Eggplant Marinara

This fabulous sauce is unbelievable, hearty, and rich and the eggplant soaks up the flavors around it!

This marinara can be made with ground beef or without, so even though I have beef in mine, I tagged it with the meatless tag because it can be made without! I have been trying to convince the hubby and two eldest kiddos that eggplant can be good. I had a failed soggy fried eggplant sandwich recipe that the kids will never let me live down...ever. I am obsessed with eggplant parmesan and I'm still trying to find the perfect recipe for that. But if I make something with eggplant at this point, I have to make sure it tastes incredible and I did it!

I slow-simmered the sauce and made sure it was seasoned well. It was so delicious and my family didn't realize it was eggplant! Nick assumed it was zucchini, so I definitely was really excited about how I was able to trick them all into eating it and NOT complaining. If you want to hide it a little more discretely, you can easily puree the marinara (without the ground beef) with an immersion blender! I personally loved the texture of the eggplant.

Easy Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce #SundaySupper

This spaghetti sauce is simple to put together and throw into the crockpot. It simmers on low for a few hours to maximize all the flavors and make for a killer sauce!

It's time for another #SundaySupper day and today's theme is Budget Friendly Meals. I think many of us like to spend as little money as possible, right? And it's nice to have a large repertoire of delicious recipes that don't break the bank. Today's event is hosted by Shelby of Grumpy's Honeybunch and Caroline of Caroline's Cooking.

My mind immediately went to spaghetti when I heard the event's theme. We didn't have a lot of money when I was a kid, so my mom always cooked very budget-friendly dishes. I had it more times than I can count growing up and I have yet to get sick of it. I have always said that if I could pick my last meal on earth, it would be spaghetti. So I am sharing one of my absolute favorite recipes for spaghetti sauce - it's semi-homemade and simmers in the crockpot. Spaghetti sauce, much like soup and chili, seems to get better with time and the longer you can simmer it, the better.

What I really love about this recipe is that there is room to switch it up a bit. You can add different veggies into it or seasonings or even change which prepared spaghetti sauces you add in. You can go with sweet, mild, or spicy Italian sausage. And no one is going to police you if you don't serve it over spaghetti pasta - elbow macaroni, rotini, or in a lasagna - that's up to you! If you prefer to make sauce from scratch instead of using prepared spaghetti sauces, I have a recipe for that too.

Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce

I used to be a Prego girl (not pregnant, but spaghetti sauce brand). It's what I grew up eating with spaghetti and it's what I used for a good few years of my adult life. Then I began searching for the perfect homemade sauce. I had a few busts...and then I found my absolute favorite recipe for spaghetti sauce of all-time: Meaty Spaghetti Sauce.

It still is my favorite.

However, this recipe DOES come pretty close to touching that. AND this one is in the crockpot, meaning it's perfect for summer spaghetti nights. The other recipe is stovetop and simmers for about an hour. So I have one for hot and cold weather! Or lazy days :)

Nick, on the other hand, is in love with this recipe. He thinks it's hands-down the very best spaghetti sauce he's ever had and declared I could stop searching because we've found the very best recipe for spaghetti sauce ever. Gotta love when you find a recipe that is THAT good, right?!

Tasty Thursday #93: Cheese Sauce for Nachos and Fries

Truth be told, I can be a little snobby with foods. Velveeta is one of those foods that I'm not really a big fan of. I don't like how fake it tastes. I do love a good nacho cheese sauce, but if I think about what I'm eating I will lose my appetite. This recipe immediately had my attention when I saw there was no weird processed fake stuff in it. You have to eat it warm or perhaps keep it in a fondue warmer. That thing exists, right?

Meaty Spaghetti Sauce

I have been searching for the certain special spaghetti sauce that would make me swear away Prego forever and I finally found it. My husband had been on an Italian sausage kick, so I thought while he was in the field, I would try a spaghetti sauce with it and see how good/subpar it was. Unbelievable. It's the best I've ever eaten and I love spaghetti. My dying dish better be spaghetti or I will raise cane in the afterlife! I love that this also used turkey instead of ground beef and it was ultra meaty not ultra saucy! :)

NY Strip Steaks with Tarragon Melting Sauce

I messed up on the sauce a little by melting the butter beforehand...guess you're not supposed to do that. Your sauce is supposed to look like butter and then melt over your hot steak. Guess that's why it's called a melting sauce and not a melted sauce. :) It was still completely amazing though. I loved it. It actually tasted quite a bit like alfredo sauce.

(Printable Version)
Recipe from Paula Deen

What you need:

• 6 NY Strip Steaks (these were mighty small and expensive, so I used some other type...same price...and gigantic)

Marinade:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp. black pepper

Tarragon Melting Sauce:
(I quartered this recipe because I knew my husband and kids wouldn't touch it)

• 2 cups butter
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp. green onion, minced
• 1 tsp. dried tarragon
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp. lemon zest (used from the lemon above)
• 2 tsp. lemon juice (I was able to get this from the lemon I used above)
• 3 tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Directions:

1. Combine all marinade ingredients and place in a large ziploc bag or a bowl. Place steak in the marinade and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Cook by desired method until desired doneness is achieved. My husband grilled them to a medium-well or so.
3. While steak is cooking, mix together all the melting sauce ingredients and refrigerate.
4. Serve steak topped with 1 to 2 tbsp. of melting sauce.

And I'm also going to quickly share that we made my favorite grill side dish {and I got a picture of the finished product!} and kabobs. We made these kabobs with Italian dressing marinated chicken, fresh pineapple, and green and red bell peppers.

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Pam’s Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

While this isn’t completely homemade (spaghetti sauce mix), it is the closest that I have that tastes good. It also makes plenty of sauce, so I froze about 3/4 of what I made (after eating it for leftovers twice!). It's nice and thick - full of flavor!