This sauce is very easy to assemble and then you just let it simmer for about 4-5 hours on the stove.  To start you will brown your ground beef (or turkey) and sausage in a large pot.  Season to taste with onion and garlic powder.  I usually use ground turkey and sausage, the flavor is amazing, but you can just use two pounds of ground turkey or two pounds of ground beef.  I notice that when I am not including sausage in the recipe I will often need to up all my seasonings a little to make up for the lack of flavor from not using the sausage.  

When the meat is browned add in your crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, and water. Give it all a stir.  Then add in your sugar, thyme, salt, pepper, basil, and oregano and stir.  I usually use dried thyme but I actually had some fresh from my garden so I just chopped up some of that.

Always feel free to adjust any of the seasoning as needed.  Like I said above you may need to add more if not using the sausage.

Now you could technically totally stop here, bring it all to a boil, and then simmer for 4-5 hours.  But to me that still wouldn’t be my sauce.  My favorite part is adding in a bunch of veggies that just blend right in and only enhance the flavor.  The kids don’t even know they are there!  So here is what I usually add, zucchini, yellow squash, red pepper, and carrots, but of course any of these would be better than nothing!  I don’t count the carrots I just shred some and put them in.  Here I only had baby carrots.  

I use my fine shredder on my cheese grater for the carrots, zucchini, and yellow squash, and I just finely chop up the red pepper.  

Then add all the veggies to the pot and give it a stir. Cover and simmer 4-5 hours.  Just remember to stir every so often.  

So easy and other than boiling the spaghetti noodles later on dinner is ready.  Fun to serve with a salad and garlic bread too!  

This makes a ton of sauce so I often will freeze half of it for a quick dinner at a later time.

Here is your printable recipe! Enjoy!

Spaghetti Sauce

 

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Cook time

4 hours

Total time

4 hours

 

Author: A Fireman's Wife

Recipe type: Spaghetti Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef or turkey
• 1 pound mild ground Italian sausage
• garlic powder to taste
• onion powder to taste
• 1 large can crushed tomatoes
• 2 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 2 small cans tomato paste
• 2 cans water (tomato paste cans)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• ¼ teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 1 heaping tablespoon basil
• 1 heaping tablespoon oregano
• 1 zucchini shredded
• 1 yellow squash shredded
• 1-2 carrots shredded
• 1 red pepper diced small

Instructions

1. Brown your ground beef (or turkey) and sausage in a large pot over about medium heat. Season to taste with garlic and onion powder.
2. When the meat is browned add in your crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, and water. Give it all a stir.
3. Add in your sugar, thyme, salt, pepper, basil, and oregano and stir.
4. Shred up your zucchini, yellow squash, and carrots with the fine shredder on your cheese grater.
5. Chop up your red pepper. Add all the veggies to the sauce and give it a stir.
6. Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer on low for 4-5 hours stirring every so often.
7. Serve over spaghetti noodles.

Notes

*This sauce makes a lot so I love to freeze half of it for a quick meal at another time.
* I love the combo of ground turkey and sausage but if you omit the sausage you may need to up the seasonings.
*You can omit the vegetables or add any combo of them but I love the flavor they add and getting the extra vegetables in our diet.

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You only need 4 simple ingredients for the sauce.  Strawberries, sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla. 

Wash your strawberries and then remove the stems and cut in half.  

Place your strawberries in about a 2 quart sauce pan and then add the sugar…

lemon juice…. 

and vanilla.  

Give it all a stir and bring to a simmer over medium heat.  Then cook for about 5 minutes stirring often.  

After about 5 minutes turn off the heat.  To blend up the sauce I like to use an immersion blender to get the sauce all smooth.  This is a total handy gadget to have in the kitchen for hot sauces or soups that need to be blended up.  This way you don’t have to worry about letting it cool or transferring something too hot to your blender, you can just blend it up immediately right in your pan.  If you don’t have an immersion blender just wait for the sauce to cool and transfer to your blender and blend.  

And that’s it!  Just pour your sauce in a jar or storage container and enjoy it on stuff like pancakes, added to lemonade, or my favorite… ice cream!  

Here is your printable recipe!

Strawberry Sauce

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

5 mins

Total time

10 mins

 

This goes great on ice cream or pancakes!

Author: A Fireman's Wife

Ingredients

• 1 pint of strawberries
• ⅓ cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

1. Wash your strawberries and then remove the stems and cut in half.
2. Place your strawberries in about a 2 quart sauce pan and then add the sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla.
3. Give it all a stir and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Then cook for about 5 minutes stirring often.
4. After about 5 minutes turn off the heat and use an immersion blender to blend until smooth, or let cool and transfer to a blender and blend.
5. Store in a jar or storage container in the refrigerator.

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So I mentioned above this is simple…..and it totally is with just 3 ingredients!  All you need is strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice.  Strawberries have natural pectin in them that is released during the cooking process and the lemon juice will help the jam to set up.  So no added pectin is needed.  I love how homemade strawberry jam is so fresh and better than what you can buy in the stores. 

