Homemade Spaghetti sauce

made in crockpot

For June's post I'm sharing my homemade spaghetti sauce recipe.  This is my family's recipe from my mom that I grew up with, learned to make in my teens and have made for my family ever since.   My mom always used canned tomatoes, plus sauce and paste and I did that for years but I've changed it up the last few years, adding more fresh vegetables (chopped kale or spinach, shredded zucchini, onions, garlic, sweet peppers and eggplant) and using only fresh tomatoes or ones I've canned myself instead of buying cans at the store.  I still use canned tomato sauce (although this year I'm going to attempt to make my own sauce) and paste, it's hard to replace the convenience of those. I also use a combination of fresh herbs from my yard and dried herbs.  I love growing herbs and have pots of thyme, oregano, parsley, several kinds of basil, sage, several kinds of mint, lemon balm, lemon grass, dill, rosemary and cilantro, I think that's it.  I go out in my yard and pick what I need, wash, cut and throw in whatever I'm making. At peak season in the summer when they are all huge, I make pesto and freeze it for pasta dishes or pizza later.  I shared my pesto recipe on another blog post. I brown hamburger meat in the skillet and then add shredded or finely chopped eggplant and cook it in the meat juices then add it to the pot of sauce.  Eggplant is great, it takes on the flavor of the meat and is healthy plus stretches 1 pound of meat to 2 so economical as well.  I use it all the time.  I get them at the farmers market, finely cut them up (most of the time I peel them 1st then they are hidden) and put them in quart freezer bags in my freezer.  I just break up what I want and add to whatever I'm cooking.  This is the cook for hours version to get the desired thickness and rich taste so I usually do it on a Saturday on the stove for 3 to 4 hours or in the crock pot all day.  I cook a large batch then freeze half of it for later.  It freezes beautifully. Most of the time we eat it the traditional way over a plate of spaghetti topped with parmesan cheese. Sometimes when I thaw a container of sauce from the freezer I make a pasta casserole with whatever kind of pasta I have, like shell or rigatoni, layering with shredded cheddar cheese and spinach or kale (fresh or frozen spinach or frozen kale from my baggies in the freezer) and either bake in oven for 30 minutes or heat in microwave 10 to 15 minutes until bubbly. It's a great quick meal for a weekday supper. Here's the recipe:






Spaghetti sauce






1 to 2 lbs ground beef, browned and drained (can also add ground pork or Italian sausage to beef)
1/2 to 1 c chopped eggplant, (brown in skillet after meat is cooked)
4 to 6 fresh tomatoes, chopped (or 2 cans)
1 onion, chopped
1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c sweet peppers, chopped
1/2 c shredded zucchini
2 small cans tomato sauce
2 small cans tomato paste
2 T sofrito (recipe on another blog post)
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 to 2 t each, seasoned salt, pepper, turmeric and paprika
1 T each fresh or dried herbs, sweet basil, oregano, marjoram and parsley (can also add Italian seasoning)
1/4 t chili pepper flakes
can also add chopped fresh or frozen spinach or kale toward end of cooking






In large pot sauté veggies, except tomatoes in a little olive oil and water until tender.  Add tomatoes, cooked meat, eggplant, sauce, paste plus herbs and seasonings with several cups of water. Bring to boil then simmer, uncovered, 2 to 4 hours until thickened, or cook in crockpot 8 to 10 hours on high.  Serve on cooked noodles topped with parmesan cheese.  Enjoy, Bamah

made on top of stove

Chicken Spaghetti Casserole

Somehow May got away from me without posting anything and here it is June already. So here's a recipe to get me back on track.  I've been making chicken spaghetti casserole for several years and now it's a family favorite. It originally started when my daughter, Tabitha, volunteered me to cook a luncheon after church as a Bolivia mission fundraiser and had gotten the recipe from one of our church ladies.  It's really good, fairly easy and can feed a lot of people. Several of us met on a Saturday afternoon, got all the prep work done, making the casseroles and also tossed salad then all we had to do Sunday morning was to put the casseroles in the oven for about 30 to 45 minutes to heat through. We served them with garlic bread and tossed salad.  My husband, John, loved it so much I decided to make chicken spaghetti at home and of course added vegetables to mine.  I mostly just use chicken breasts since we prefer white meat but other times use a whole chicken.  Cook the pasta in the chicken broth and a little water for extra flavor.  My husband loves it so much that a couple of years ago he suggested I make chicken spaghetti for our Beckman family reunion.  Every summer the Beckman clan meet up at Clarko state park near Meridian MS and each family group is assigned a night to prepare dinner for the group.  We usually have around 30 people to feed at any given night. The 1st year I made the chicken spaghetti casserole it was a big hit so now it's my go to recipe. I change up the vegetables depending what's in season at the farmer's market.  I always precook them either by steaming in the microwave or sautéing in a skillet on the stove before putting them in the casserole except for tomatoes, I always add them in fresh before putting in the oven.  Here's the recipe:

