This one's easy! If you haven't checked it out on my YouTube Channel, Home Cooking with Connie Keenan, find it below. You can tweak the vegetables, maybe make it vegetarian-style with tofu, or increase it for a larger family.
Enjoy! If you haven't already, don't forget to comment, like & subscribe!
Chances are, you were directed here from my YouTube channel, Home Cooking with Connie Keenan. Interestingly, this is one of those pinch-of-this, pinch-of-that recipes.
This started waaaaaay back in the day when I was a young bride. My mother had always used Ragu spaghetti sauce and my husband had used Aunt Millie's (is that still around? Good sauce!).
Anyhoo, my brother-in-law, Anthony, showed me how to put together marinara (red) sauce for everything from pasta to pizza. And more, of course. It's made from regular tomato sauce and tomato paste--which, incidentally, I have sometimes omitted, and depending on how long you cook it, it's still thick and rich. The paste sort of helps things along and shortens cooking time.
In this time of Covid-19, with the stores sometimes out of stock on certain items, it's nice to be able to fix a spaghetti sauce, especially if you're partial to your favorite store-bought brand. To be honest, this is my go-to sauce, though I do keep Classico (or my mom's old standby, Ragu) on hand for those let's-whip-up-some-eggplant-parm nights!
I'll also add that this sauce freezes beautifully, so you can take it down and defrost it at room temperature or in the microwave. You can also pare down the recipe, though I like to make a big batch (like the one I make in the video below) to be able to use it in more than one dish.
Also, please note: If you add ANY raw meat to the recipe, be it ground beef, ground turkey, sausages, etc., you'll need to add to the cooking time. I usually will cook sausage in the sauce for no less than 4 hours, but check times to be sure for safety.
Feel free to put your own spin on this recipe! Add diced tomatoes, onions, and other seasonings. This recipe has evolved over the years. I didn't have rosemary the day I did the video, but you can add that in either fresh herb form or ground rosemary.
One more note: Wear an apron or something protective over clothing, because the sauce can splatter while you're cooking or handling it.
EASY MARINARA SAUCE
Ingredients
1 large can of tomato sauce, plain 1 can of tomato paste Basil 1 tablespoon olive oil (I forgot to add while making my video--still comes out yummy) Oregano Parsley Garlic (fresh, minced or powder) Rosemary Bay leaf, 1 Granulated sugar Salt Pepper Balsamic vinegar (thanks, Emeril Lagasse!!) Directions: 1. Start with emptying large can of tomato sauce and paste into a large saucepan. 2. Add each ingredient at a time, stirring it is before proceeding. 3. I used about 2 tablespoons of the sugar, considering how big the batch was. 4. The spices were added rather liberally, but they will be to taste. You can also add more later while it cooks, if you'd like it more seasoned. We love ours seasoned! 5. About 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar went in, but if you make a smaller batch, you'll want to use less. 6. Salt & pepper to taste. 7. Cook on low heat for about 40 minutes to an hour, until sauce thickens. Stir occasionally, being careful, because the sauce is HOT and bubbly. 8. Remove bay leaf. 9. You'll want to let it cool unless you're using the sauce right away. Allow it to fully cool before storing.
My video may come in handy, so watch it first, if you haven't already. You'll find it below.
And if you gave this recipe a try, do let me know how it turned out.
Here is my *very* easygoing recipe for turning leftover rice into rice with some pizazz...i.e. fried rice!
You'll find the link for the recipe's video below, but here are the ingredients you'll need:
About half an onion, chopped
A bell pepper (I used red, about 3/4 of it)
1 can of corn, drained
About a tablespoon of minced garlic
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 tablespoon of toasted sesame oil
Sprinkle of ground ginger (or fresh)
A cup of cooked/leftover white rice
Soy sauce (I used low sodium and enough to turn rice caramel color)
Directions:
1. Begin by sauteeing vegetables in olive oil until bell pepper is tender.
2. Add garlic and cook about half a minute.
3. Add cooked/leftover white rice.
4. Add toasted sesame oil (and more olive oil, if necessary).
5. Sprinkle on ginger.
6. Add soy sauce a little at a time, until desired color/taste, but not too much so that more can be added afterwards.
7. Enjoy!
As I mention in my video, you can get creative with the ingredients! Some suggestions are:
Shrimp
Broccoli
Water chestnuts
Shitake/regular mushrooms
Leftover chicken or pork
Cooked or canned green beans
Cooked or canned carrots
Note: I also scrambled one egg, made room in the pan, added and cooked the egg thoroughly, then stirred it right into the rice.
If you came from my YouTube channel, I'm slightly late in putting this up. Anyways, here it is for easy reference--my (or rather, my friend Mary's) recipe for dry laundry detergent:
LAUNDRY DETERGENT
Ingredients:
1 Full bar of Fels-Naphtha (or any laundry-style soap, or a regular bar of bath soap)
1 Cup of Borax
1 Cup of Washing Soda
Directions:
1. Add Borax and washing soda to container that you'll use EXCLUSIVELY for detergent.
2. Grate soap with grater that you'll use EXCLUSIVELY for this task into the powder mixture.
3. Mix well using a scoop.
Notes:
Let's see...what else can I add to this? It's pretty easy, keeps well, and does a great job! All ingredients, of course, are shelf-stable.
