Crystal's Spicy Spaghetti Sauce

Here is take two of my spaghetti sauce recipe. now that it has been a couple of days, hopefully I can still remember what I did exactly. this recipe changes almost every time I make it because every time I seem to lack or have extra of different ingredients. this time it was a little spicy because I added some crushed red pepper. (yeah, the little packets from dominoes.. :))

Crystal's ever changing spaghetti sauce: version Spicy!
1/2 lb ground beef
2 cans diced tomatoes (although if you have any fresh tomatoes I recommend those! so good.)
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 sliced onion
1 sliced green pepper (or red, orange, or yellow!)
1-2 tbs minced garlic
1-2 tsp of each: oregano, basil, parsley, and crushed red pepper
2-3 tbs brown sugar (optional)
pinch of baking soda (neutralizes the acidity from the tomatoes)
salt & pepper to taste

brown the beef and set aside. sauté the onion and peppers in some EVOO for about 2-3 minutes and then add in the garlic and seasonings. cook for another minute or two and then add the hamburger back in. add the tomatoes, sauce, brown sugar, and baking soda. bring to a boil and let simmer for about 15 minutes. add salt & pepper to your hearts desire!

this made about 6 servings!

Blood Orange Strawberry Juice and Baked Zucchini & Sweet Potato

Baked Zucchini & Sweet Potato
Slice up the potato, drizzle with a small amount of olive oil, sprinkle some salt & pepper, oregano, parsley, and basil.
Bake 375 for about 25 minutes.
While the potatoes are cooking, slice up the zucchini (I used 2 smaller zucchinis) and drizzle a little more olive oil and add a little salt and pepper. Add them in with the potatoes (after the 25 min) and bake for 30 more minutes.

Blood Orange Strawberry Juice
3 blood oranges (peeled)
1 handful strawberries
2 medium apples (stem & seeds removed)
1 orange (peeled)
1 mango (seed removed & peeled. if the mango is too soft, it may not juice well)
Juice it up and add some ice!
Makes about 2 cups of juice

Hot Pink Beet Juice

Beet Juice!

It sounds kind of gross. But it is actually really good! I never ate beets growing up. Not from a can, not cooked, and certainly not fresh. So when I got beets in my Bountiful Basket, I was like what the HECK am I going to do with these? How about juicing them? Yes. Do it. I peeled the outer part off, and I realized that beets are so pretty! Seriously. I should have taken pictures, but I haven't quite gotten into the habit of taking pictures of every piece of food I eat.. For reals though, Next time you have one, look at them.. I'm weird. :P

So check it out. You need a juicer for this, fortunately. Juicers are awesome! If you don't have one, well dang it. Go buy one! :) Mine is a Jack Lalanne, and works great for me! (I do hate cleaning it though. But then again, I hate doing ANY dishes for that matter!) Make sure you wash, peel any pulp from oranges or lemon, and de-seed your fruits and veggies. Some juicers don't make you do that, but mine does.

 

BEET JUICE

1 beet, peeled and cut in half

2 blood oranges, peeled/halfed (or 1 large regular)

2 carrots

1 small apple, halved

Handful of strawberries

it turns into this beautiful hot pink drink. love.

 

then, don't discard the pulp. I have a oatmeal banana beet muffin recipe that I will post soon.

Eggplant Pizza

these little pizzas are so easy to make! here's what you need to do:

slice the eggplant, and sprinkle salt on them. (I guess it brings out the extra moisture) wipe off the extra juice with a paper towel. the longer you wait the more juice that comes out. they say to wait about 30 min but I wasn't patient enough to wait that long... typical hungry girl!

while you are letting the moisture out, prepare the tomato sauce. I made my own from fresh tomatoes, basil, oregano, parsley, rosemary, olive oil, and minced garlic. soooo good! I'll have to post the recipe for that when I make it again. hopefully soon!

put the sauce on each of the eggplant slices, sprinkle some mozzarella & feta cheese on top. bake at 350 for about 5-10 min until the cheese is melted. mmmm!