe while exercising, I signed a gym contract, I beat a lot of anxiety to get in the door through sheer force of will over several days, and for what might be the first time I am doing something neither I nor anyone else ever thought I could do. 

And that is a wonderful feeling!

HOORAY!

Spectacular Chicken Chili

Today I’m bringing you a very delicious recipe for a slow-simmered chicken and black bean chili! I apologize for the lack of pictures. Next time I make it I will try to remember to take and upload some. :)

My weak point in recipe-writing is herb and spice portions. A BIG reason for this is that not all spices are created equal. An entire bargain dollar-jar of chili powder might be equal to two tablespoons of another chili powder, for instance. So, for reference purposes, I would estimate that I put about 3 tablespoons chili powder, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper in my chili. That does vary, though, with the brand and age of the spices I use!

Chicken Chili

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and chopped into chunks

1/2 onion, finely chopped; or, onion powder to taste

Crushed garlic cloves to taste; or, garlic powder to taste

Olive oil

16 oz tomato sauce

16 oz petite diced tomatoes in tomato juice, undrained

1 can black beans, thoroughly rinsed and drained

1/2 of a small package of frozen corn, not thawed

2 cans chicken broth -or- 1 can chicken broth and 1 bottle beer

about 4 soft corn tortillas

Chili powder

Cumin

Salt

Pepper

…………………..

Heat a small amount of olive oil in a small stock pot or large all-purpose pan. If you are using an onion, add the onion to the pan and sauté until it begins to become transparent. Add the chicken to the onion and stir-fry until the outside of the chicken is white. (It doesn’t have to be cooked all the way through.) 

Over medium heat add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes with juice, chicken broth, black beans, and beer if using. Add crushed garlic cloves or garlic powder, onion powder if using instead of an onion, cumin, chili powder (chili powders vary widely but I usually like a good bit of chili powder in my chili), pepper, and a small amount of salt. Bring all to a low boil. 

Boil for a few minutes and reduce heat to medium- low or low and simmer slowly, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked through and soup is thickened. Add more seasoning as needed. Add the package of frozen corn and stir into soup mixture.

Finely crumble the corn tortillas one at a time into the soup and stir. Cook, stirring frequently, until corn is defrosted and warm and mixture is even thicker. Season more if needed and remove from heat.

Serve with limes, sour cream, tortilla chips, and cheese.

I hope you enjoy the recipe! If you make it, be sure to let me know how much of the spices you ended up using! Enjoy!

Musings on Marriage; or, When I Shopped For A Dress.

A lot has changed since I have last posted. There have been many difficulties and hardships, but there have also been good times. What’s the best news I’ve got? Probably that I’m getting married in a few short months! 

Coming soon to a venue (not theater) near you! OK, so that's not my best piece of graphic design work. But it's pretty! :D

In many ways marriage isn’t going to change much for me, or for us. We knew not too long after we got together in 2011 that we were going to stay together, and we have, through many ups and downs. Marriage doesn’t affect the commitment and bond between individuals in the sense that the problems you have will still be there, and the level of intimacy and friendship you have with each other will still be there too. Marriage won’t correct the problems that exist already, and it also won’t destroy your relationship.

On the other hand, I still believe marriage has a lot of importance. The biggest reason for this has to do with society and culture. By marrying someone you are publicly acknowledging the long-term commitment (that already exists) between the two of you and formally creating a family group. And of course there are legal benefits that come with marriage. I’m very excited and looking forward to celebrating all this with my friends and family.

First of all, this is my fiancé Jordon in line at the bank with a sucker after visiting the eye doctor. Just thought I’d throw that in there. :D

Dress shopping was a weird experience. I was actively fat-shamed at a David’s Bridal believe it or not!

The second store I went to was a store in my hometown where I had bought my prom dresses back-when. I had a much better experience in many ways; however, there were very few dresses I could try on because of my size; the store carried mostly sizes 4, 6, 8, and 12, and the few I could try on were not right or even just awful. (Awful to me of course; they may not have been awful to someone else. I just do not like poof-y, tulle-y, ruffly things.) This is a very beautiful poofy dress I tried on but didn’t like at all:

Third time’s the charm, though. I went to a store called Ella Park in a town a little over an hour away from my hometown and they were great. The sales staff was very friendly (no fat shaming either!) and the store, though smaller in size than the other two stores I had visited, had a really great selection of dresses for brides of all styles, sizes, and price ranges, as well as prom dresses, bridesmaids dresses, tuxes, mother-of-the-bride dresses, and accessories!

And so, here is a picture of me finding the perfect dress and realizing I am about to get married—that feeling is not just something they made up for TV! :)

I have a few recipes written up to post; I have some wedding-related craft tutorials to share with you as well! Stay tuned! :)

Boyfriend-approved Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo :)

My blog certainly does have a style problem... usually this is because I'm taking pictures of my actual dinner, cooked very quickly, which I then serve on my actual plates. I definitely should make an effort to take more pictures :)

Boyfriend-approved Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo*

*Not For The Faint of Heart.

(Anything with the world "alfredo" should bear this little addendum. So many dairy products....)

I'm sure this could be made lighter, though I wonder if it would be less awesome.

This recipe is quick and easy and makes about enough for four people.

