Category Archives: Pasta

Spaghetti

November 1, 2016Ground Meat, Main Dishes, Pasta, Tasty Tuesdaygluten-free, ground meat, keto, tomato sauceLife of Joy

A tomato-based meat sauce with some of the acidity removed.

I’m going to share my “recipe” for spaghetti today. It’s one of those, not-really-a-recipe, kind of recipes though. My mom taught me to make this and she never used a recipe either.

Actually, I use this same sauce, with only slight changes, for lasagna too. Don’t be scared off by the zoodles (the green strands). This is my normal spaghetti sauce that I serve over angel hair pasta but since I’m on keto right now, we are having it over the strips of sauteed zucchini.

So this is super simple. Start by browning one pound of ground meat. I use ground turkey right now. Season with some salt and pepper. Add one 6 ounce can of tomato paste. Then fill the empty can with water and add it as well; add one more can of water and combine.

Mix it in well and add 16 ounces of plain tomato sauce.

Add a sprinkling of onion powder and a dash of garlic powder. Simmer.

Now the important thing is to add about 1/8th of a teaspoon of baking soda. Stir it around. It will bubble up and remove some of the acidicness. (Yeah, that’s probably not even a word. ) If you cook this in a cast iron skillet like I did, don’t let it simmer very long with the baking soda in it or it will darken on top. It doesn’t do this in any other skillet or pan that I know of.

Serve over pasta or zoodles or whatever you choose.

Here I added some sauted onions, peppers, and mushrooms on top, as well as shredded cheese. Once stirred altogether, it looks like this.

Spaghetti

Ingredients

1# ground meat
onion powder
garlic powder
salt
pepper
6 ounce can tomato paste
16 ounces canned tomato sauce
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
Shredded cheese or Parmesan cheese (optional)
1/3 cup diced green, red, orange, or yellow pepper (optional)
1/3 cup diced onion (optional)
1/2 cup diced mushrooms (optional)

Instructions

Brown the ground meat. (Can add the veggies to cook with the meat or saute separately.)
Season with salt and pepper.
Add tomato paste. Fill empty can with water (two times) and add to meat and tomato paste.
Add tomato sauce.
Sprinkle with onion powder and dash with garlic powder.
Bring to a simmer.
Add the baking soda.
Serve over zoodles or pasta.

https://lifeofjoy.me/spaghetti/

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

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Zoodles

September 27, 2016Main Dishes, Pasta, Side Dishes, Tasty Tuesdaygluten-free, ketoLife of Joy

Julienned strips of small zucchini, sautéed in oil or butter.

Today’s recipe is so simple that it isn’t really a recipe.

This is made from zucchini but I think you could use yellow squash too.

I wish I had one of those spiral veggie slicers because it seems like it would be a bit easier than the julienne peeler I have.

Basically, all you need to do is wash the zucchini and then slice.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of the next steps. You could steam it or boil it, which I have tried and did not like. What we have found we do like though is to season it with salt and cook it in a skillet with butter or coconut oil, until it is done to your liking.

See? It’s that simple. Serve with your choice of sauce. We’ve had this with Meatballs Parmesan, Pesto Meatballs, and pictured here with Spaghetti sauce.

We have found that we prefer to use the smaller, thinner zucchini rather than the larger, fatter ones. Michael had liked these every time I made them except this last time when I used the larger zucchini; he said it had a stronger taste that he did not like. So be forewarned.

Zoodles

Ingredients

zucchini
tablespoon of oil or butter
salt

Instructions

Julienne the zucchini.
Heat a drizzle of oil into a skillet.
Add zucchini
Salt, as desired, (this helps it cook quicker)
Serve in place of spaghetti.

https://lifeofjoy.me/zoodles/

Enjoy!

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

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Tasty Tuna Tossup

August 9, 2016Main Dishes, Pasta, Salad, Tasty Tuesdaysummer, tunaLife of Joy

Cool pasta salad with a blend of cucumber, green pepper, tomato, and green onions that I enjoy every summer. It could be eaten year round but, it’s really nice when it’s hot to have this chilled salad.

Many, many, many years ago, I was invited to a ladies luncheon. This is one of the items she served and was gracious enough to share the recipe with me. I loved her luncheons. She’d have about 30 ladies there with various tables set up for lunch, which was buffet style. I remember one year in particular, she had about 8 or so different kinds of salads. I’m not a very adventurous eater, so this particular lunch as a bit of a stretch for me.

I was surprised to find that I liked several of the salads and most everything was good. I asked for two or three of her salad recipe that day and this is one of them. I don’t make it very often but when I do, I wonder why I didn’t make it sooner.

Start by boiling 8 ounces of wide egg noodles. When they are al dente, drain them into a colander and rinse with cold water. When drained, place in a large bowl. (FYI: This bowl is NOT big enough.)

Next peel and slice cucumber. I use my mandolin with the #2 size slicer on it.

Dice some green pepper. Again, I like mine diced rather small. You’ll need a half cup.

Next slice a green onion. And dice a large tomato. Add these all to the bowl.

Drain and add 10-12 ounces of canned tuna.

Now it’s time to mix up the dressing. The original recipe called for twice as much but it just seemed way too soupy for us. Also, I’ve mentioned before that I’m not a fan of vinegary or tart foods, so I tend to reduce the amounts of those items to make it more palatable for me.

Combine 1/2 cup Italian dressing, (I like it best when I make the Italian from a packet because I can control the amount of vinegar) 1/2 cup mayo (I prefer Miracle Whip but Mike thinks he prefers mayo, so if you prefer MW, use it and you probably won’t need the added sugar) 1/2 teaspoon prepared mustard, 1/2-3/4 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt and several shakes of pepper.

