RECIPE: Homemade Spaghetti Sauce (RAGU COPYCAT)

Remember a few weeks back when I posted about the Braised Beef & Tortellini (Olive Garden's Copycat recipe) I found. If you don't remember, check it out HERE.

Well ever since I have been on the hunt for recipes of stuff we LOVE that I can make homemade. Well spaghetti sauce is something I use all the time. I have several recipes that call for it, as well as I use it as pizza sauce in a bind. Our family has always been more fond of Ragu then any other.

So I went on a little Google search and found this recipe. 

I did tweak it a bit, but I have to say, my family couldn't even tell the difference. It tasted so much like Ragu, it wasn't until after we were done eating that I let them know I made it homemade. (they were definitely surprised!)

Now this gives me such a warm & cozy feeling inside, knowing full well, each & every ingredient that we are eating. And with all the stuff they put in things these days, I will definitely be looking for more homemade alternatives in the future. I will try and keep you guys updated on all the WONDERFUL recipes I find.

Photo Credit

Sorry I forgot to take a photo of it,

so I used this one from Flickr. :)

So without further ado, the recipe (which I tweaked a bit):

COPYCAT RAGU TOMATO SAUCE

29 oz can of tomato sauce

14.5 oz can of Canned Italian Diced Tomatoes

4 oz can of sliced mushrooms

5 teas of granulated sugar

1 Tbls of olive oil

1 Tbls. each of grated Parmesan & Romano cheese.

1 teas of dried basil

1/2 teas of dried parsley

3 medium garlic cloves chopped fine

1/8 teas of black pepper

1 bay leaf

In a sauce pan combine all ingredients & simmer for 20 minutes. *Simmer on a very very low flame otherwise you will scorch your pot. Simmer uncovered or partially uncovered to help it reach the desired thickness. When stirring, do not use a aluminum spoon, use a wooden spoon.

Optional:

Add just short of a 1/4 cup finely chopped onion (I did!)

1/2 pound browned hamburger/turkey burger

(I made a half of batch with meat & half without as my kiddos don't like meat in the sauce)

Enjoy!!!

Makes 3 cups of sauce

RECIPE: Thai Noodles

The past few weeks, well really since the beginning of the year, I have been on the hunt for some really GOOD family meal ideas/recipes. Stuff that I can make that is more of a "homemade" version of stuff we love. I have been saving them in a folder and the past few weeks have been able to try a few out. This one we tried last night as a family and it was a home run!!!!!
Now, you have to remember, that my husband, is VERY HARD to impress. He doesn't usually like to try new recipes.

And my oldest, is SUPER PICKY!!!!

So when I say I hit a home run, that is a H~U~G~E accomplishment for me!!!! :)

They all seriously, couldn't get enough!

I came across this recipe from over at Noodlehead.

Go check her out HERE!

It is a great blog and she has a ton of cool ideas, and GREAT tutorials.

So here is where I got the RECIPE!

What I LOVED about it is that most of these items I already had on hand or are things that I buy all the time. This is HUGE for me as I hate recipes I have to buy "special" ingredients for.

The only thing I changed is I added some steamed broccoli to the mix, as 3 out of the 4 of us LOVE brocolli (my oldest again is the one that doesn't).

And I didn't use as much of the red pepper flakes. My hubby is the only one in the family that like spicey.

I HIGHLY reccommend you try it tonight & let me know what you think!

Enjoy!!!

RECIPE: Braised Beef & Tortellini (Olive Garden Copy Cat)

I have had a CRAVING.

A craving for Olive Garden's "Braised Beef & Tortellini".

Photo Credit: Olive Garden

Well unfortunately, the closest Olive Garden is about 30 minutes away. Which isn't that far, but I don't want to drive all that way, besides, we are on a budget! :)

So I decided I would try and search for a recipe. I googled it and guess what I found?!?!

I found THIS recipe for a COPY CAT version of it.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 -2 lb boneless beef short rib (or similar tough cut of beef)

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tomato, diced

6 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced

8 ounces Marsala wine

1/4 cup flour

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

1 -2 lb asiago-filled tortellini, boiled

 

Directions:

Total Time: 3 hrs

1. Heat oil on high heat in a large nonstick pan.

2. Toss short ribs in flour, add to pan, and sear on all sides.

3. Reduce heat to low and add garlic; cook and stir for about 1 min.

4. Add tomato, mushrooms, Marsala wine, and Italian seasoning one at a time, allowing about 1-2 min between each for liquid to evaporate.

5. Cover pan and braise for 3 hr or until very tender, checking and stirring every 30 min to make sure liquid has not evaporated away (add more Marsala if liquid evaporates).

6. Increase heat to medium high and heat thoroughly.

7. Serve over tortellini.

So I thought, why not, let's give it a try. It looked fairly easy.

My Family LOVED it!!!

I recommend you give it a try as well!!!

