Spaghetti Sauce

1 pound ground lean beef (or 1/2 pound mild Italian sausage & 1/2 pound ground beef)
1 small sweet onion (or 1/2 large), diced
1 T garlic, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 large can tomatoes, diced
2 cans tomato sauce
1 t oregano
1 t basil
1 t thyme
1 T brown sugar, packed
1 t Worcestershire sauce
1 bay leaf
1 cube beef bouillon (or 1 t salt)

Brown ground beef and add remaining ingredients. Cook until flavors and well blended. Add extra of whichever seasonings you think are needed. You can place in a crock pot on low to keep warm while you cook the noodles or wait for company.

Serve with Caesar salad and garlic bread and Parmesan cheese.

Garlic and Cheese Orzo

This recipe was originally found on the Rachel Ray website.

• 1/2 pound orzo, regularor whole wheat
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
• 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley (about a handful)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

Fill a large pot with water and place over high heat to boil the pasta. When the water reaches a bubble, season it with a pinch of salt and drop in the pasta. Cook to al dente, according to the package directions, then drain and reserve.

When the pasta is ready, place a large skillet over medium heat with the butter. Add the garlic to the pan and cook until aromatic and tender, about 1 minute. Add the cooked pasta, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and parsley to the pan, season with pepper and toss to thoroughly combine. 

Easy & Delicious Lasagna

1 box oven-ready lasagna noodles
1 lb ground sirloin*
1 T butter or margarine
1/2 c onion, diced
1 clove or 1 t garlic, minced or crushed
1 (28 0z) can crushed tomatoes
1 T oregano
1/2 t basil
1/2 t thyme
1 bay leaf
1 T brown sugar
2 T red wine
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
2 pints fat free cottage cheese
1/2 c Parmesan cheese
1 T parsley
1 egg
2 c or 1 lb mozarella cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brown ground sirloin and set aside. (If using more fatty kind of ground beef, drain off grease.) In same pan, saute onion and garlic in butter. Return meat to the pan and heat through. Add in tomatoes, oregano, basil, thyme, bay leaf, brown sugar, red wine, salt & pepper. Cook about 10 minutes until hot and bubbly. Remove from heat. In a small bowl, combine cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, parsley and egg. Mix well. Layer according to package directions. Cover and cook for 40 min to 1 hour until hot and bubbly and pasta is completely done. Serve with Favorite Tossed Salad and your choice of salad dressings.

*For a Vegetarian version, simply leave out the ground sirloin.

Minestrone Soup

1 lb ground sirloin
½ c onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T olive oil
2 carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 (15 ½ oz can crushed or diced tomatoes)
2-3 cans beans (1 black, 1 chili, 1 kidney)
1 (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 t oregano
1 t basil
1 t thyme
1 bay leaf
½ t salt
¼ t black pepper
1 small package cheese filled tortellini

Brown ground sirloin (if you used a fattier ground beef, drain the grease). Separately, sauté onion and garlic in olive oil. Mix all ingredients and cook until carrots are crisp-tender and tortellini is done. Serves 8-10.

By S. E. Thomas

Rigatoni with Roasted Chicken & Sweet Peppers

1/2 lb rigatoni, cooked & drained
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 roasted chicken (to save time, pick up a roasted chicken from Publix Deli, or you could substitute canned chicken meat.)
1 TBS chopped garlic
1/2 red sweet pepper, julienned (to save time here, you could sub the pre-cut zucchini from Publix & change the recipe name to Chicken & Zucchini!)
1/2 yellow sweet pepper, julienned
3 TBS basil, chopped
salt to taste
crushed red pepper to taste
romano cheese, grated (or parmesan)

Remove the skin from the chicken & debone the meat.
Cut the meat into julienne strips (or tear it apart!).
Heat the olive oil in a large pan.
Add the peppers and cook about 7min until softened.
Add all of the ingredients except the cheese; saute for 2 min.
Add the pasta & toss.
Serve with the cheese.

Serves 4.