Impress Me Spaghetti

Anyone who cooks can tell you that a solid home-cooked meal is a surefire way to seal the deal with a date. If you have a date coming up, and you want to impress them, invite them over for some dinner, a bottle of wine, and thank me later. Even if you don't cook often, or don't think you are a good cook, you can do this. I'll hold your hand along the way.

I cooked this spaghetti for James on one of our first dates, and now we are getting married. I like to believe he fell in love with my witty intellect, superior personality, and stellar good looks. However, I think it was my cooking.

This is a modified version of the way my dad taught me to make my own spaghetti sauce. I love this dish for so many reasons other than dates too. Group dinners, meals with the in-laws, holidays, you name it. This dish is easy to modify for large groups and everyone will be very impressed by your cooking skills.



Cheesy Factor (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): 1 (other than some sprinkled parmesan, which you can omit)
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): 4
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): 4

Spaghetti
1 Tbl olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onions
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 large can (30 oz I think?) of crushed tomatoes, drained
1 small can of mushrooms, drained
2 Tbl crushed pineapple
1 tsp dried basil (or 1 Tbl fresh basil, chopped)
1/2 tsp dried oregano (or 1/2 Tbl fresh oregano)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Italian sausage, cooked, drained (optional)0 I like to use turkey italian sausage and cook out of casing
Spaghetti noodles, cooked in boiling water, drained.

Cook spaghetti noodles as directed. In a large pan, add 1 Tbl olive oil to pan over medium-low heat. Add onions and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook until soft and onions translucent. Add crushed tomatoes, mushrooms, pineapple, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Mix together and simmer for 20 minutes. Serve sauce over noodles. (If making meat sauce, add ground, cooked italian sausage at the end, simmer for another 5 minutes, then serve.)

(Note: make sure to continually taste the sauce while it is simmering. If you like it sweeter, add more crushed pineapple. If you want stronger herb flavors, add more basil and oregano. If you like a little bit of spice, add more pepper, or even some crushed red pepper. ) And beware of splattering while simmering. You can use a lid on the pan or a screen if you have one.

This is really easy and it's actually fun and rewarding to make your own spaghetti sauce. You can freeze the leftover sauce too and use later. Serve with some garlic bread and a caesar salad and you are all set.

Party Pinwheels

My nana and papa have a Christmas Eve party for my dad's side of the family every year. And every year, my nana makes these things she calls "pinwheels" and they are, basically, little wraps full of cream cheese and diced veggies. They may not sound that exciting, but they are. Trust me.

I probably should have posted this recipe before the 4th of July, in case some of you needed an idea for an appetizer or dish-to-pass for your 4th of July BBQs and parties. Oops. But I would definitely take them to your next party or barbeque and I promise all guests will be thanking you.

Although, you should know that you guests will also hate you because it is impossible to stop eating them. And since they are mostly cream cheese, you're bound to be angry at yourself after you finish the batch.


Cheesy Factor (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): 9
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): 4
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): 4

Party Pinwheels
2 8-oz packages of cream cheese, softened
1 package Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix
2 green onions
4 12" flour tortillas
1/2 cup diced red peppers
1/2 cup diced celery
1 small can black olives, drained and diced

Mix all ingredients, spread on tortilla, roll and wrap tightly. Repeat with other 3 tortillas. Put on plate in fridge and chill. Right before serving, slice into 1/2 inch pieces.


So good. So so good.

Cheesy-Potatoes. Fat-free, Calorie-free, Meatless.

I just can't help myself but share this wonderfulness with the world: Cheesy Potatoes! We are going to have these at our wedding, even, they are that good. They are so delicious and so easy. And soooo NOT good for you. But if you tell yourself over and over that they are fat-free and calorie-free, you will soon believe it.


Cheesy Factor (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): 7
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): 1
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): 6


Cheesy Potatoes
1 bag frozen hash brown potatoes (country-style)
1 stick of butter (sliced into 1/2 or 1 in pieces)
1 bag of shredded cheddar cheese (2 cups)
1 can of Cream of Chicken soup
1 16 oz container of sour cream
Casserole dish

Preheat oven to 375 deg. Mix all ingredients together in casserole dish. Cook in oven for 1-1.5 hours (at least an hour, but also until top has a little golden brown to it).

Finger, fork, bowl-licking good. And once again, good for breakfast with side of scrambled eggs.

