I'm going to attempt an entry while two of my three children sleep. Murphy has a bad cold and has only been taking 1 hour naps since she coughs too much to actually sleep. So hopefully while she sits in my lap, she won't have the urge to type herself. She has stopped asking for me to bring up Mickey Mouse, so I think I am safe for now.
I am having a spaghetti dinner party with friends on Saturday and turned to my handy-dandy N'Awlins cookbook thinking there would be several Ferrara family Italian favorites. Much to my chagrin, all I found was Uncle Sam's recipe for meatballs. So, I have two questions, which I'm sure a Ferrara can answer for me. How many meatballs does that recipe make? And second, does anyone have a meatless marinara recipe. I have several vegetarians coming. My spaghetti sauce recipe has meat in it. It's a fabulous recipe and unfortunately needs the meat to make it fabulous. Any submissions would be greatly appreciated.
Next weekend is a big hockey tournament on Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis. I think Aunt Ginnie took some of you to that lake when you visited for the reunion last year. Anyway, Daniel is playing in the tournament with some other "ex"hockey players. However, with the warm weather we've been having the Pond Hockey Tournament may have to be cancelled. For once, I actually hope the weather dips below 32 for an extended period of time, so we can get a frozen "pond" for some good hockey spectating. For those of you around next weekend, look out for Daniel on the ice.
One last request, I need Sue's boot camp method on potty training. Murphy has been ready to go since 18 months and I have had to put her off because of the twins. I've got the twins pretty well trained to hang out for extended periods of time without me holding them, so I thought I'd give it a go. And if the rumors are true about your method, I should only be purchasing toddler diapers for a short amount of time.
Mollie's Meatless Marinara Sauce
2 c browned Ground Boca Burger Recipe Basics
veggie broth
2 c chopped onion
1 green pepper, diced
2 tsp basil
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp salt
13 oz can tomatoes
6 oz can tomato paste
1 Tbsp honey
lots of black pepper
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
In the veggie broth, simmer the onion, green pepper, herbs, and salt over
medium heat until onion is soft.
Add tomatoes, tomato paste, honey, and black pepper. Bring to a boil, then
lower heat and simmer partially covered for 20 min.
Add Boca Burger and garlic. Simmer about 10 more min.
After making this, I'll never go back to sauce in a jar! I make big batches
and keep plenty on hand in the freezer. It's also a great topper for broiled
eggplant.
Mary -- I typed in the words "meatless marinara sauce" up there in the address, and this popped up. I have no idea what Boca Burger is, but the title says, "meatless" so I'm guessing it's something in a can or box. See if it sounds good to you. If not, do you ever go to "epicurious.com" for recipes? There are thousands there and I've found some really good ones, and besides that, it makes for good reading. Let me know what you think.
I used to go to that site a lot, but forgot about it. I tried Foodandwine.com but you need a magazine sub to get their recipes now.
I love Boca Burgers and will try this out.
Do you know how many meatballs Uncle Sam's meatball recipe makes?
Mary,
Please submit your Fabulous spaghetti sauce recipe too. Mine is ok but maybe could use some "spicing up". Thanks
I'm not sure. I made a pot recently (first time in a long time) and it seems to me there were 20 or 25. If you want to add another pound or two of ground beef, you wouldn't have to throw any away because they freeze nicely. Good luck.
I just made my dad's meatballs two days ago. We ate it the last two nights and will probably put the rest in the freezer. A lot of times we eat the meatballs on french bread for a delicous meatball po-boy. I usually get about 30-35 meatballs out of mine. I don't make huge meatballs, maybe about a golf ball and a half (don't make fun of my measurements- I was terrible at estimation in school). In my dad's recipe book, in the miscellaneous section, there's a recipe called "Sam's EZ spaghetti sauce". It uses a McCormack's pack of seasoning and tomato paste. He doctored it up a little bit, but it doesn't use any meat. Let me know if you have that recipe or if you would like me to print it here.
I didn't see that one. I'll check it out. I never follow a recipe exactly. When I give a friend a recipe they always ask for the Mary Tompkins method. Although it's hard to say what I may change that time. I love to experiment.
I'll let you know what I come up with. Maybe I'll use a combo of mine, the EZ recipe and the meatless marinara. You can't really go wrong with spaghetti sauce. I'm going to make the meatballs tomorrow. I'll post my meat sauce. Let me know if anyone wants a hard copy to add to their cookbook. Apparently, I was supposed to do that anyway. Oops. I'm just a few years late.
Mary,
I have a good side dish that goes very well with spaghetti. I'm sure someone out there knows this recipe already,but I'll post it just in case.
Its real easy, and I don't measure anything. Its called green bean/artichoke casserole.
I use 3 cans of french styled green beans, drained, to one can of artichokes, drained and pureed. Mix those together, add approx. one and a half cups of Italian bread crumbs, one cup of Parmesarn cheese, lots of garlic, then add olive oil to moisten. The more cans of beans/artichokes, the more mix you add. Cook in the oven until its bubbly and brown on top. It tastes like stuffed artichokes!
(not responsible for misspelled words)
Enjoy!