MIP: Meal in Progress

Often I find myself looking for a recipe for guidance, but nothing I can find quit fits the bill. So I tend to do a lot of experimental cooking. Actually, lately I haven't been doing much cooking at all, but that's another story. But unless I'm baking, I generally skim recipes for the important numbers and move on to throwing things in a pot or pan together. The recipe below is currently about half cooked, but I wanted to write it out to help me plan out what I'm doing, because I know I started with a great idea, but I'm a little foggy today and don't want to screw up the plans I had before I forgot what I was doing [slight exaggeration].

Half-Crocked Greek Lemon Orzo Chicken

[get it?! ba-dum-tssss!]

Throw some frozen chicken in your crockpot. At least enough to cover the bottom, more if you're feeding a small army. Legs, breast, bones, no bones, your choice. You could use fresh too, obviously, but I buy frozen in bulk at Costco because it's cheaper and lasts longer. Sample white wine. Cover chicken with about 1-2 cups of wine... finish the bottle yourself. Sprinkle chicken pile with olive oil, lemon juice, and seasonings. I have a salt-free Greek that I used, plus some extra garlic, lemon pepper, and basil. Also smooshed fresh garlic cloves [I used about 5 or 6 because the Italian and I are trying to keep our vampirism in check /s] My crockpot is practically turbo powered, so right now it's on low for an hour--then I'll check the chicken for doneness.

Chop an onion. Ruin your make up. Sprinkle a little sugar to help carmelize it when you sweat it later. Cut cherry tomatoes into halves or quarters, whatever you consider bite-sized. Throw them in a baggie with a little Balsamic vinegar. Chunk two zucchinis, throw in a baggie with Italian dressing. Toss both bags in the fridge until the chicken is cooked. If you're feeling antsy, chop-slice some fresh spinach. Ideally, we are going to sweat the onions in some olive oil first, then throw in the marinated veggies, then wilt the spinach in last [all in the same pan, just stagger them out because they need to cook for different times].

Last time I tried orzo in the crockpot, it was practically ruined. But I figured out why--I cooked it way too much. That's why it's still in the box sitting next to the crockpot right now, and everything is waiting. So my theory is, once the chicken is cooked, toss in the sautéed veggies, adjust the liquid [I think I'm out of chicken stock though] and add the orzo. Apparently orzo only needs about 30 min in the crock, and about 2 c. of liquid. If you've never worked with orzo before, be careful! A little goes a long way. The first time I ever made it I made a whole box, and most of it was untouched. I'm planning to use about half a box, but I'm basically a visual chef, so I do all my "measuring" by guesstimating. Still debating on whether I'm going to shred the chicken or leave it in cutlets. You can top with parmesan or feta.

Update: Added pics. Also since we were out of broth [as I suspected], I did find a can of cream of chicken... added that with a can of water, and a little more lemon juice.

Return From my Accidental Hiatus

Well, you all know I kind of drop off the face of the map here and there, and this spring has been an incredibly... well, let's use the word "interesting"... time. Going through my photos, I can gauge that it's been roughly over a month since I've posted something, so I've got a lot of catching up to do. That means either a super-long post, or very brief ramblings and more focus on photos. I think I'm a bit more drawn to the second option. 

First things first--in early March I went to DC to appeal to the powers that be to deem me "Broken." Still waiting to hear back on how that went. But let's just say it was an ordeal, and it was kind of a nightmare. I think I slept for two days straight when I came home. 

One of the amazing things--and I have taken tons of photos--has been the progression of my flower bed. The crocuses have stopped blooming, unfortunately, and I'll miss them; however, the wild tulips are starting to come in and they are just gorgeous.  I've planted a ton of stuff since the crocuses bloomed; they kind of got me inspired. I've got bleeding hearts, a strawberry, dahlias, and some lily of the valley in pots around my front yard. I also added some gladiolus and lupine to the back of the flower bed, as well as to some planter boxes in the side yard. Most recently, I sowed some lavender, columbine, and alyssum, and I cant wait to see them sprouting. I've ordered some hens-and-chicks to fill out the ones that exist, and I picked up some red ones yesterday. I also found a "black" columbine and some wormwood, so those need to be replanted.

