Spaghetti Love

My Grandma has been making this spaghetti sauce for ages, and it is the BOMB! I grew up eating it and I can say that I will be making this for my kids and grandkids. This is embarrassing  to mention, because I just built it up so, but I haven't actually made this before. Yikes. How could I have lived on my own for five years and not made this? Well, the answer is I was too lazy.  I was "too busy" to put in the effort. My mom invited Ryan (my hubby) and I over for dinner and when she mentioned spaghetti I thought, "YES! I can finally learn how to make this the right way from a pro."

I was so surprised at how easy the recipe really was. That got me thinking, maybe cooking is a lot less complicated than it seems. I think we as twenty-somethings are so prone to grab what's the fastest. We are hungry and we want to eat right away, so we just get fast food or grab a frozen pizza. Well I don't know about you, but I am really sick of frozen pizza. (Not to mention we're not 18 years-old anymore, our bodies can't handle frozen pizza and mac and cheese every other night. We need all the nutrients we can get. Besides, who doesn't want to save some of those tasteless calories for a good, cold beer after work?)

GOWER FAMILY SPAGHETTI SAUCE:

4 Tbls olive oil 
1 small onion chopped
1 small clove garlic chopped
2 Tbls chopped parsley
1/2 lb ground beef
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce 
1 can tomato juice (2 1/2 cups)
1 can tomato paste (2/3 cups)

Saute onion, garlic and parsley in olive oil until soft. Add meat and seasonings and cook until lightly browned. Blend in remaining ingredients and simmer for one hour, stir occasionally. 
Note: When the sauce is simmering it will make a mess, it will continue to splat all over your stove and floor. Partially cover it, but you don't want it to burn so be careful. 

WINE

Spaghetti is always best with some red wine. I don't know if you know this little secret, but Trader Joe's  has $3 bottles of wine! Woot, woot! It's actually really tasty wine too! Most liquor stores have bargain bins where you can find discounted wine as well, so grab a bottle. If you're feeling good (and rich), maybe go for the $10-15 wine! I usually go for a Merlot or a Cabernet but I urge you to try several different varieties until you find your favorite. 

Here it is. YUM, YUM, YUM. Get in my belly. You know when you taste something that you haven't had in so long and it just takes you back to a different time? Whenever I eat this I feel right, like all my twenty-something troubles have floated far, far away and I am so content.

Please try this recipe! Make a big batch to freeze or have friends over.

Love-
Bethany