I can't wait to see what other "Copy cat" recipes I can find!! :)

Enjoy!!!!

ORGANIZATION: Meal Planning Binder #15

Day #15 is suppose to be Medicine/Vitamin Organization. Well I already covered these areas in both my Linen Closet Organization Day #4 and my Medicine Cabinet Organization Day #13.

Soooooooooooooooo, I happened to come across this FABULOUS & INSPIRING post today over at "The Crafting Chicks" which I thought was PURE GENIUS & decided this is what I was going to organize today!!!! What a clever idea, a meal planning binder!!!

I started by gathering my supplies....all of which I already had on hand! (I LOVE it when that happens!)

I downloaded these SUPER CUTE Grocery List/Menu planner from Abby Welker of "A Feathered Nest".

I love I can plan my meal for the week as well as plan my grocery shopping trip for everything I need for the week's menu!

Then I just started gathering up all our FAVORITE recipes that I make on a regular basis, as well as those recipes I have clipped that I wanted to try.

Once I had a good collection of recipes I typed them all up & filed them in my binder!

I have a feeling this will keep my UBER organized in my meal planning!

My  binders cover...I just quickly created

this to make it pretty!

He she is ready to go! I can't wait to try it out next week!

What do you think? Is this something you would try? What ways do you stay on top of your meal planning and the dreaded "Mom, what's for dinner?".

Enjoy!!!

I am linking up to these FABULOUS Parties:

Triple Chocolate Meringue Fudgie Cookies

I recently found this recipe and tried it last week while doing my holiday baking. I just had to share these cookies were way better than I expected and my kids ate them up. These cookies are really addicting & they are more brownie like than cookie, which in my opinion made them even better!  I found the recipe over at Disney Family.com Here is where I got the recipe.

Check it out here!

Triple Chocolate Meringue Fudgie Cookies

Total time: 35 minutes



Yield: 2 dozen




Ingredients


1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided use


3 large egg whites, room temperature


2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, divided use


1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder


1 tablespoon cornstarch


1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (or half as much table salt)


1 teaspoon vanilla




Directions


Heat the oven to 375, and spray 2 large baking sheets with cooking spray, or line them with parchment.


Melt 1 cup of the chocolate chips in the microwave, stirring occasionally, until they are mostly melted, about 2 minutes. Stir until fully melted, then leave them to cool.


Using an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the whites on high speed until they just form soft peaks. Gradually beat in 1 cup of the sugar, and continue beating until the mixture gets thick and glossy.


Whisk together 1 cup of sugar, the cocoa, cornstarch, and salt in a medium bowl to blend. On low speed, beat the dry ingredients into the meringue with the vanilla.


Now, with a wooden spoon, stir in the lukewarm chocolate and remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips. The dough will be batter-like at first and then, as you stir, it will get very stiff.


Place the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar in a bowl. Roll 1 rounded tablespoon of dough into a ball, then roll it in the sugar to coat it thickly. Place on prepared sheet, and repeat with the remaining dough, spacing the balls 2 inches apart.


Bake until the cookies are puffed and the tops crack, about 10 minutes. Cool on the sheets on a rack 10 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a rack to cool completely.
 

Enjoy!!!

 

Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Treats

I make several different types of cookies & treats for Christmas gatherings & for gifts to family & friends. CHOCOLATE is always on the recipe of most of my treats...me & my boys are HUGE chocolate lovers!

This is the simplest treat I make.

I buy the Holiday Shaped marshmallows (variations: Large marshmallows, chocolate swirl marshmallows, coconut marshmallows, etc) & chocolate almond bark or chocolate chips work too.

I have learned that the easiest way to melt chocolate for dipping anything is to put it in my little crock pot. After about 45 minutes it is perfectly melted and stays hot

& not icky for as long as I need it.

*Another quick tip is use the Crock pot liners and that will make clean up a snap!

So basically just dip the Holiday shaped marshmallows in the chocolate. Put them on cookie sheets lined with wax paper & wait for them to cool and the chocolate to harden!

I love that the holiday shaped ones are also colored!  This is what they look like inside!

Can't get any easier than that!

 

Enjoy!

Grandma's Homemade Ham Bone Soup with Dumplings

This post should have been written after Thanksgiving, but that is how far behind I am. My mom's family usually has both Ham & Turkey for Thanksgiving. Some prefer one over the other, so we do both to accommodate everyone.

My favorite is ham. It so reminds me of my Grandma Sally and how she would make Ham bone soup & dumplings with the left over ham bone & ham. I grew up on this recipe.
But you know how it never seems to be as good as when someone else makes it! Well that was me & this soup. 
After not attempting to make it for the past couple years as it never tasted as good as hers I think I FINALLY did got it right.

This was a home run with my two boys! They LOVED it & I think I will be making it for years to come.
So here is the recipe!

