My Weeknight Winter Spaghetti

Ingredients

• 1/2- 1 box of Spaghetti noodles (use chickpea noodles for extra protein & fiber or whole wheat noodles for added fiber)

• 1-2 jars of your favorite sauce (I love mixing two different ones- roasted garlic + garden combo)

• 1 can of fire roasted tomatoes (optional)

• *optional added veggies (i.e. small chopped mushroom, zucchini, carrots, etc.)

• 1/4 of a yellow onion, chopped

• 1lb of ground beef (or you can use ground mild italian sausage, ground turkey or ground chicken)

• *1 can tomato paste, for a thicker sauce

• *If you love garlic as much as we do, throw in 1-3 minced garlic cloves

• Olive Oil

• Salt and Pepper (to taste)

• Italian Seasoning (1-2 tbsp)

• Dried Basil (~1tbsp)

• *Dash of Red Chili Flakes (optional)

• Parmesan cheese to top

• Garlic bread to accompany (this is literally our absolute fave garlic bread, nothing competes)

Recipe

1. Fill water in a large pot for the spaghetti. If you are needing a quick dinner and won't have time to let the sauce simmer, start boiling the water now.

2. Chop onion, *garlic and any *veggies you are adding in.

3. In a separate large pot (I prefer my large cast iron pot), add 1-2 tbsp of olive oil. Heat over a medium-high temp, add in onion and *veggies. Stir every so often so all get cooked evenly. .

4. Once veggies are softened add in *garlic, stir frequently to prevent burning.

5. When the garlic is fragrant, add in beef and ground to your liking. I prefer to leave mine a little chunky, not taco meat ground. Add in seasonings, salt, pepper and *chili flakes and mix all together so the flavor clings to the meat and veggies.

6. Once the meat is browned, add in the can of *tomato paste. Mix well together so everything is coated. You will not drain the meat! Keep all that flavor in there, trust me.

7. Add in the fire roasted tomatoes.

8. Reduce heat to low and stir in the sauce. Let it heat for a few min and then taste, add seasoning as needed. If I don't have onion or garlic on hand, or just don't feel like chopping anything, I will use dried onion and garlic powder in a pinch.

9. Start to boil the water, if you have not already.

10. If you are also having garlic bread, preheat the oven now.

11. If you can, let the sauce simmer uncovered for 30 minutes to achieve a thicker sauce and let flavors meld.

12. Throw the noodles in when water boils, throw garlic bread in when you add the noodles to the pot.

For August, I take a few noodles and sauce and chop it up small and let it cool while I cut the garlic bread, etc. He LOVES it. Don't be surprised if your kiddo starts to go face first into the food like August does!

You will have PLENTY of leftovers. I recommend eating within 3-5 days. Store noodles and sauce separate unless packing for lunch the next day.

Note: Everything linked above is to make it easy to add to your cart for drive up or add to a list from your local target as well!

If you and your kiddo enjoyed it and tag @itslaurenlancaster & @heymamatwincities in your social posts!

Cheers,

Lauren