Whisk it all together and pour over pasta and veggies.

See . . . I couldn’t combine it all in that medium size pyrex bowl.

The original directions said to cover and chill but we usually eat it right away. I like to make this because Sean and Tiffany are too picky and won’t even try it, so Mike and I have it for two or more meals.

I have found that it is hard to take pictures of food that is in the white spectrum. The flash seems to wash it out but it looks dingy without it. I’m going to have to work on how to take the best pictures of white food soon. (I’m thinking I should use my telephoto lens, stand way off, and use the flash, that way I’m far enough away that it doesn’t wash out the food but still looks clear and bright. We’ll see.) In the meantime, here are several pictures that do NOT do this yummy salad justice!!!

Oh! I’ve also realized I need to get some colored plates again for photographing white spectrum food.

That one just hurts my eyes.

I should’ve pulled some of those tomatoes to the top.

Tasty Tuna Tossup

Ingredients

8 ounces of wide egg noodles
1 cucumber, peeled and sliced thin (2 cups)
1/2 cup green bell pepper, diced small
1/4 cup sliced green onion
1 large seeded and chopped tomato
10-12 ounces tuna, drained
1/2 cup Italian dressing
1/2 cup mayo
1/2-1 teaspoon mustard
1/2-1 teaspoon sugar, optional
1/2 teaspoon salt
several dashes of pepper

Instructions

Cook noodles as directed on package. Drain and rinse in cold water.
Combine noodles, tuna, and veggies in medium-large bowl.
In a small bowl, combine dressing, mayo, mustard, sugar, salt, and pepper with whisk.
Pour over salad and toss well.
(Cover and chill or just go ahead and eat it. 😉 )

https://lifeofjoy.me/tasty-tuna-tossup/

Seriously though, my pictures do NOT do this salad justice. Make it and try it. You’ll like it.

Until next time, God bless,
Michele ºÜº

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Taco Mac Salad

May 24, 2016Ground Meat, Main Dishes, Pasta, Salad, Tasty TuesdayLife of Joy

I don’t know why we call this Taco Mac Salad when there is no macaroni in the salad. It should be called Taco Pasta Salad but then I’d mess myself up when I’m looking for the recipe. I think I got it from Menus4moms way back when it was free. It is one salad recipe that my family really enjoys and I’m getting some veggies into them.

This recipe is easily adaptable to whatever you have, there are just some items that are musts: pasta, raw greens, meat, and cheese.

Let’s get started. When we made this yesterday, I cheated and had purchased a bag salad. So we just emptied that into a bowl.

I chopped up about a half cup of green pepper.

Brown the ground meat and put a pot of water on to boil for the tri-color spiral pasta.

Shred the cheese. This night we used Pepper Jack Cheese.

When the meat is browned and broken up into small bits, add the taco seasoning. So far I’ve used pre-packaged seasoning because it is easiest but in the future we may use a mixture of onion powder, garlic powder, salt, freshly ground pepper, paprika, cumin, and chili powder OR we may just forego the taco seasoning altogether since it seems to bother some members of the family.

Combine the lettuce, green pepper, cheese, meat, and drained pasta.

I let each person put the nacho chips on their plate rather than mixing it in the whole bowl; that way, if we don’t eat it all in one sitting, the chips don’t get all soggy and thus nasty.

Add salad and combine.

I also do not put dressing on this in the bowl, but let each person put on how much they want. Some of my kids don’t use any dressing at all. I also have diced tomato and either diced onion or green onion available for those that want them. As you may guess, some of my kids don’t like these items either. This night I had some avocado available as well.

I like a little Catalina (as the recipe calls for) and a little Ranch on mine.

Mike chose to use plain tortilla chips in his because he said there was enough spiciness with the taco meat and pepper jack cheese.

So you can see this is a very versatile recipe and lends itself to whatever you happen to have on hand.

I hope you’ll give this a try. It really is quite good.

Taco Mac Salad

Ingredients

1 box (8 oz) tri-color spiral pasta, cooked and drained
1/2 cup diced green pepper
1/2 head of lettuce, broken into bite-size pieces
8 oz. cheese, shredded (We've used cheddar, colby-jack, and pepper jack cheeses.)
1 pound ground meat
1 packet taco seasoning
1 bag (16 oz) Nacho chips (like Doritos)
other items as desired: tomato, onion or green pepper, avocado, et cetera
1/2 cup Catalina dressing (or dressing of your choosing)

Instructions

Boil the pasta and drain.
Brown the ground meat, drain if greasy, and add taco seasoning.
Combine all ingredients except chips and taco seasoning.
Serve with chips crushed in bowl with salad and add dressing as desired.

https://lifeofjoy.me/taco-mac-salad/

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

PS. The original recipe said to combine the cooked pasta, lettuce, green pepper, and 1/2 cup diced onion with some salt and pepper and chill. Then when you are ready to serve it, add the warm meat, chips, and 1/2 cup French dressing; toss gently and sprinkle with the cheese just before serving.

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Category Archives: Pasta

Spaghetti

A tomato-based meat sauce with some of the acidity removed.

Zoodles

Julienned strips of small zucchini, sautéed in oil or butter.

Tasty Tuna Tossup

Cool pasta salad with a blend of cucumber, green pepper, tomato, and green onions that I enjoy every summer. It could be eaten year round but, it’s really nice when it’s hot to have this chilled salad.

Taco Mac Salad