Spaghetti Sauce...

I love the spaghetti sauce that I grew up eating. My mom would start it cooking first thing Sunday morning and let it simmer all day. I've made a few changes, but here's the recipe the way I do it...

1 lb lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
8 oz of sliced mushrooms (optional)
½ c of red wine
1- 2 T of brown sugar
1 tsp dried oregano (2 tsp fresh)
1 tsp Italian seasoning
2 tsp dried parsley (4 tsp fresh)
2 bay leaves
1 can of tomato sauce
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 can of tomato paste (optional)
1 bottle of any flavor Spaghetti Sauce
1 can of olives (optional)

Sauté ground beef. Drain off access fat. In a separate pan, cook the onions, garlic and Italian seasoning until the onions are transparent. Add mushrooms. Sauté until juice from mushrooms is gone. Add mushrooms and onions to meat. Add wine, brown sugar and rest of seasonings. Continue to sauté for 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce, canned tomatoes, tomato paste and spaghetti sauce. Simmer for at least a half an hour. Add olives 15 minutes before serving. Cook until they are heated through. Serve over any noodles.

Variations:
You can add additional vegetables such as zucchini, squash, egg plant etc. Add them to the pan just after the mushrooms.
You can also make it with vegetables only.

Enjoy!

Amy's Teriyaki Sauce...

I love marinating meats in Teriyaki Sauce. I do love the Kikkoman's Teriyaki, but I like to doctor it up. So, here is my recipe...

1/3 c Kikkoman's Teriyaki Sauce

2 T Kikkoman's Soy Sauce

3 T Red Wine

2 T Brown Sugar

1 tsp crushed Garlic Cloves

This is enough to cover two chicken breasts, one pork loin or two petite steaks.

If you are going to use the chicken in a stir fry, you will want to cut the chicken breast or beef into bite size pieces before you marinate. Keep the sauce and boil it if you would like to use it over your stir fry and rice.

My family always loves this flavoring. Scott thinks it's a little sweet, but the girls eat it up.