Chicken Spaghetti

cooked chicken, either whole chicken or several breasts, saving

cooking liquid to cook spaghetti in

1 onion, chopped

1/2 c sweet peppers, chopped

1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 c yellow squash, chopped

1/2 c zucchini, chopped

1/2 c eggplant, chopped

2 to 3 tomatoes, chopped

1 box spaghetti or egg noodles

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

2 T sofrito

1 t each seasoned salt, pepper, onion seasoning, garlic seasoning,

parsley,  poultry seasoning

1 bag shredded cheese

Boil chicken in enough water to cover adding fresh or dried herbs,

parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, seasoned salt and pepper until done.

Let cool slightly and debone saving broth. Cook spaghetti in water and

chicken broth until slightly tender. Sauté chopped veggies except

tomatoes or steam in microwave until tender. Combine soups, seasonings

and a little broth in bowl.  In large casserole dish, assemble cooked

chicken, noodles, veggies and fresh tomatoes (can also add fresh spinach or kale if desired), add soup mixture and  stir a bit, top with shredded cheese.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes

until bubbly and cheese is melted.

Enjoy,

Bamah

Tortellini Soup

For April's post I'm sharing another one of our family's favorite recipes. I put together a collection of family favorite recipes for my youngest daughter, Aubree, that her sister then turned into a little cookbook for her for Christmas. This is her favorite soup that I make so it was included in the book and now I'm sharing it here. As with the majority of my recipes it's full of fresh veggies and can be changed up easily depending what's available.  I don't generally add meat to this but cooked chicken could be added if desired. Originally I cut the recipe out of a magazine and taped in into my soup cookbook but have changed it up over the years, mostly adding more vegetables. The original recipe only called for 1 bag of frozen tortellini but we find 2 works better for us especially since no meat is added. I've also found fresh tortellini instead of frozen which cooks up really quickly. Here's the recipe:

Tortellini Soup

 1 T olive oil plus 3 T butter

3 to 4 stalks celery, chopped

3 to 4 carrots, chopped

1 onion chopped

1 clove minced garlic, or 1 T garlic powder

1/2 c sweet peppers, chopped

2 T sofrito

2 jars broth (can use chicken or veggie) plus 1 to 2 c water

chopped tomatoes or 1 can

1 T parsley

1 t each seasoned salt and pepper

1 t oregano (can add more Italian seasoning if desired)

1 t onion powder

1 can great northern beans, liquid included

2 to 3 cups fresh spinach, can also add kale

2 pkgs 9 oz frozen cheese tortellini

parmesan cheese

or any additional chopped vegetables if desired

Heat oil, butter and sofrito in large pot and cook vegetables until

tender, adding a little water.  Add broth, water, seasonings, beans,

and tomatoes.  Cook for 20 to 30 minutes, then bring to boil and add

spinach and tortellini.  Cook for 5 to 10 minutes until done, add

parmesan cheese before serving.

Enjoy,

Bamah

Papa's Egg Casserole and my version

large egg casserole

Easter is next week so I'm posting my egg casserole recipe.  I made this last month and will most likely make it for Easter.  This is one of our family favorites.  It started when my girls were little and their grandfather, Papa, made it with a can of green chilies and canned milk added to eggs and cheese.  I have revised the recipe several times and now make it with lots of fresh vegetables and regular milk added to the eggs and cheese and don't use the canned chilies at all but use fresh sweet peppers instead.  I'm including both versions in this post and both are very tasty. I usually make it in a large rectangle Pyrex dish but this last time I made 2 smaller casserole dishes and that seemed to work better for us.  I also added cooked bacon which was a great addition.  As with the majority of my recipes, it's very versatile and can add whatever you have on hand and then change it up the next time you make it.  I almost always include zucchini, broccoli and spinach but have added other vegetables as well depending what's in season or that I have on hand in my freezer.  I've also changed up the cheese as well adding gouda, white cheddar or again whatever I have on hand. Here's the recipes:




Papa's Egg Casserole

1 lb grated cheddar cheese
1 lb grated Monterey Jack cheese, or bag of shredded blend
8 to 10 eggs
5 oz evaporated milk or can use regular milk

bottom veggie layer

4 oz can chopped green chilies

 Bamah's variations

2 T sofrito, 1/2 to 1 t seasoned salt, pepper, turmeric and parsley

10 eggs

1/2 c milk

1 lb grated cheddar cheese and 1 bag shredded blend cheese

1/2 cup each of fresh chopped veggies, onion, garlic, sweet peppers, yellow squash, zucchini and broccoli.  Sauté in skillet or microwave

until tender, 5 to 10 minutes. 