Variations:
- Vegetarian: So, I make these for my vegetarian friends, and I don't tell them that one of the ingredients is Cream of Chicken soup, and they never know the difference. So, sorry, herbivores, but there is, in fact, a meat-flavored product in this. But you haven't noticed by now, so don't worry about it. If you now feel the need to make a change, I have to say you are being ridiculous, but if you must, use Cream of Mushroom soup instead of Cream of Chicken soup. Weirdo.
- Lower Fat: I can't exactly call this version "low-fat", so we will call it "lower, fat". Instead of butter, use margarine. Instead of Cream of Chicken soup, use the fat-free Cream of Chicken Soup. Instead of sour cream, use light or fat-free sour cream. But whatever you do, don't skimp out on the cheese. Leave the cheese be.

4th of July and Hot-Dog Meatloaf

The 4th of July in HB was amazing! We had a great BBQ at our house, complete with the red rocket (our red beer bong). Then a bike ride to our friend Javier's to watch the fireworks over the HB pier. It was so amazing. However, I am not feeling so great today, thanks to the red rocket, and thus, will probably be posting lots of recipes until I feel better.

I love meatloaf. My mom and dad's meatloaf (I actually can't remember whether my mom or my dad made this, so I will give them both credit). It's pretty easy to make and it is absolutely delicious, but don't be scared when you see it because it looks strange when you take it out of the oven, that's just how it is. I always serve it with brown gravy and smashed redskins. Oh, and there is no ketchup in this meatloaf. And if you try to put ketchup on it or in it, I will kill you.


Cheesy Factor (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): 0 Blah!
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): 4
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): 5

Mom and Dad's Meatloaf
1 lb lean ground beef (ground round?)
1 cup onions, minced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 eggs
1/2 cup milk
4 slices of bread
2 Tbl Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbl A-1 sauce
Small loaf pan or tinfoil
1 can or jar of beef gravy with mushrooms (optional)

Preheat oven to 375. In a large mixing bowl, combine the meat, onions, garlic, 1 egg, milk, Worcestershire sauce, and A-1 sauce. Tear bread slices into little crumbs into bowl with other ingredients. Mix together with hands (if consistency is too dry, add a little more milk, if it's too runny, add more bread, if not sticking together, add egg), and mold into loaf shape. Put meat mixture into loaf pan (or use tinfoil to make your own loaf pan). Put into oven for 1 hour. After an hour, just check the center of the loaf to see consistency (if loaf looks like it could be sliced, take out of oven, if still pink color at all, or crumbly, put back into oven for 20 minutes). Serves 4 normal people. Or 2 really really hungry people.


This actually sounds way more difficult than it is. I happen to like my meatloaf a little on the "fall-apart" side because is it super super moist. Keep in mind that the more fat in the meat, the more grease you will have in your loaf pan while cooking, and you may want to drain off the top of the loaf here and there while cooking. I prefer to use ground round, as it is a little more lean. You could try turkey burger too for a "turkeyloaf". Oh, and you can buy a loaf pan super cheap, or even better, disposable loaf pans for like $2 for a 3-pack.

This isn't the prettiest meatloaf by any means, but trust me when I say it's delicious, even though it looks strange. Just cover it up in yummy gravy. Oh, and do yourself a favor, don't try to make your own gravy. Just buy a can or a jar of it, they are super good and it saves you a lot of work.



Cheesy Factory (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): 2
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): 2
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): 4

Smashed Red-Skin Potatoes
2 red-skin potatoes per person
Sour Cream
Milk
Parmesan Cheese

Boil red skins until soft. Drain water from pot, put potatoes back in pot. Add a spoon-full of sour cream for each potato. Add a dash of milk, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Using a masher (or fork if not using a non-stick pan), smash the mixture together (add more milk for smoother consistency). Serve hot.


If you don't have a masher tool, get one. You can buy one at the grocery store for like $5. They are awesome. Pampered Chef has something called a "mixer" tool I think, and it works great for this too.


Random note: Filipino Meatloaf
My fiance is Filipino. And for whatever reason, Filipinos put hot-dogs in everything, including meatloaf. My soon-to-be father-in-law make a meatloaf, that I'm not even sure is meat to begin with, but it has peas, hard-boiled eggs, hot-dogs, etc. It's more like a left-overs loaf where you put whatever you have laying around into a "meatloaf".

So what can you take away from this?? If you want to master your own meatloaf, put whatever ingredients you want into it. The basis for any meatloaf is meat, bread (or breadcrumbs), milk and eggs. Everything else is up to you! And from the Left-Overs Queen, here's an idea: if you have leftover hot-dogs from the 4th of July, put 'em in your meatloaf! Ha!