Is That Homemade Spaghetti?

1 Lg Jar of Rago Spaghetti Sauce
1 lb. of ground beef
Spaghetti
Boiling Water
Garlic Bread
Salad

Okay, I have spent hours making spaghetti in the past. It wasn't until recently that I decided to let Rago, and their famous chefs, do the work for me. I brown ground beef (drain) and pour the contents of the Rago bottle over the beef.

Butter bread, sprinkle with dried garlic and broil for 5 minutes or so.

Throw a bag of salad in a bowl and add dressing.

Viola!!!

Dinner tonight SLOPPY JOES!

OK I am finally jumping on the dinner blog bandwagon but I find I am not as witty and cute as you other cute contributors! So here is my boring dinner that we had tonight...Sloppy Joes. My friend made fun of my easy little recipe and said I could make it even easier if I would just buy the already made in a can by the one and only Chef Boyardee. But here is my easy, but not the easiest, recipe :)

• Brown hamburger
• put in a can of Chicken Gumbo (it has rice in it too)
• put some ketchup and mustard in and heat it up

And ta da!!!! Sloppy Joes! I like to put provolone cheese on the bun or something with it. Then I cut up vege's and we had chips and that was the Rose family dinner on this fine windy, rainy night!

What's for Tea, Mother?

"Chips!"

This is a very common question that kids ask here in the UK and chips (what you all call French Fries) is often the reply.

Tea means dinner, in case you didn’t know. Historically, it was “Afternoon Tea” and was just that, tea and cakes and was served around 4 pm. Somehow, the name became synonymous with dinner and dinner became the name for lunch. So, when your kids ask, “What’s for tea?” they mean dinner, and when you ask your children “What did you have for dinner?” you mean lunch. And yes, my kids are British, so I get to do all of that translating! Oh, and they still do a "proper" Afternoon Tea here, which makes it even more confusing.

Yes, the Brits are a confusing lot, and I’ve had the fortune, or misfortune (take your pick) to live amongst them for 14 years. I’m Afton, AndreaRed’s little sister, and hopefully I will be able to blog some of the interesting and fun things about British food that can be made out there in the US of A and the foods I miss and my various cooking woes and wishes.

My next blog will be, “Victoria’s Sponge Cake”... Yes, like my sister, I am also addicted to cake and it is all our Grandma’s fault. She made the best Graham Cracker Cookies when we were kids.

My Name is Andrea, and I'm a Cake-aholic

"...Hi Andrea..."

Welcome to the first meeting of Cake-aholics anonymous. For all those of us who enjoy the deliciousness of sweet, moist cake topped of with ambrosia-like buttercream frosting, this is your place of refuge and of sanctuary. For all those for whom birthday cake is not enough, who must celebrate every occasion with cake (anniversaries, national holidays, your friends' birthdays, Arbor day, Bastille day, triumphant completion of triathlons, Guy Fawkes Day), we understand you. For all those who when having a cake craving will just go down to Super Target and get one of their little 1/8 sheet cakes and bring it home to snack on all weekend, we welcome you.

Unlike all those other "anonymous" groups, here at Cake-aholics anonymous, we encourage your addiction, we share your cravings, your need for frosting, and we're here to help. The latest and greatest place to give in to your cake fetish is at Sweet! By Good Golly Miss Holly, (www.sweetbyholly.com), conveniently located in the Waterford Town Center between Too Jay's and Bose. There you will find a very large and delicious selection of gourmet cupcakes, just the right size to satisfy your cake-related needs without completely ruining your diet. Check out their website and marvel at the many specialty cupcakes that range from Red Velvet and Cookies & Cream to White Out and Dulce De Leche. In addition to these reasonably priced ($3 per cupcake) morsels of ambrosia, they also serve ice-cold milk with free refills to cleanse your palate and prepare you for your next confectionary delight.

What words can we here at Cake-aholics anonymous use to describe Sweet! you ask? Shangri-la, Nirvana, the Garden of Earthly Delights, Paradise. Come and delight in the deliciousness.

If You Are What You Eat, Then I Am Fast, Cheap, and Easy...

It was an exhausting afternoon at SliderZone, and what to make for dinner? Something fast, cheap, and easy, of course! So, here's my latest pathetic attempt at dinner:

• Chicken breasts seasoned with Rotisserie Chicken Seasoning and grilled for about 8 minutes a side under the broiler until they reach an internal temperature of 180 degrees F.
• Steamed Broccoli
• Instant Mashed Potatoes

...and for dessert? Break and Bake Nestle Toll House Cookies!
(Note: all items are available for purchase at your local Super Target)

Deep-fried thoughts, by Amy H.

Easy Sunday Dinner

So - what did you have for Sunday dinner?

We had Swiss steak, mashed potatoes, biscuits and corn on the cob (with my super secret corn sauce.)

If you haven't tried Swiss steak on a Sunday, I'd love to recommend it. It's easy peasy lemon squeeze-y and when you are done, it looks something like this.

For this ridiculously simple meal, all you will need is a round steak large enough to suit your family (lately, I've preferred a small chuck roast for this since I am cooking it a long long time) and a few cans of pre-seasoned tomatoes.

There are fancier versions of this recipe, but the Amy-version goes like this:

Season the steak (I use garlic powder, salt and pepper.)  Coat it in flour and brown it well.  (If you have a cast iron skillet, that would be best and would make this a one pan entree.)

Once it is browned on both sides, remove the steak from the pan and drain the excess oil. 

If using cast iron, return the steak to the pan and just add a couple of cans of pre-seasoned tomatoes to the top of the meat.    It  will look about like this (looks gross - tastes good!)  For my family, usually one large can and then one smaller can of the tomatoes does it. If you aren't using cast iron, just put it all in a casserole dish.

Cover the skillet (or casserole dish, if you needed to use one) and I cook it at 250 from when I leave for church (usually 10:30 am) until whenever we are all home (usually 4:30 or so.)  

Growing up, I think my mom added mushrooms and onions to the mix, but you know Shawn's not going to touch that with a 10-foot pole.  But mushrooms and onions are great in it, if you ask me.

That picture isn't uber appealing, but I tell ya, it's pretty tasty. It'll fall apart to the touch of your fork and is one of those Southern comfort foods that lots of families enjoy.

Later, I'll reveal my super secret corn sauce recipe.  But you'll have to pinky swear to tell it to no one outside of our circle.