Spaghetti!

We have completed week one of summer holidays and are on the brink of week two.

Having kids around all day is delightful. I love it. I love watching them read in the living room. I love when they come down the stairs at different intervals in the morning, their eyes heavy with sleep.

Feeding them has been a little surprising. How did I forget?  Lunchtime rolls around and I think, "Oh yeah, I have to feed them now. What am I going to feed them?" They hover in the kitchen with searching eyes, stealing glances at the cupboard, at the fridge, at me. They need food. They must have food.

I know spaghetti isn't a summer time food. Most think of spaghetti and dream up autumn leaves, cozy sweaters and simmering pots on a chilly day. I'm asking you to think of hungry children, heaping plates, low grocery bills and burps of gratitude.

Here are some recipes I've used in the past and thought I'd pass along to you.

First up is Ellie Krieger's Marinara.

I went searching for a meatless marinara somewhere along the way and when I stumbled on this one I was quite pleased. It has only a few ingredients and only has to simmer for thirty minutes. I've also used it as pizza sauce.

Next, after pleadings from Farmer Boy for meat, I found Giada De Laurentiis's Bolognese sauce.
I think bolognese means 'with meat' but I could be wrong.

This one also has few ingredients which I love. It incorporates some carrots and celery which I think is kinda groovy. I'm always slipping vegetables in whenever I can. I think I've even shredded some zucchini with this one and the kids never knew. The pecorino romano cheese makes this recipe really tasty.

Last but not least I found Pioneer Woman's recipe for spaghetti sauce.

This one is a whopper. She calls for five pounds of hamburger. I use one pound and then use about half or less of the other ingredients. This one calls for a jar of store bought spaghetti sauce and I do pour a whole jar in. I also add zucchini and sometimes cauliflower to this. Even though I use less than half the meat called for, and about half of the other ingredients, we always have leftovers which I usually freeze. The leftovers are enough to make another meal of spaghetti or a meal of this:

Easy Baked Pasta by Baked Bree.

This one fills them up. With the sauce already prepared, it is definitely easy to whip up and everyone in my house loves this. I do substitute the ricotta for cottage cheese which my family seems to like better.

Baked Bree also has a simple pizza sauce recipe that I love. You can find it here. I can whip this one up in a few minutes with my blender, make Pioneer Woman's Pizza crust, (actually the pizza crust gets made first and sits for at least an hour) which gives me enough dough for about three or four pizzas and watch everyone chow down.

I like watching them chow down.

It makes me smile.

Let me know if any of these work for you and your summer.

Have a great day.