Beefaroni from a can never tasted like THIS!!!!

When I was a little girl I loved the pastas in a can. Spaghetti O's - oh yes! Beef-a-roni- you betcha! Chef Boyardee was my bestest bud...until he wasn't. I swear one day I woke up and thought they were gross.

I tried twice to serve these instant meals to Blockette when she was a toddler. Each time she did not keep them down. Now, she was still having texture issues at the time, so that could have been the result of her gag reflex being triggered.  I wasn't about to test that theory out for a third time.

At least I wasn't tempted until I saw this recipe for a version of Homemade Beefaroni from Cooking During Stolen Moments.  It just sounded soooo good.

It had been years and years since Blockette had a major texture issue with food, and this recipe looked and sounded scrumptious. 

So I went ahead and made it.

The smell of the sauce cooking filled the house with the most mouth watering aroma.

  

Blockette took one bite and exclaimed, "Don't tell daddy you made this!  I don't want to share it with him!

I told her that Daddy would know right away we ate something good for dinner cause he'd get a whiff of the scrumptious smell as soon as he walked in the door.

Still, she did not want to share.

This picture was taken five minutes after I dished up her bowl.  I think she may have inhaled her dinner.

When she finished her meal, Blockette stated, "You know mom, I think I might like this beefaroni better that frozen pizza."

Whoa....

I asked her if she was sure, and her reply was, "Well...I think they are tied for first place."

There is one tiny bad thing about this dish.  It's not technically even a bad thing.  It's the leftovers. They don't taste nearly as awesome as the food right off the stove.  They are still really yummy, just not "better than pizza" good. 


Homemade Beefaroni from Cooking During Stolen Moments
1 lb. ground beef
2 14.5 oz cans tomato sauce (I used about 28 oz of pureed tomatoes from my garden)
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 c. water (I added a little bit more water than this as my tomato puree seemed a bit thick)
1 T. sugar
1 t. each garlic powder, salt and Italian seasoning
1/4 t. black pepper
1 lb. cooked pasta (I used ziti)

Brown ground beef in a sauce pan and drain. While the meat is browning, boil noodles. Once meat has browned, stir in remaining ingredients, except pasta. Simmer about 10 minutes, to let the flavors combine. Stir in the pasta until coated.

Even quicker and easier breadsticks

The Divine breadsticks from My Kitchen Cafe (now renamed Mel's Kitchen cafe) that I wrote about here, are my favorite. I had a bit of difficulty with them at first, but I worked the kinks out. Now that I have a pastry mat, they are even easier to make since they don't stick to my counter. These are some nice and poofy breadsticks. Of course they are nice and poofy, they have yeast in them.

While these breadsticks are easier and quicker to make than other recipes I've encountered, they do require a small amount of advance planning. They take 30 minutes to rise and 20 minutes to bake. So what do you do if it is dinner time, your family is starving, and you forgot to allow those 50 minutes?

Quick and easy breadsticks from Tammy's Recipes to the rescue! The leavening agent in these breadsticks is baking powder, so they don't need time to rise. These were a lifesaver when it was 5:30 and I realized I had not prepared the dough for the breadsticks to accompany our spaghetti dinner. If Blockette had to wait another 50 minutes for dinner, she was going to starve to death. Waste away. I couldn't stand 50 minutes of that drama. 20 minutes was much more palatable.

I made the garlic butter version.

These breadsticks are much quicker and easier than the My kitchen cafe ones, but they are pretty dense. Blockette said she liked these better, but I prefer the lighter fluffier version. The Divine breadsticks are still going to be my breadstick of choice, but it is good to know I have another option if I need to prepare some breadsticks quickly.

Quick and Easy Breadsticks from Tammy's Recipes
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine
1 tablespoon oil
3 cups flour (I use part whole wheat, part unbleached)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1-1 1/2 cups milk

Preheat oven to 425 F. Place butter and oil in 9×13 pan and put in oven so butter melts as the oven heats up. Be careful not to let it burn!Stir dry ingredients together, and gradually add milk, stirring until dough forms and leaves sides of bowl. Knead 5-6 times in bowl; place on floured countertop and roll out into 9×13-inch rectangle. Lay dough in pre-heated 9×13-inch pan, atop the melted butter/oil. Cut into 1/2″ strips. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.

Pizza Spaghetti

Wow! The creativity of my post titles are astounding aren't they? This is a bit hit with the Blockette. I like to make a double batch and freeze half. Here is my doubled version.
Pizza spaghetti adapted from http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Pizza-Spaghetti
1 lb gr beef
1 lb italian sweet turkey sausage removed from casings
1 cup chopped onion
1 29oz can tomato sauce
1 jar spaghetti sauce (you could use another can of tomato sauce and increase the spices)
6 oz pepperoni, halved, quartered or some of each
1 tsp dried basil (4 tsp fresh)
1 tsp dried oregano (4 tsp fresh)
1 tsp fennel seed
1 box of pasta (or 1/2 box if you are going to freeze half the sauce for later)
Shredded mozzerella and/or parmesean cheese to garnish

In a large non stick skillet, brown ground meat and onions. Drain the fat. Stir in the tomato/pasta sauce, pepperoni and spices. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered 20-25 minutes until thickened. Meanwhile, cook spaghetti. Drain pasta, toss with sauce. Top with cheese.

Blockette and I had No Knead Bread with this. You can see a half slice in the wonky photo above. I don't have a better picture because this was the last slice in the loaf. You can find the no knead bread recipe here: http://steamykitchen.com/blog/2007/09/10/no-knead-bread-revisited I'll take a photo of the whole loaf next time I make it.