Recipe for One pot spaghetti

Here is a good, basic one pot spaghetti recipe that will feed a family. Round out the meal with some toasted bread or rolls. 

All-in-one spaghetti

1 lb. ground beef

optional – 1 lg. diced onion

optional – 2 garlic cloves

-- or – wor. sauce, soy sauce, white wine vinegar, rice wine vinegar

8 oz. tomato sauce

6 oz. tomato paste

24 oz. tomato juice

1 c. water

1 t. salt

1 t. sugar

2-3 t. chili powder

1 t. dried oregano

dash of pepper

7 oz. spaghetti, uncooked

grated parmesan cheese

Brown ground beef in a large skillet or stockpot, with onions, garlic, and optional sauces. Drain or dip off grease. Stir in tomato sauce, tomato paste tomato juice, water, salt, sugar, chili powder, oregano, pepper. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30-45 minutes. Add pasta, and cook an additional 20 minutes or so until pasta is tender. Serve with grated parmesan cheese.

All purpose beef

Here's another recipe to share with you all from my personal collection. This one is of my own creation. It's for a general purpose beef that can be used in a variety of ways.

All purpose beef

2 lbs. ground beef

generous dash of salt

generous dash of pepper

optional – dash of soy sauce

optional – dash of worcestershire sauce

optional – dash of white wine or rice wine vinegar

Brown beef with all seasonings and sauces, then dip off the grease. Be sure to stir while browning to break up the beef.

Next, add:

1 can tomato soup

1 can diced tomatoes

3 T ketchup

3 t. mustard

optional – your choice of your favorite spices

Simmer for 30-45 minutes on low heat, stirring often.

Can be served over buns as sloppy joes, over rice or pasta, or however you choose. Add beans and you can have chili.

My recipe for Pork and Beef Stir-fry

This is an original recipe of mine, that I made up myself. Some of the measurements are approximate because I am mostly a pitch and pour cook. It's a pork and beef stir fry.
Note - If you have other meats that you like better, you can substitute those for the pork and beef.

Pork and beef stir fry

1 lb. boneless pork chops

1 lb. beef, sirloin or bottom round steak

soy sauce

worcestershire sauce

Cut meats into bite-size pieces. Put oil in a deep skillet, add meat, and season to suit with sauces. Cook till done through and no longer pink. Then add:

1 lb. package frozen mixed vegetables

And dashes of the following seasonings. Add more of the ones you like, less or omit the ones you don’t, feel free to substitute your own favorites.

curry powder

ground ginger

chili powder

paprika

salt

pepper

Simmer till done and veggies are thawed out and cooked, approximately 20-30 minutes.  

Tomato gravy, and going through recipes

I've embarked on a rather adventurous project - that of going through my index card boxes of recipes and putting them into my computer. I've decided to sort through them, keep the ones I want, and discard the rest; thus freeing the index card boxes up for other uses. 

My first step is to google the recipe title and check if I can find it online. If I can, through the chrome browser, I can choose to print it and save it as a pdf. If not, then I am typing it in as a word file. 

This will not be a simple project as I have about 3 boxes full of cards to go through. But so far, I'm enjoying it. And here's one of the first ones I typed in, a recipe for tomato gravy. 

Tomato gravy

2 T. butter or margarine

2 T. minced shallots

1 - 14-1/2 ounce can of diced tomatoes, undrained

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 t. chicken bouillon granules

1/2 t. sugar

1/4 t. pepper

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add shallots, and sauté until tender. Stir in tomatoes; bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer, stirring constantly, 2-3 minutes. Stir in whipping cream and remaining ingredients; simmer, stirring often, 3 minutes or until thickened. Serve with pasta, potatoes, or veal. Yield: 2 cups. Prep: 5 minutes. Cook: 5 minutes.

A holiday classic - Mama's pecan pie

Mama, Daddy, and me,
high school graduation

One thing that was a holiday classic for me growing up, was Mama's pecan pies. She always made 2, because one would have never been enough.

You know how a cook will have some signature dishes? Well, my mama had hers, and her pecan pies were one of them.

During this holiday season, here in the blog, I'd like to share some of my holiday favorite recipes with you all; and I thought that there was no better place to start than my mama's pecan pie.

So, without further adieu, on to the recipe:

Freda's Pecan Pie

3 eggs
1/2 c. brown sugar
4 T. melted margarine
1 c. dark corn syrup
1 t. vanilla
1/8 t. salt
1 c. pecans, chopped
1 - 9 inch pie shell, unbaked

Beat eggs and add sugar gradually.  Mix in remaining ingredients.  Pour into pie shell and bake at 375 degrees for 45-50 minutes.