Perhaps the biggest change from last month is these guys. John Snow the Betta finally passed on after a couple weeks of looking really sickly. I had a couple days with Liu Kang, who unexpectedly died. He has been replaced with Gorgeous George [get the reference?]. He's a dragon-scale Betta, and the picture doesn't show how iridescent and shiny he is. On the other side, say hello to Cash. I've been thinking about getting a dog for a long time--and looking around the past few months. When I saw his face I fell in so much love. He looks a lot like my Nelly, who died a couple years ago. He is Australian Cattle-dog, Dachshund, and American Staff [which is so painfully obvious]. He is amazing and hilarious, but he has a little to work on in the manners and kitty departments. It's a slow process, but we have classes later this week and he is really bright. I forgot how exhausting and consuming it is to have a dog... but I also forgot how good their love feels.

 Another side project I have been focused on is making my desk a more inviting place to work--for homework and to help keep me from laying in bed on the internet all day. I found this old wicker shelf at Goodwill for like $5, but when I bought it, it was solid white. A bit of black spray paint and a silver paint marker, and voila, much better. I'm working on complementing it with trinkets and such lovelies, but currently the bottom shelf mostly houses my laptop. I had a hard time doing homework with the lights not quite reaching, so I bought this cute little hanging thinggie over at Big Lots and filled it with Christmas lights. now that I look over, half the lights are burnt out, so I may switch it back to a candle. But it was a fun and easy project.

This beast hear though... It's technically a three-part project, and completing one set of candles was so exhausting that I didn't finish the other two. It was fun and interesting, but my plan for the small set of candles isn't going to work, so I'm back to collecting glassware to repurpose. The good news is it gave me a chance to experiment and refine the technique, so when I make the smallest and largest set, I'll have a better idea of what I'm doing. This project deserves it's own post though, and I'll be following up on that... uh... eventually.

Lately I've been on a muffin kick. Banana muffins in particular, but if you can make it, I can make a muffin out of it. The pomegranate blueberry ones were perhaps the biggest hit, but I also played with apple-cinnamon, blueberry-chocolate, carrot-raisin-oatmeal, and many others. They are great for a quick breakfast on the run, and they last a week or so in the fridge. 

Two last items, and that'll do it for today. I saw this guy on the street corner, by himself, with what I feel is a very powerful sign. If you can't read it, it says "Pain is not Recreational. Support Medical Cannabis." Basically, WA is now trying to force of of the MMJ shops and retailers to comply with the recreational rules--which basically hurts their business and their customers. In a nutshell, WA's legalization has kind of backfired because they didn't plan enough before they passed it. Some of us predicted this, and it's a damn shame. But we are seeing a lot of states following suit, and I feel that we will see at least MMJ legalized on a federal level within my lifetime, if not medical and recreational. 

The new quarter has started, and even though I haven't been properly released yet, I decided to go ahead and take a full courseload. I never know when I'll get the word that I'm finally free, and I don't want to land on my face when that happens. So I got set up to go to school so I can both use my GI Bill [have income] and work towards a BSEE [do something mildly useful with my life]. It worked my way through college about 7 years ago, so hopefully I can do it again... but this time the schedule isn't going to be as flexible. One of my favorite things about this campus is the rock-stacking. This pile of rocks is stacked differently almost every day I walk by it. I think I want to do something like this in my yard... but I'm not sure where I should try to get the rocks from. 

Belated Turkey Recap!

