Delicious!

Last week I made our traditional, once a week spaghetti. I love spaghetti. In fact, when I was pregnant with Sophie, I craved spaghetti. Thankfully, the kids love it, too.

We have a few food issues at our house. The hubby has bad acid reflux, so whatever I make can't be spicy or filled with a lot of flavorful spices...even if they're not "hot". Sophie has a food allergy of chicken, green beans, and broccoli. Every kid's dream, right?! Well, she actually likes all of those things. She can have them individually, but it was recommended that she didn't have them in combination with one another. The only two vegetables that Isaac will eat right now are tomatoes and corn. I still put other veggies on his plate, hoping his palate will change over time, but right now he's sticking to his guns. I even try to disguise some of the veggies, but he still figures it out. So with all of these "issues", making meals is often a challenge for me. It's hard to think creatively when all I really want to do is make something everyone will eat...and find it on sale! Praise the Lord that spaghetti works for everyone.

So we ate spaghetti and ice cream and Isaac says, "mmmmm....delicious." Except his "delicious" comes out..."alicious"...or something like that. I think it's so cute. So I grabbed the camera and tried to get him to say it again. I was so glad to catch it. It wasn't as long this time, but you get the jist of it.

I thought I'd also tell you how I make my spaghetti. It's easy...and pasta sauce and noodles are often on sale, so I always have some on hand. I start with a garlic clove, chopped, and 1 small onion or half of a large onion, chopped. I get those started in a warm pan with some olive oil. I sautee them for a minute or so and then I add my meat. We like ground turkey, ground beef, or even chicken (cut into chunks). I cook all of that together until my meat is done. The I strain it all together and wipe out my pan with a paper towel (just to get that extra grease out). Then I pour it all back in and add about a jar of spaghetti sauce. By this point, my noodles are cooking in some salted water. I let my sauce simmer and I add a little red wine vinegar to it along with a little ketchup (my mom does both of those and it gives it a little kick and some extra sweetness). When my noodles are done, the sauce is usually done, too. Another good side is some toast. I put some butter on some bread (French works really well) and then sprinkle it with a little Hidden Valley Ranch powder. If you pre-mix the powder and butter it works even better, but you know...sometimes I just want to do it fast. Then I pop it in the toaster or oven and I've got some ranch bread...good stuff! Hey...I know it's not gourmet, but it's definitely how we roll at our house! Enjoy!