I use a child's shovel from a little sand pail for kids that I picked up in the dollar store. Hey, it works! :D
Last but not least, as I mention in my video, you can add a few drops of essential oil to the Rinse cycle so that you'll have a nice lemon/lavender/frankincense/whatever-you-add scent to your clothes and/or linens.
And if you need it for reference, here's a link to my video below:
Here is my recipe for beef enchiladas! "Quick and easy" in that it's easy to prepare and you're using a canned enchilada sauce. You're perfectly welcomed to make your own, of course--and I've done that in the past and was pleased with the results. But if you're looking for something that's not very fussy, that you can whip up for the family in an hour or so, then that's a little short cut that can be taken.
Also, in light of all that is going on with the Corona Virus, I'd like to begin presenting some recipes on my YouTube cooking channel that may not be particularly fancy but that imaginatively use items (like canned goods) in your pantry. Recipes that are delicious, easy to prepare, filling and nutritious. In addition to the pre-made sauce, I used ground spices and store-bought (Mission brand) tortillas.
If you've got a small family, or like us, it's just you and your spouse, you can always freeze the leftovers for a future dinner, or maybe a hot lunch that's a welcome change from a sandwich or soup.
Soooo here goes:
QUICK & EASY BEEF ENCHILADAS
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 sweet bell pepper (I used yellow), diced
1/2 onion, diced
1 large jalapeno, diced
salt, pepper, onion powder (or minced onion), chili powder, cumin (no measurements, sorry; I used the dash-of-this, dash-of-that method)
6-inch (small) flour tortillas (I used 10 of them, but depends on how much you fill them; can also use large tortillas or corn tortillas for gluten-free version)
2 cans of Old El Paso enchilada sauce (add one more for extra sauce)
3 cups of shredded cheese (I used Mexican blend, both thin and thick cuts)
2 tablespoons of olive oil, more later to cook vegetables in meat
DIRECTIONS:
1. Over medium heat, drizzle the olive oil and add the meat, cutting it up with your utensil and browning it. Drain meat and return to pan. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Add bell pepper and onion to the pan of meat, adding a little more olive oil, as needed, to cook until tender.
3. Sprinkle over salt, pepper, onion powder, chili power and cumin to taste, stirring meat well.
4. Add about a cup of shredded cheese and half a can of the sauce, stirring into meat mixture. Remove pan from heat.
4. Begin assembling enchiladas, spooning desired amount of meat onto each and then folding into enchilada shape. Place each enchilada into a casserole dish (or dishes).
5. Pour remaining sauce over enchiladas, then liberally add last two cups (or less, if you wish).
6. Bake for about 20 minutes or until sauce heats and the cheese melts.
7. Serve & enjoy!
Serving ideas?
Well, you can top with a dollop--or two!--of sour cream, hot sauce or your favorite salsa. We served with a fresh garden salad that included some avocado, but yellow rice and refried beans would work great, too. Kids--and adults, for that matter--would enjoy tortilla chips with melted, spicy cheese as a side, too. And, oh...
If you'd like to actually see the recipe being done, below is the link for it on my YouTube channel, Home Cooking with Connie Keenan.
I think this makes me officially the worst blogger EVER. Over one year has passed since my last post, during which I was announcing my last book, a nonfiction, WHATSOEVER THINGS ARE LOVELY.
There's no excuse, but I can account for my absence by saying I've been working on two YouTube channels. (Yes, two, lol!) You already know about my ministry channel, Lamp Unto My Feet. I also began a cooking channel, Home Cooking with Connie Keenan, where I share old favorite recipes as well as new ones. Both channels are moving slowly because I'm thinking of taking them both in different directions.
As for writing, I haven't done any in quite some time.
Then a wonderful thing happened: I came to finally acknowledge that I miss writing.
I
Miss
Writing.
I miss the process, the characters, the sharing of stories with my readers. As I told my husband, I believe part of this resurgence in my writing has come from the YouTube channels. It seems that opening up that well of creativity--whether you're writing, sharing in videos or creating content--also opens the creative well that was there before.
So as of the writing of this post, this new book, an untitled and full-length Christian romance novel, is progressing nicely. It's almost halfway done. My goal is to get it finished, edited and polished, before the end of February.
As usual, I will keep you posted along the way.
With my 60th birthday only two months away, I have much more thoughts to share about writing, but will hold off until the next post.
For now, let me say that I'm excited and happy to be working on a new project that I hope you'll enjoy, that you'll look forward to curling up with on a cold night!
Yes! It's late in coming, but WHATSOEVER THINGS ARE LOVELY--A GUIDE TO CHRISTIAN SIMPLE LIVING is now available on Amazon! Very shortly, it will also be available on Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Itunes books, Kobo, and so on.
I do apologize for the delay in publishing this book, and give a couple of reasons for that delay: life and life. Well, to be honest, it was more than that, I'm sorry to say; first and foremost, it's been a few years since my last published book. I wanted it to be just right, so I held off on the date, and of course, it's the end of the year, with all that entails.
But all that's behind us now...and this baby's finally PUBLISHED! Click here for the link to buy WHATSOEVER THINGS ARE LOVELY. As icing on the cake, I'll be uploading a video shortly to my YouTube ministry, Lamp Unto My Feet, with some background on the book.
And holiday season or not, I'll be working on my next book--a longer work of fiction this time--during the next several weeks. My (creative) fountain has been generously refilled!