It's been ages since I wrote, I know. I've been dabbling in a bit of this and a bit of that, and honestly the past couple weeks are kind of blurry so I'm not sure exactly why I've been too busy, but it hasn't been working out for me. Right now I'm working a mid/swing shift--I thought I would love it, but actually it's wearing me out. I have more time to get things done, and more things get done... but then again, for me, that is kind of a double edged sword. Anywho, I have many projects planned and in various stages of completion, but I realized I neglected to share food porn from Thanksgiving! This is especially important since I did a bit of experimentation this time as well.

 

Unfortunately, I had to work on Thanksgiving day. Although my day shift does end fairly early, I still made an effort to do as much the day before as was logically possible. Specifically, I mixed the ingredients for Nana's Secret Southern Cornbread Dressing and set aside to chill in the fridge. I also prepped my ungodly amounts of Mac N Cheese... pictured below with a regular coffee cup for scale. First I was afraid I had too much noodles... then I was afraid I wouldn't have enough cheese, so I dumped some extra mozzarella into the mix... then I realized I'd made a grave 'clerical error.' Let's just say there's another Tupperware full of cheese sauce sitting in my freezer, ready for the next time someone is craving homemade mac-n-cheese. My bad.

 

A few years ago, I stumbled upon a recipe for stuffed mushrooms. I think the original recipe called for sausage too, but I stuff mine with stuffing mix, spinach, and loads of mozzarella. And the mushroom stems, all diced up. They're also topped with parmesan. Personally, I don't care for mushrooms, because of the way they feel. But I know at least the boys love them, so I make them every year. This year I also wanted to incorporate squash or zucchini into my dinner, because it's one of my new favorite vegetables. I looked up a couple recipies on line but in the end, decided to wing it. I scooped out the squash guts, mixed that up with a can of diced tomatoes and juice, and the rest of the stuffing and spinach mix.

And finally, the coo-de-grassy. [gee, I hope ANY other person on the planet finds that as funny as I do, and YES, I know I'm "saying" it wrong.] A week or so before Thanksgiving, we all went out to a place I love called Dirty Oscar's Annex. They had an appetizer called 'Heaven Sticks.' Honestly I am not big on asparagus, so I skipped it that night, but we all kind of wanted asparagus with dinner, so I tried my hand replicating said Heaven Sticks. I used three spears instead of just one, and since I didn't plan ahead, I had to use some makeshift kabob sticks instead of actual toothpicks, but overall I think it worked out. We sauted the asparagus in OJ and balsamic vinegar first, and then wrapped them up like little papooses. Tasty bacon blankets. And then, hell yeah, we deep fried those suckers! Afterwards, I attempted a glaze made from more of the OJ, balsamic vinegar, and brown sugar.

 

All said and done, here is my Thanksgiving plate. Not mentioned above are the bacon-wrapped turkey, home-style green beans with bacon and onions, garlic mashed potatoes, and T's roasted ginger carrots. NOM NOM NOM!!!

 

 

I Don't Do This Enough

Well, it's Thanksgiving. One of my favorite holidays. I generally end up working though, because I don't travel, I have no kids, and in general, I'm really flexible--it's not the date you celebrate, it's the celebration you have, regardless of what day. And although I'm pretty much the only one of my family out on the west coast, I am still really stubborn about practicing a ton of traditions that I grew up with. I'll be calling at least one of my grandma's to check in on my way home. The cornbread dressing is in the fridge, ready for the oven; as is the mac-n-cheese. I went out of my way to find "bacon ends & pieces" for the greenbeans, which must be fresh popped. And even though it may be 6pm, 8pm, or even later when we go to chow down on our feast, I will enjoy every bite.

Normally on Thanksgiving, or Replacement Pseudo Day of Turkey and Excessive Food Gorging [RPDTEFG? nah] I collect lost souls and force-feed them until they explode. It's just what I do, okay? Damn that soft spot for puppies and broken things. Luckily, I only cook in one mode, and that is "make enough to feed a small army!" Sadly though, this is perhaps the first year that I'm not adopting anyone to feed who doesn't actually live in my house. It's kinda sad for me. But at the same time, we are planning to take a plate to some folks tomorrow--long story, just go with it. Plus, the last time I adopted something for Thanksgiving... well, let's just say I'm still feeding it on a daily basis, teehee.

