oh oh spaghetti o's

My son, Gavin, loves those little bowls of spaghetti, tomato sauce and mystery meat goodness. I hate that they are so full of junk, we have been trying to get away from all processed foods. Gavin is so picky and getting him to eat is a chore sometimes, so when we find something he likes and will eat we are happy. Just like with the Granola, I was determined to make him some pre-cooked spaghetti o's with fresh meatballs.  As always I did a search for a recipe, but with having a picky child, I knew that I would have to tweak it for my family. Here are the basic ingredients:

 1 LBS of Ground beef
 Ditalini pasta or any other shape you would like (get gluten free if needed)
 2 cans of hunt's tomato sauce ( the 15 oz size)
 Cheese of your choice, I used the triple cheddar and it work great about 4 oz
 Onion powder to taste
 Garlic powder to taste
2 pinches of kosher salt
 1/2 cup of milk ( not pictured)

1. In a bowl mix ground beef, onion powder, garlic powder, and a pinch of kosher salt.
2. roll out little meat balls to whatever size you prefer. I like to do them tiny.
3. In a sauce pan add both cans of tomato sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, and a pinch of salt. bring to a simmer.
4. Once simmering, add raw meat balls (They will cook in the pot), and the whole box of Ditalini pasta. cover and stir regularly.

Adding my balls!

5. continue cooking until pasta puffs up and meat balls are cooked through.
6. once puffed up add milk and cheese and stir all together. let cook about 10 minutes more.
7. Let cool and portion out, if freezing

ready to freeze

 Now I grab one out of the freezer run it under warm water for a minute or so then, empty it into his bowl and microwave for 45 seconds. If you don't use a microwave, just leave out for a little while and then warm up in pan.

Gavin loves them! Since they are pre-cooked, it make lunch soooo easy and quick.

Thanks for reading,

Sim <3

GRANOLA!

We love granola in our house! It's is my wifey Ingrid's favorite! What we don't love is the price. A little bag can be quite pricey. So I decided I needed to learn how to make my own granola. I searched numerous recipes and didn't quite find what I wanted, so I just kinda winged it. And this is what I came up with.

You will need :
Pictured:
2 cups of oats, I used quick and it seemed to work fine (use gluten free if you are gluten free)
2 TBL of coconut oil
1/2 cup honey
1 TBL of chia seeds
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup banana chips
1 TBL ground flax seeds
(Disregard the peanut butter, Inky was eating it with celery and it ended up in the picture)

1. Pre-heat oven to 370 degrees
 2. In a small sauce pan on low  heat, warm coconut oil and honey. It will look like they stay separated but just give it a quick stir before adding it to the other ingredients.
3. In a big bowl add oats, almonds, chia seeds, banana chips, ground flax seed. Mix it all together. * put almonds in a food processor if they are whole. Unless you want them whole.*
4. Once warmed add the honey/coconut oil to the oat mixture and mix well.
5. Spray pan and spread out the oat mixture. Put in oven and stir around every little while, until it is lightly browned. When it comes out of the oven it will be soft and gooey but it will harden up when cooled.

It is soo yummy, we love it. It is also very easy to make.

Thanks for reading,
Sim <3