What else is an unemployed foodie in a new city (Portland, OR) to do beside cook?
Being in a new city has been difficult but I have found that the one thing I really like to do is plan what is for dinner. And even though I am trying not to spend all of my unemployment at the grocery store it seems like that is what I am most inclined to do.
Today is spaghetti and meat sauce day. A totally new experience for me. I have never been a spaghetti fan--I hated it as a kid (much to the dismay of my parents) but for some reason I have been craving it lately. Maybe it's the cold and rainy weather...
For the sauce:
1/2 chopped red onion (start sauteing in a couple tablespoons olive oil)
6 garlic cloves, chopped (add once onions are fragrant)
1 carrot, chopped (add a minute after the garlic)
dash oregano (all herbs after the carrot)
2 bay leaves
dash red pepper flakes
1 lb sweet Italian sausage (add and start breaking apart with a spoon)
1/2 lb crimini mushrooms, sliced (add once sausage is cooking pretty well)
a handful of fresh basil, chopped (to the mushrooms)
a large can diced tomatoes
(and I used some leftover spaghetti sauce from the fridge since the whole reason I started this project was to use that before it went bad)
salt and pepper to taste
and the magic ingredient, courtesy of Amelia, a tablespoon of peanut butter.
let it simmer for an hour or so, add water if it's too dry
So it's a combo, fresh and recycled, and enough for us to eat for lunch.
Off to yoga, we'll see how it turns out....
And it was delicious! Some crusty bread and broccoli on the side. Jarrod got us a bottle of Red's "a wine for the people" (CA), decent table wine appropriate for pasta but in need of some aging. Jessie said it was the best cure for a fall off a bike and skinning a knee.
Total price $12, with enough for the three of us to have lunch tomorrow.
