Spaghetti sauce is a good weeknight meal because you can go from idea to table in 30 minutes. You don’t need to buy the expensive prepared sauces from the grocery and can make a better sauce at home almost as quick. We’ve seasoned our sauce in the recipe below using McCormick Spaghetti Sauce Mix, but you can feel free to replace the mix with 1/4 to 1/2 tsp basil leaves, 1/4 to 1/2 tsp oregano leaves, 1/8 tsp black pepper, and about 2 tbsp whole wheat or white flour [as a thickener]. We simply find the mix is a little easier to use as all of the ingredients are in the proper proportions already. Note in the pictured recipe we used whole wheat spaghetti noodles for the pasta.

Spaghetti Sauce Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup finely diced onion
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup finely diced green pepper
• 1/2 tsp chopped garlic
• 1/3 cup McCormick Spaghetti Sauce Mix
  
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 can water
• 1 can mushroom stems & pieces
• Grated Parmesean Cheese

To make Spaghetti Sauce

1. Brown the ground beef in a 3 quart non-stick sauce pan. Drain any grease.
2. Add the diced onion, and pepper to the ground beef and simmer about 4 – 5 minutes until onion is translucent.
3. Add the tomato sauce and water, mix in McCormick Spaghetti Sauce Mix, and stir well.
4. Simmer to spaghetti sauce, stirring often at least 10 minutes, until desired thickness is reached.
5. While the spaghetti sauce is simmering, prepare your favorite pasta noodles according to directions on package.
6. Add mushrooms last, stir, and serve with spaghetti noodles, grated Parmesean cheese and garlic bread.

Garlic Bread

• Any white bread or rolls. We use 2 sub rolls, tops and bottoms.
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 1 tsp chopped garlic
• Grated Parmesean Cheese

1. Cut butter in small 1/4 – 1/2 slices and place in a pyrex cup.
2. Microwave the butter about 10 – 15 seconds at a time until butter is melted.
3. Add chopped garlic and stir well.
4. Let the butter garlic mix sit about 5 mintues. Stir.
5. Meanwhile, preheat broiler and place a layer of aluminum foil on a cookie sheet.
6. Place bread on sheet, and spoon and try to evenly spread top of bread with the butter garlic mix. Be careful not to add too much garlic to any single slice of bread. If making a large amount of garlic bread you can double the garlic butter quanities as required.
7. Spinkle top with grated Parmesean cheese and broil about 1 minute. Watch carefully as this will burn quick.

Since it’s Saint Patrick’s Day today, we thought we re-share a favorite recipe of ours, Old Bay Seasoned Corn Beef and Cabbage. We shared our unique and different recipe here with our original post to the blog back in December. Our staff had been considering making a different recipe for corned beef and cabbage to share today, but in the end we decided our recipe using our favorite seasoning (Old Bay) is so good it was best just to re-visit our original and classic recipe.

The picture to the right shows the recipe for Old Bay Corned Beef and Cabbage in a dutch oven all prepared and ready to cook. Note the tea ball in the center of the pot. It contains the pickling spices is a neat trick to keep the mustard seeds in the pickling spices from spreading throughout the pot, yet lets the pickling spices season the food.

This is a delicious and fairly easy to make recipe for Beef Stew. Since the recipe includes Adolph’s Tenderizer, you can use the tastier (and tougher) cuts of meat to make this beef stew, such as chuck or brisket. The Adolph’s Tenderizer combined with slow cooking will break down the tough fibers in the chuck or brisket, and make for a tender meal.

Beef Stew Recipe Ingredients

• 1 – 1/2 lbs beef for stew
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp Adolphs Tenderizer
• 1 tbsp Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
• Canola oil
• 1 tbsp Worcershire Sauce
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 2 tsps beef base
• 4 cups water
• 1 can diced tomatoes or whole crushed tomatoes with juice
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 small cans sliced mushrooms
• 1 1/2 cups baby carrots, sliced
• 2 medium potatoes, diced

To make Beef Stew

1. Put flour, tenderizer and seasoned salt in plastic bag and mix together.
   Place beef in bag and toss to evenly coat beef.
2. Heat canola oil in large dutch oven. Place beef in oil and brown, stirring to cook all sides.
3. Add celery and onion to the dutch oven. Cook about 5 minutes or until onion is translucent.
4. Add Worcershire sauce, tomatoes, beef base, and water; mix thoroughly.
5. Bring to a boil and then add bay leaves, mushrooms, carrots, and potatoes.
6. Simmer the beef Stew for 2-3 hours.
7. You adjust consistency and make a little thicker with a little water and cornstarch mixed together and then adding to Beef Stew. Stir, and cook for 10 minutes more, stirring a few more times.
8. Serve Beef Stew with hot biscuits or corn muffins.

We started out today planning to prepare Cajun Dirty Rice but didn’t have many of the ingredients on hand so we decided to improvise and make something similar. This recipe for Cajun Ground Beef and Rice is probably more healthy since it uses lean ground beef instead of chicken livers and gizzards that’s in Dirty Rice. In the end we came up with a great meal, so we’re sharing it here. The principle seasonings in this dish are Cajun Seasoning and Tabasco Sauce but the celery, onion, and green pepper certainly contibute to the great taste.

Cajun Ground Beef and Rice Recipe

Precook the basmati rice

This recipe requires precooked basmati rice. We cook this first and refrigerate it so that the basmati rice stays together when combined with the Cajun Beef during the final steps of the recipe.

• 1 cup uncooked basmati rice
• 1 can chicken broth

1. A standard can of prepared chicken broth contains about 2 cups of broth. Pour into a sauce pan, and bring to a boil.
2. Add 1 cup basmati rice, and return to boil.
3. Cover and cook about 12-14 minutes until all broth has been absorbed by the basmati rice.
4. Remove from heat, allow to cool, and refrigerate.

Make the Cajun Beef Recipe

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 2 tsp chopped garlic or about 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 green pepper, chopped fine
• 1 stalk celery, chopped fine
• 1 onion, chopped fine
• 1 1/2 tsp McCormick Cajun Seasoning
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 tsp Tabasco Sauce
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 1 scallion, chopped fine

1. Place 1 tbsp canola or olive oil in a large non-stick skillet, along with 1 pound lean ground beef. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until beef is cooked through.
2. Add diced onion, diced pepper, chopped garlic, and chopped celery. Cook, stirring frequently for 3 – 5 minutes or until vegetables begin to turn translucent.
3. Add Cajun Seasoning, chicken broth, and Tabasco Sauce. Stir well, then cook 30 – 45 minutes, stirring often, until broth thickens.
4. Add fresh ground pepper, chopped scallion, along with basmati rice. Mix carefully until rice separates into individual grains, and then cook until rice warms.
5. Enjoy. Add more Cajun Seasoning at the table as desired. This isn not a hot seasoned recipe as prepared.