The Super Secret Meaty Spaghetti Sauce Recipe!

For the first time I used ground turkey and browned it up to wonderful amazing perfection!

my sauce before stirring the seasons in.

Meat added into sauce and then cooked on low for 5-6 hours in a crock pot.

Special note: if making the following recipe in a crock pot either lower the amount of water or add in more tomato paste. As this was my first time making it in the crock pot so the first serving was a little more watery than desired.

Meat Sauce

2- 12 oz cans Tomato Paste

2 Quarts water 

(if cooking in a crock pot either add one more 12 oz can or 2 cups less water)

2 bay leaves

1 Tbls oregano

1 Tbls Basil

1 Tbls parsley

1 Tbls Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp rosemary

1/8 tsp Special Ingredient

 sliced olives

 mushrooms if desired (I hate fungus but for those that like it)

Grated Parmesan Cheese as a topping right before serving.

Cooking and spicing the meat 

Ground beef or Ground Turkey (1-2 pds)

Garlic powder

onion powder

celery salt

black pepper

Special secret ingredient

crushed red pepper

season all

Cook meat with spices until browned, draining all extra fluids then add meat into sauce.

Cover tightly simmer 2 hours stirring occasionally. Remove cover (if cooking on stove top - if crock potting change fluid ratio and keep lid on.)

cook on low another 2-4 hours stirring occasionally. Remove bay leaves. Cook spaghetti, serve together with cheese.

Makes 3-4 quarts enough for 4 pds of spaghetti. We normally bag up the extra and freeze. 

Freezing tip is to lay out the freezer baggies on a cookie sheet, freeze on cookie sheet in freezer that way it will lay flat and take up less room.

Pork Dinner and Couscous with Broccoli

Saturday's pre-Valentine Dinner was Pork Tenderloin with raspberry sauce served with a side of Lemon couscous with broccoli.
I will be doing another dinner for valentines day but this was wonderful and healthier too!

Lemon Couscous with broccoli

4 C fresh broccoli florets
1 Tbs9. olive oil
1 C uncooked whole wheat couscous
2 garlic cloves minced
1 1/4 C reduced sodium broth
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp coarsely ground pepper
1 Tbsp slivered almonds or pecans which I used

In a large skillet saute broccoli in oil until crisp-tender. Add couscous and garlic; saute 1-2 minutes longer. Stir in broth, lemon peel, lemon juice, salt, basil and pepper. Bring to a boil remove from heat, cover and let stand for 5-10 min. Fluff with fork sprinkle with nuts and serve.

Pork Tenderloin with Raspberry Dijon Sauce

1 pork tenderloin (1lb) cut into 1/2 slices
1 tsp garlic pepper blend
2 tsp canola oil
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp Dijon mustard

Flatten pork slices to 1/4 (I beat mine a little but left them thicker) sprinkle with pepper blend. In a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat, cook pork in oil in batches (or a really large pan) for 2-3 minutes on each side. If thicker like mine where the time is longer or until juices run clean.
Remove pork from pan and keep warm. In the same skillet add jam, vinegar, and mustard stirring to loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 1 minute or until thickened. Serve over pork.

The end result is the first picture (of course) Yum! This was amazing and I will be using the raspberry sauce for other meats as well!
This was a very tasty and wonderfully healthy meal. In fact my husband couldn't stop telling me how wonderful it was, if your stuck in a rut cooking the same things over and over again the tastiness of this meal breaks it up wonderfully!