Ready, Set, COOK!

I've been on somewhat of a cooking spree these past few days. I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that The Boy has been complaining about me not cooking.

I just hate getting home from work between 5:15 and 5:45, depending on how late I work, having to fix dinner, and eat around 7 or later. I go to sleep usually around 10, so I end up feeling like I'm going to bed on a full stomach.

So, Saturday night and Sunday morning, I made a bolognese sauce to have for dinner last night, a caramel apple cheesecake, a lemon cake, and a green bean casserole for A's party on Sunday afternoon. The cheesecake and the casserole turned out divinely. The lemon cake was a little drier than I like it, mostly because I used a brand new pan and I should have kept a closer eye on it while it was baking. I used the traditional green bean casserole recipe, but I added a few strips of crumbled up bacon, which just made it SO much better. It worked out, too, because I had leftover bacon from the bolognese sauce and I was looking for a way to use it so I didn't have to freeze it.

Tonight, I'm making meatloaf. I'm stealing an idea from a cooking show I watched on Public Television the other day and I'm adding sauteed baby portabella mushrooms, sauteed leeks, and some finely grated parmesan cheese to the meatloaf. I'm excited to see how it turns out. I'm also going to make a pot of rice and vegetables so I can make fried rice for my dinner tomorrow since it'll just be me and I've been craving homemade fried rice. I might need to get some more eggs, though.

I've been having the oddest dreams lately. I woke up out of a dead sleep around 4 this morning because I dreamt that I got a phone call from the clerical supervisor at work (not even my supervisor or another supervisor), asking if I was going to be in by 6:30 because everyone else in my unit had called out sick. I also had a dream that I was pregnant. I've heard that when you dream that you're pregnant, it usually means there's a big change coming in your life...I'm not sure what that could be at this point, but we'll see. It's proven mostly true when I've dreamt in the past that I was pregnant.

I've had the most killer heartburn for the past few days. I'm hoping it'll go away with liberal application of yogurt and Tums. Of course, it probably doesn't help that I'm sitting here eating leftover spaghetti bolognese as I write this...but it tastes even better the next day! My mom always used to take leftover spaghetti and heat it in a pan with canned chili beans and make chili spaghetti. It was a childhood favorite, but I'm pretty sure that would ruin my enjoyment of this sauce.

Anyway, I'll stop raving and give you the approximation of my recipe. :)

Bolognese Sauce (remember, almost all of my measurements are approximate!)

1 1/2 lb ground meat (I used turkey and recommend something equally low in fat)
3 slices of thick cut bacon, cut into 1/2-1" pieces
2 med-lg carrots, diced
2 med-lg celery stalks, diced
1 med-lg yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 c. milk
1 c. white wine (I just used some Sauvignon Blanc that I had on hand)
1/4 c. tomato paste
1 (29 oz) can tomato sauce
2 c. chicken stock
2 bay leaves
Oregano
Thyme
Basil
Salt
Pepper

In a heavy saucepan or dutch oven, cook bacon until crisp.

Add carrots, celery, onion, and garlic and sweat vegetables until they're tender.

Add meat and brown

Stir in tomato paste until evenly distributed

Add wine and 1 c. of milk. Simmer until it's reduced by 1/2.

Add tomato sauce, bay leaves, and chicken stock and season to taste.

Simmer while stirring every 20 minutes or so until sauce has reduced by almost 1/2 and is thick.

Stir in 1/2 c. of milk.

I almost always use milk in my spaghetti sauce because it cuts the acidity of the tomato sauce. I really liked that the natural sugar in the carrots was enough to counteract the bitterness of the canned tomato sauce and I didn't end up having to add any extra sugar. With the sauce from this recipe and a little over 1 lb of spaghetti noodles, I had enough spaghetti to feed myself, The Boy, and The Munchkin last night, for lunch today, and probably another dinner and lunch later this week. I haven't tried, but I think the sauce would probably freeze pretty well, also.

Happy Eating!