Saucy!

This will be the first time that I have ever recorded what I put into the spaghetti sauce I made.  Usually it's just throw it all in and hopefully it tastes good.  It has never been the same twice, until now!

Spaghetti Sauce


1/4 cup olive oil
3 garlic cloves, chopped (very small)
1 white onion, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
4 celery stalks, chopped
2 lbs extra lean ground beef, browned
1 tbsp basil
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp thyme
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper
2 - 796mL can diced tomato
1 680mL tomato sauce
1 156mL tomato paste

Heat the olive oil on medium in a large sauce pot, add the garlic and cook until aromatic.  In with the vegetables and stir and cook for about 5 minutes, add the basil, oregano, thyme, red pepper flakes, and a dash each of salt and pepper, cook another 5-10 minutes.  Add in the browned ground beef and cook another 5 minutes.  Add all of the canned ingredients and the bay leaves.  Cook on low with the lid on for at least a half hour to 45 minutes.  Taste along the way and add more salt and pepper, or anything else that you like to see in your spaghetti sauce that makes it taste just right!  Enjoy over a cooked whole wheat pasta.

This makes a lot by the way.  Freeze some for later!

Breakfast for Dinner

The inspiration: A new pie plate

Here's how the conversation went:

Kristy: 'What will you want to eat after your bike ride?'
Steve: 'Something protein-y.'
Kristy: 'I was thinking a quiche.'
Steve: 'Do real men eat quiche?'

Yes, real men eat quiche!  So I made one.  I have never made a from scratch pie-type crust before.  I am not sure that I necessarily mastered it, but it turned out alright!

Crust


3/4 cup flour
6 tbsp butter (cold and cut into cubes)
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
cold water

Put the flour into a mixing bowl and sprinkle the butter cubes on top.  With your finger tips, gently rub the flour into the butter until it looks like bread crumbs.  Add the shredded cheese and mix.  One tablespoon at a time add just enough cold water until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and forms a ball.  Cover in plastic wrap and let sit in the fridge for at least a half hour.  Roll out the dough on a floured board and lay over your pie plate, fold and pinch the edges until it looks crinkled and scalloped.  Poke the crust with a fork all over.  If you have pie weights you can add them in, if not that's okay too.  Bake at 350F for 10 minutes.

Filling


You can basically put any ingredients that you like in here, I used:

1/2 red onion, chopped
1 roma tomato, chopped
1/2 yellow pepper, chopped
1/2 pkg beef bacon, chopped
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper

Saute the bacon and onions and peppers, toss in some salt and pepper.  Add in the tomatoes to warm them up.

Whisk together 6 eggs and 1/4 cup sour cream.  Add in the cooled sauteed ingredients and pour into the pre-baked pie shell.  Bake at 350F for another 35 minutes or until quiche is set.

There is also some potato pancakes here.  Pretty simple, used some leftover mashed potatoes, stir in some chopped green onion and coat in panko bread crumbs.  Fry in a few tablespoons of oil until browned and warmed through.

The best meal of the day.

Pizzaz

This was a sort of 'dinner on the fly'.  I enjoy being able to make dinner with what ingredients may be kicking around the house.  It always starts with a classis pizza dough recipe, I have been making this since I was 12:

Pizza Dough

2 1/2 cups of flour
1 tbsp instant yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup of warm water

Sift the dry ingredients together and add the oil and water.  Get your hands in there and mix untili combined and form into a ball.  Cover lightly with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot.  On top of a preheating oven works well.  In about 30 minutes you should have a nice, squishy ball of dough that easily forms on your pizza pan.  At this point you can basically cover it with whatever ingredients you most like on a pizza, bake at 400F for about 15-20 minutes.  Keep an eye on it in the later minutes to ensure you have bubbly cheese and a nice golden crust!

On our pizza tonight I put some ranch dressing as the sauce (you can thin it out with a little olive oil if you like), buffalo chicken (I ripped off some wings), tomatoes, jalapenos, peppers, and mozzarella cheese.

Dine-In only.