Also fresh tomatoes,  spinach or kale. Cooked chopped bacon can also be added

Beat eggs, add milk and seasonings in bowl. Assemble in large casserole dish, (or 2 smaller casserole dishes) starting with cooked veggies, add egg mixture, chopped tomatoes, spinach or kale and cheese, stirring a bit.  Bake at 300 for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until set and eggs cooked through.
Enjoy, Bamah

topped with cheese

smaller egg casserole with bacon

Cauliflower "Rice"

ready for the freezer

I'm tagging this post as Farmers market addiction as well as recipes since I discovered cauliflower "rice" by following Murphy Farms on Facebook.  I also follow the Lawton Farmer's market and several of the farmer's home pages on Facebook.  Stalking farmers, yep, that's me.  Last month I saw another customer post pictures of her baggies of "rice" ready for her freezer so immediately looked up how to do that online. I'm always looking for more ways to use fresh vegetables in my cooking. I have a freezer full of baggies of fresh vegetables cut up and ready to be added in to whatever I'm cooking plus have been able to continue throughout the winter to get fresh local produce from Murphy Farms.  They have an organic farm in Walters with several greenhouses so are able to grow year around and bring in produce each week to Cameron University for people to purchase.  I pretty much have gone every Saturday so have kept my freezer stocked plus cooked for the week with what's in season.  I like chopping in small batches, I feel I have a better control over consistency. My absolute favorite tool is my Tupperware Chop and Prep Chef, I call it my lawnmower since it has a pull handle and is perfect for me. I have several baggies of roughly chopped cauliflower in my freezer that I've been throwing in whatever I'm cooking for the week along with everything else.  On average, all my recipes have 5 to 10 fresh veggies added in some type of chopped form. I was making yellow rice that weekend so thought I'd try reducing the rice and adding in the cauliflower "rice" and it turned out great.  I'm always looking for ways to reduce carbs so the last time I had made my yellow rice I added quinoa and it was good but not the same consistency I wanted and the cauliflower "rice" turned out perfect. I made a large pot of yellow rice (my recipe is on a previous post) and only added 2 cups of instant rice and added about 1 1/2 cups of cooked cauliflower "rice", about 10 vegetables, smoked sausage and cheese. My husband noticed I was finely chopping cauliflower and had it in a container sitting on the counter and looked like rice so he figured it was going in the yellow rice but he said he couldn't really taste it.  He doesn't really like cauliflower and won't eat it by itself but when I mix it in like this he was fine with it.  This last weekend I bought more cauliflower so used some for roasted vegetables and added some  chopped to pasta salad and the rest I finely chopped for the freezer (raw) for future rice dishes. To cook the "rice", saute in 1 T of oil, I used olive oil, seasoned salt and pepper, covered 5 to 10 minutes, stir so it doesn't stick then add to whatever dish desired.  I haven't used it by itself yet but will probably just keep doing half rice and half  cauliflower "rice".  I hope this inspires you to try it.
Enjoy
Bamah



chopping process

 

 

My lovely Tupperware chopper

finely chopped "rice"

Succotash Chili

For February's post I'm sharing one of my most versatile recipes, succotash chili.  I make this several times during the year and almost never make my old chili recipe, I love this one with lots of veggies.
Depending what I have on hand determines what goes in the chili as far as meat, beans and vegetables which makes it very versatile and I try to use fresh or frozen tomatoes (or some I have canned myself) so use mostly fresh ingredients with only a few cans of beans, tomato sauce and paste. The majority of the vegetables I chop up really fine so there could be up to 10 vegetables included all fresh or that I had cut up and frozen.  We usually eat our chili over rice and topped with shredded cheese. It freezes beautifully and can be used for several other recipes as well.  One of our favorite is slow cooker enchiladas which is just layering flour tortillas, shredded cheese and chili in a crock pot and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8.  It can also be done as a casserole, same layering process and cooked in microwave 10 to 15 minutes or in oven at 350 for 30 minutes. I've also added fresh chopped spinach between layers in the crock pot and casserole versions which is really good.  Another option is Frito pie which is just corn chips layered with chili and shredded cheese in casserole dish and microwaved 10 to 15 minutes or cooked in oven at 350 for 30 minutes. I made a chili/cornbread casserole recently (will post recipe at another time) but left over chili would work for this one as well.  In a casserole dish put chili, top with shredded cheese and in separate bowl mix together 2 boxes of Jiffy cornbread mix with 1 c milk and spread over chili/cheese mixture then bake in oven at 375 for 30 to 35 minutes. And yet another option is to top nacho chips with chili and cheese for a snack or light meal. I usually cook on Saturdays for the week and when I make chili I always make enough to freeze for one or more of these recipes/options for later.
Now for the recipe:




