Cooking Away on a Monday

 This weekend I sat down and planned out several meals that I can cook in the next couple of weeks so that I don't get into a dinner rut! Today I made 2 meatloaves....

 Ingredients are:

1lb ground beef
1lb ground turkey
1 packet onion soup mix
1/2 c ketchup
2 eggs
1c oatmeal
salt/pepper
splash of worcestershire sauce

I also added a minced zucchini and 1c of minced carrots to be sneaky! You bake at 350 for 1hr then let cool for about 10 minutes before slicing. The flavor was great (hubby didn't like it b/c he could SEE the veggies....) topped with a little more ketchup and we have tons of leftovers. I froze one of the loaves to eat later!

It was also time for me to make a batch of the Lazzaro spaghetti sauce! It is a bit labor intensive but oh so worth it! I always make a double batch so that I have plenty of leftovers to eat and freeze. I can make so many things with it including pasta, pizza, lasagna, baked pasta, goulash...YUM.

Over the years I have added my own little twist to the traditional recipe--after frying my tomato paste I deglaze the pan with some wine, pour that into the sauce, then saute the garlic in the same skillet. It adds such a great flavor!

My one pitiful basil plant made it thru the harsh summer and drought and I have been able to enjoy fresh basil in several dishes along the way. With the cold nights we have been having I knew it was time to finish harvesting what I could from it!

I was able to cut probably 2c of basil leaves that I washed and spun dry. They sat in the fridge for a couple days but today I finally got around to making a big batch of pesto!

It may not look like much but it smelled (and tasted) delicious and it made enough for 3 big pasta dishes. I will freeze this b/c I already have some {store bought} pesto in the fridge to use up. I didn't do anything fancy with it--it is just basil, garlic, nuts, salt, parm, and olive oil.

This is just one of many things that my mumsy and I have in common--our love of cooking! We share recipes all the time, cook at each other's houses, and share leftovers. We each put our own spin on certain things and can truly appreciate how much hard work goes into cooking a homemade meal all the time--not many people do!

In my eternal quest to be frugal, I like to try making things from scratch especially if it is cost-efficient and not too hard. For example, for the last couple of months I have been making my own loaves of bread b/c I know exactly what ingredients are in it and each loaf only costs maybe a quarter. Plus it smells so good! I also make my own chicken broth and it costs nothing to make b/c it is using a chicken carcass that would normally get thrown out!

That's it for now, thanks for reading! Next post will be about our Halloween adventures!