3/4 of one stick of butter
3 cloves garlic
1 cup cream (I used heavy whipping cream due a factor known as "the store was restocking and had no other kind of cream".)
Salt
Pepper
1 1/2 to 2 cups freshly grated parmesan cheese
A small amount of milk (optional)

3 chicken breasts
Olive oil
A small amount of Cajun seasoning

One pound fettuccini noodles
.....................
Chop the chicken into one-inch chunks. Very lightly season with Cajun seasoning. (You don't want to overpower the sauce with seasoning--just enough to give it a little extra flavor.)

Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil and add the chicken. Cook the chicken thoroughly and set aside.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Crush in the garlic cloves and stir and sizzle for a few moments. Add the cream, reduce the heat, and cook until thoroughly heated.

Add the cheese to the cream mixture by handfuls. Whisk constantly as you do this! Season with salt and pepper. If the sauce is too thick, thin it with a small amount of milk. Set aside, keeping the sauce warm.

Boil and drain the noodles in a large pan, returning them to the pan. Pour the sauce over the noodles, and toss until the noodles are coated. Add the chicken, and toss again. Serve immediately.

Next time I make this I want to add vegetables, too! I had a vegetable-less dinner which feels extremely decadent.

I served the dish with bread and a semi-sweet white wine for date night. A lovely evening staying home when it's cold and snowy outside. :) Here's a picture of my super-fancy table......... yes, the "super-fancy" part is just a little bit of sarcasm. :D

Super Easy Recipe to the Post-Holiday Rescue!: Enchilada Casserole

OK, so enchilada casserole isn't exactly a, er, particularly fancy recipe.

But hey, not ALL recipes can be fancy. It's delicious, fairly inexpensive, and can be made in less than an hour total, including cooking time. There are many, many possible variations on this recipe.... it can be made more or less onion-y, with chicken or beef, vegetarian, more layered, less layered, seasoned... Use my recipe or try making your own! :)

Enchilada Casserole

Ingredients:

One package corn tortillas
One large can vegetarian refried beans
One pound ground beef
One taco seasoning pack
One or more large cans enchilada sauce, according to taste
About half a block of cheddar cheese, grated
Half a medium onion, diced

Additional ingredients: guacamole, lettuce, sour cream, salsas, green chile peppers, sliced red and green peppers, etc.
..................
Lightly coat the bottom of a casserole dish with cooking spray.
Cook the ground beef and taco seasoning mix according to package directions.
Place a layer of corn tortillas on the bottom of the casserole dish. Layer prepared ground beef, sauce, beans, cheese, onion, and tortillas as desired, ending with a layer of cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees until the casserole is throughly warm and some of the liquid has cooked down, about half an hour.

Set out the additional ingredients to make your own plate with the casserole. :)

Mmmmm. :)

Maybe not picturesque, but definitely delicious. :)

New Years Food: Spinach Cheese Pastries; Tropical Martini, Melon Ginger Sour

Happy New Year!!

Thanks to both my father and my boyfriend for all the help in preparing the food for the party... it was absolutely wonderful and I couldn't have done it without you guys. :)

I was in such a hurry to make the party food that I don't have any photographs, but the spinach cheese pastries went over quite well!! :)

A Few Steps To Yummy:

Thaw 2 sheets puff pastry.

Crack one egg and mix with a tablespoon of water. Set aside.

Rinse, drain, and chop 5oz fresh spinach.

Finely dice a medium onion.

Crumble one block of feta cheese thoroughly.

Mix spinach, onion, and feta together with two eggs. Stir mixture thoroughly.

On a floured board, cut puff pastry into pieces. Fill each piece with mixture, fold the edges of the pastry together, and crimp.

Brush pastries with egg and water mixture.

Bake at 400 degrees on a cooking sheet sprayed with cooking spray until golden brown.

Mmmmm.

Next time I have a mind to add garlic to the mixture--not much, just a little. I think this is the sort of dish it would be very easy to overpower with seasonings.

*******

I like to be a bartender. :) The drink I made this year (in addition to pink and regular champagne at midnight) was a tropical martini. My friend Carly and I, looking for something different to drink, also made a lovely melon ginger sour.

-----------------------------------

Spinach Cheese Pastries

5oz fresh spinach, rinsed, drained, and chopped

1 block feta cheese, throughly crumbled

1 medium onion, finely diced

2 eggs, beaten

2 sheets puff pastry

Additionally, one egg mixed with water for brushing on the pastries.

-----------------------------------

Throughly mix the spinach with the eggs, onion and cheese.

Cut the pastry into large pieces. Place filling in the pastry, fold over, and crimp with a fork.

Brush tops of pastry with egg and water mixture.

Bake at 400 degrees on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray until thoroughly golden brown.

********

Tropical Martini

Serve in Martini or Margarita glass shaken or on the rocks

1 1/2 oz coconut rum

1/2 oz vodka (optional)

1/2 oz melon liqueur 

1 oz pineapple juice

Fill with Sprite

*********

Melon Ginger Sour, by Carly and Rina

Serve in Old Fashioned glass over ice

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1 oz whiskey

Sugar or simple syrup to taste

1/2 oz melon liqueur

Splash sweetened lime juice

Shake together

Fill with ginger ale.