Succotash chili

1 onion chopped
1/2 c sweet peppers, chopped
1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced
1 to 1/2 c eggplant, shredded
1/2 c zucchini, chopped
1/2 c yellow squash, chopped
2 c fresh cut off cob or frozen corn
2 c tomatoes, chopped
1/2 c carrots, shredded
1/2 c celery, chopped
1 to 2 lbs hamburger meat, cooked and drained
1 can tomato paste
1 to 2 T chili powder
1/2 t turmeric
1/2 t paprika
1 t each seasoned salt and pepper
1 T parsley
1 t each garlic, garlic and onion, onion
1/2 t cumin
2 T Worcestershire sauce
2 t spicy mustard
2 T sofrito
1 can black beans
1 can great northern beans
can also add kidney and/or garbanzo beans


In large stock pot, cook chopped vegetables in a little oil and 1 c
water adding salt and pepper until tender. Add tomato paste, beans and
seasonings with 2 cups water and cook about 30 minutes. Add cooked
meat and more water as needed.  Cook on low 1 to 2 hours until
thickened adding more seasonings as needed. Serve with shredded
cheese and/or cooked rice. Freezes beautifully.

 Enjoy,
Bamah

corn bread/chili casserole

Yellow rice aka Jello rice

My plan for this year is to post at least once a month so for January I'm sharing my Yellow Rice recipe also known at my house as Jello Rice.  About 15 years ago my friend who speaks Spanish gave me the basic recipe, since her Y's sounded more like J's my young daughters started calling it Jello rice which stuck and became family favorite. This is such a easy and versatile recipe plus freezes beautifully.  I probably make it once a month or every other month.   It's evolved over the years, I used to use just canned beans and not much other vegetables but as with all my recipes it's now full of fresh vegetables from the farmer's market.  The beauty of this recipe it's so versatile, by adding different combination of vegetables (canned, frozen or fresh), whatever you like or have on hand (leftovers work great too, especially salsa or beans). It can be made a total vegetarian option or add meat such as chicken, ham or smoked sausage.  I've tried it with ground beef but we didn't like it so mostly I make it with smoked sausage or chicken.  I made it this last weekend and added 1/2 cups of quinoa to the 2 cups of instant rice to make it a little healthier along with 9 fresh vegetables (onion, kale, eggplant,carrots, sweet peppers, tomatoes, corn, broccoli, and sugar snap peas) 2 kinds of canned beans and smoked sausage topped with shredded cheese.  It turned out very yummy.  It can be eaten by itself or added to flour tortillas to make burritos adding sour cream, fresh spinach, guacamole, salsa, extra cheese or whatever toppings you like.  Here's the recipe:

 Jello rice



2 to 3 c instant rice
2 to 3 c water (equal amount of rice and liquid)

1 chopped onion

1 to 2 cloves minced garlic or 1 t garlic powder

1/2 c chopped sweet peppers

1/2 to 1 c chopped carrots

1 c fresh or frozen corn

1/2 c chopped eggplant

1 c chopped squash or zucchini (or any fresh or frozen vegetable)

1 can black beans, drained

1 can great northern beans, drained

1 can kidney or garbanzo beans (or both), drained

cooked chicken or smoked sausage

1 to 2 chopped tomatoes

1 c fresh spinach or kale, chopped

2 pkgs Sazon seasoning

1 T each seasoned salt and pepper, parsley, turmeric, cumin

2 to 3 T sofrito

1 to 2 c shredded cheese (cheddar or Mexican blend)

cooked chicken or smoked sausage, cut up

optional 1/4 to 1/2 t chili flakes

Add sofrito and fresh vegetables (any vegetables would work), except beans and tomatoes, in pot and cook with a little olive oil and water (less than 1/2 c) until tender (about 20 minutes).  Add beans, tomatoes, seasonings, meat and water until heated through then add rice and cover on low for about 20 minutes, stir after about 10 minutes so it doesn't stick.  Check to see if rice is cooked and take off heat, add cheese and cover until melted. Serve as is or as filling for burrito with desired added toppings such as sour cream, salsa or guacamole. Freezes beautifully.

Enjoy

Bamah

yellow rice with chicken

yellow rice with smoked sausage