Ham Bone Soup & Dumplings
Ham Bone
Ham (leftover ham cut up)
3-4 Carrots (peeled and cut up into chunks)
1 Can Tomato Soup
1/2 Onion chopped
6 Potatoes (peeled and cut up into chunks)
2 Celery Stalks (cut up)
2 Tablespoons Vinegar
Bag of frozen Mixed Veggies or other fresh veggies (optional)

-Put ham bone & remaining ham meat into a large kettle. Cook with water covering the bone. Add the vinegar to the water. Simmer for several hours with cover on kettle.
-After several hours remove from heat & let cool. Skim off the fat once cooled (the fat will thicken & can be removed easily). Remove bone & any remaining meat on bone should be easy to remove. Add all to soup.
-To make soup, add tomato soup, celery, potatoes, carrots, onions & any other veggies you want.  Simmer again for an hour with cover on to cook the veggies through. Now you are ready to add the dumplings.

Dumplings:
1 1/2 Cups Flour (or more as needed)
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Salt
1 Egg (beaten lightly)
3/4 Cup Water (or more as needed)

-Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Add beaten egg & water to dry ingredients. Then drop by teaspoon into hot soup. Add all your dumplings then cover. Cook 10 minutes with cover on, then 10 minutes with cover off.

Enjoy!



Special Rice Krispie Treats...a Halloween Candy Experiment

This is a recipe that is a bit different than the traditional Rice Krispie treats. I modified it a bit because after our school's community Halloween party, my son came home with this.

A marshmallow pickled Frankenstein head (Basically a HUGE peep...you know the little yellow birds that come out at Easter on all the candy aisles at the stores AKA a marshmallow bird covered in colored sugar).

He won it after getting 3rd place for the "Scariest Costume" in the costume contest. He was Frankenstein. His costume I threw together that morning in like 15 minutes. It was literally All the time I had because I was getting ready to go decorate for the Halloween party, since I am on the committee. He had changed his mind at the last minute & was begging to go as Frankenstein!

Well I guess my 15 minute quick throw together costume was worth it, as he placed!

Anyway, thankfully he didn't want to eat the Marshmallow head (which I was happy about), although my youngest son did! He wanted to save it forever, as a Halloween decoration. I had to explain to him that it was food & food would eventually get rotten. So I convinced him we would use it to make "Halloween" Rice Krispie treats which he loves.

So here's the recipe:

6 cups Rice Krispies Cereal

3 Tbsp Butter or Margarine

1/2 package (10oz size) Marshmallows

1 Pickled Monster Head (from Walmart)

I followed the same directions on the original recipe.

1. In a microwave safe bowl, heat margarine, marshmallows & Monster head on HIGH for 3 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes. Stir until smooth.

2. Add the Rice Krispie Cereal. Stir until well coated.

3. Using a butter spatula or waxed paper, press mixture evenly into a 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan coated with cooking spray.

4. Let cool & cut into squares.

Other than the fact that they had a slight green & black tint to them, they were just as delicious as always! In fact several people that tried them thought they tasted sort of like Lucky Charms.

Enjoy!!!

Pumpkin Roll Recipe

Well I just got done making 8 pumpkin rolls for my Dad's upcoming pheasant hunting trip. Yes, eight!!! Your probably wondering why so many. Well they eat them themselves & they give them away as gifts to land owners as a "Thank You" for letting them hunt on their properties. So since I was knee deep in pumpkin rolls for most of today, I thought I would give you guys my recipe. This is something that I get asked repeatedly to bring to events with my family. And I can't even take credit entirely. Sure I make them, but the recipe came from my Step mom Tara.
So here it is!

PUMPKIN ROLL

Cake:

3 Eggs

1 Cup Sugar

2/3 Cup Pumpkin

3/4 Cup Flour

1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

1 tsp. Baking Soda

Filling:

8 oz cream cheese

2 Tbsp. Butter/Margarine

1 Cup Powdered Sugar

1 tsp. Vanilla

-Preheat oven to 375'.Blend pumpkin cake ingredients together. Put down a piece of buttered parchment paper on a 10x15 jelly roll pan. Bake for 10 minutes until cake springs back. Let cool on cooling rack. Coat dish towel with powdered sugar. Turn cake onto towel. Peel off paper, spread filling mixture & roll up starting at the narrow end. Refrigerate until served. (HINT: You can freeze them as well...just be sure to wrap them well & put in a freezer ziplock.)

Enjoy!!!

I am linking to:

Quick Dessert/Snack

Both my boys LOVE Chocolate & crescent rolls! So I came up with a quick dessert/snack that they both LOVE. Basically I take a tube of refrigerated crescent rolls & some snack size Hershey chocolates (frozen).

Just break each of the snack size Hershey's in half. You will only need 4 mini Hershey bars per tube of crescent rolls (there are 8 per tube).

Roll each 1/2 in your crescent roll triangle.

Then bake as per instructions on the crescent roll tube.

You will then have warm, chocolately goodness!

YUM!

Enjoy!