I try buying organic as much as I can and I love how Costco usually has big cartons of organic strawberries.  Or course if you are able to go strawberry picking at a local farm or grow them in your garden that is even better!  Start by washing and removing the stems of the strawberries.  Cut each strawberry in half, or quarters depending on how big it is, and put them in a large sauce pan.  

Add your sugar and lemon juice and mix it all up. 

Bring the mixture to a boil over medium high heat, stirring frequently.  

Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally.  At this point I take my potato masher and gently mash up the strawberries.  I like my strawberry jam to still have some chunks in it so I don’t fully crush them all up.  You could take an immersion blender to it if you like your jam to be smooth.  

Let the jam continue to simmer for about 60 minutes.   The jam should start to thicken and drop from your spoon in thick drips.  

Turn off the heat and ladle the jam into your jars.  This canning funnel (affiliate link) totally makes life easier!  Wipe the rims of your jars clean and then add on your lids.  Let the jam sit on the counter for several hours or overnight until it is at room temperature.  Your jam will continue to thicken during this time.  Then store in the refrigerator for up to a month or keep a jar in the freezer until you are ready to use it.  

This is so good on bread, toast, PB&J’s, pancakes, waffles, ice cream, or eating it right out of the jar….not like I ever do that.  

I would love if you would join my Friday link up!

Easy Homemade Strawberry Jam

 

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This is so simple and fun to make with all the strawberries we see from now until the end of summer!

Author: A Fireman's Wife

Recipe type: Jam

Ingredients

• 2 pounds strawberries, stems removed and sliced
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• ¼ cup lemon juice (fresh squeezed or bottled)

Instructions

1. Wash and remove the stems of the strawberries. Cut each strawberry in half, or quarters depending on how big it is, and put them in a large sauce pan.
2. Add your sugar and lemon juice and mix it all up.
3. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium high heat, stirring frequently.
4. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally.
5. Take a potato masher and gently mash up the strawberries. I like my strawberry jam to still have some chunks in it so I don't fully crush them all up. You could take an immersion blender to it if you like your jam to be smooth.
6. Let the jam continue to simmer for about 60 minutes. The jam should start to thicken and drop from your spoon in thick drips.
7. Turn off the heat and ladle the jam into your jars. If freezing leave a little space at the top of your jars. Wipe the rims of your jars clean and then add on your lids. Let the jam sit on the counter for several hours or overnight until it is at room temperature. Your jam will continue to thicken during this time.
8. Store in the refrigerator for up to a month or keep a jar in the freezer until you are ready to use it.

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In your blender add in your mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon juice, Parmesan cheese (sorry don’t use the green can here~ use actual grated Parmesan cheese), garlic, salt, and pepper.  

Then just blend it all up!  I don’t have the greatest blender so I ran it through a few times. 

Then go ahead a ladle on your salad.  Or snack on it for a while.    

Store the rest of the dressing in a Mason Jar in the refrigerator.  Use within 3-4 days.  

I would love if you would join my Friday link up!

Creamy Lemon Parmesan Dressing

 

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Author: A Fireman's Wife

Recipe type: Salad Dressing

Ingredients

• ½ cup mayonnaise
• ½ cup full fat sour cream
• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 cloves garlic roughly chopped
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper

Instructions

1. In your blender add in your mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon juice, Parmesan cheese, garlic, salt, and pepper.
2. Blend until smooth.
3. Ladle on your salad or store in a Mason Jar in the refrigerator until you are ready to use.
4. Use within 3-4 days.

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In a small sauce pan over medium heat add your butter (make sure you use real butter here!), brown sugar, and milk.  Stir it around until it is all melted together and comes to a boil.  

Let simmer for about 5-6 minutes stirring often (turn down the heat a little if you need to).  Remove from the heat and add your vanilla and a pinch of kosher salt.  Stir it all up.  Let it sit in the pan for about 20 minutes.  The sauce will thicken as it cools.  Then pour over something yummy or store in a glass container in the refrigerator.  When you are ready to use it just warm it up a little in the microwave.  Enjoy! 

I would love if you would join my Friday link-up party!

Here is your printable recipe!

Easy Caramel Sauce

 

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This is amazing over ice cream, cakes, pies, and pancakes!

Author: A Fireman's Wife

Ingredients

• ½ cup butter (1 stick)
• ¾ cup light brown sugar
• ¼ cup whole milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• pinch of kosher salt

Instructions

1. In a small sauce pan over medium heat add your butter, brown sugar, and milk. Stir it around until it is all melted together and comes to a boil.
2. Let simmer for about 5-6 minutes stirring often (turn down the heat a little if you need to).
3. Remove from the heat and add your vanilla and a pinch of kosher salt.  Stir it all up.
4. Let it sit in the pan for about 20 minutes.  The sauce will thicken as it cools.  Then pour over something yummy or store in a glass container in the refrigerator.  When you are ready to use it just warm it up a little in the microwave.  Enjoy!

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