We then argued about eating soup in the summer. My argument was that you eat steaks, and burgers, and so on and so on in the summer. All of which are hot/cooked foods. He then said that when you eat soup it is supposed to warm you up from the inside out (reiterating that he was already too hot). I told him that that was just a mental thing. He said that he will remember that when I want soup for dinner next winter “to warm me up” (he used finger quotes as he said this).
We ended up going over to his mom’s house for dinner and he had a HUGE bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup and just raved and raved abut it.
Then last night he asked me to make spaghetti. Isn’t spaghetti or pasta considered more of a hearty winter/fall entree? To me it doesn’t matter. I don’t discriminate against food. I will eat ice cream in the dead of winter and spaghetti (or soup) in the steamy summer.
Boys are so silly! Especially Eric and his picky food cravings!
I do have a confession to make- sometimes when I am lazy I will just use pre-made spaghetti sauce (I give you permission to gasp and sigh) and just doctor it a bit (even though making it from scratch is not that difficult). But last night (I think just because it is summer and Eric and I argued about eating certain foods at certain times of the year) I wanted to make a good hearty homemade bolognese sauce. It turned out super yummy (and comforting). It made quite a bit for two people but it freezes well so I can use the leftovers for something else.
I apologize for the poor quality of the picture but sometimes my stomach over powers my desire to take ‘professional’ blog pictures!
Hearty Bolognese Sauce
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons butter
3/4 cup grated carrot
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound ground turkey
1 pound ground Italian sausage
1 (6oz) can tomato paste
1 cup red wine***
1 teaspoon Worcestershire
2 Tablespoons Italian seasoning
1 (28 oz) can regular diced tomatoes
1 (14 oz) can Italian diced tomatoes
2 Tablespoons milk
In a large sauce pan heat butter and oil. Add carrots, onion, and garlic. Saute until tender and onion is translucent. Remove from pan. In the same pan that veggies were cooked add meat and cook until brown. Drain grease and remove meat from pan. ‘Degrease’ pan buy adding red wine and tomato paste. Let simmer for 4-5 minutes over medium heat. Add cooked veggies, meat, tomatoes, seasoning, and Worcestershire. Let come to a simmer. Stir in milk. Let simmer for 15 minutes and serve over you favorite pasta.
****If you do not like to cook with wine (even though the alcohol evaporates; leaving just the rich flavor) check out this website; which gives you non-alcoholic substitutes for common alcohol cooking ingredients such as brandy, beer, wine, etc. This is also useful information in case you have a recipe that calls for a teaspoon or so of something and you don’t want to buy a big bottle of brandy, cognac, etc.