Point being. The one tradition that nearly everyone participates in on Thanksgiving... the family goes around the table and says one thing they are thankful for. I was thinking on this idea while I drove to work this morning, crafting and formulating a Facebook post in my head [hey, I'm an English Major, okay? It's what we do], and I realized that I had way too much to say to just let it slip by momentarily on Facebook. I also figured that I'd get cut off by whatever character limits there are. So without further ado, and in no particular order, Things I Am Thankful For:

-I am not deployed. I am not on duty. I may be working, but I get to go home afterwards and spend time with people I care about. I have a big hurty spot on my heart for anyone who is away from home because of the military.

-I got to cook. Or more accurately, I get to eat! It's not the galley, it's not the ship, it's not an MRE, it's not whatever else some poor sailors/soldiers/airmen/Marines are stuck with right now. I have a kitchen, and by golly I am putting it to use.Two years ago, I think my dinner consisted of Tuna with Rice and Sirracha, and a chocolate bar.

-I'm off the ship in general. My life has improved by lengths and bounds since I left that hellhole. Seriously. My current co-workers care about people, generally have common sense, and finally, a generalized sense of humor!

-Family, and "Family." Family is what you make it. I am thankful for both the family that "raised" me, as well as the "family" I have developed over the years. I am thankful for people and relationships; the ability to cultivate and maintain them; and... man, I don't know, the fact that we all exist?

-Coffee. And the people who sell it. Being greeted not with "what can I get you?" but instead a smile and, "how many shots today?" Seriously, that means so much to me and I don't know why.

-Kitties. My kittens probably don't get enough credit and cuddles. But they are so sweet, and I don't care if you hate cats, I can tell you that they love me every bit as much as my dog did.

-The past year. Change. Turning points. So much has gone upside down and topsy turvy and backwards, but honestly it all seems to in general be for the greater good.

-Scars. Internal and External. They remind me of who I am, what I've been through, what I am capable of, and how strong I can be. They remind me where to draw the line, and the essential need to take care of myself. They show me that I've changed.

-Me! I mean sorry to sound narcissistic here, but really, I'm pretty glad to be me. Generally speaking, I like who I am, especially now. I may have moments of jealousy, but when it all comes down to it... nah.

-The Italian. Mon Chere, Mio Amante, L'uomo che amo, Mo Anam Cara, Namaste. I am still amazed every day that such a caring, genuine man can even exist. And that he somehow accidentally fell for me.  I am thankful for the lessons he has taught me, and for throwing me a floatation device when I needed it most. But he didn't just reel me in, he showed me that if I didn't do the work myself it wouldn't really count. Even when we are both stressed out and frustrated, it is still obvious that we were meant for each other. I strongly feel that everything happens for a reason, whether or not we understand it, and the experiences we have had separately only managed to completely prepare us for each other in the present. Now I look forward to every day, and I no longer fear my future.

-The Internet. Without which, on some level, none of the above would even be possible.

See? There was no way that was going to fit on Facebook.

Been a Minute...

Well, you know, things fall apart and fall back together. I have been back and forth on and off of nights, so adjusting to that has been a little difficult. Life and the Universe has been quite tempramental to the Italian, bless his heart, but hopefully it will be smoothing out soon. I barely know where to start for this blog!

I've got a lot of projects up in the air at the moment, but a couple of them I am saving until completion to actually share, particularly the glass project. It deserves its own post. Ah! Ok, I can start with this one. While my buddy is out of town for work, we have the distinct pleasure... with a grain of salt... of babysitting his Savannah cat, Emmitt. Oh boy, this guy. He's a handful when he's awake, but every night he climbs under the covers and gives out awesome cuddles. Miss Z hates his guts still, but Bill has come to realize that even though he's not 'the kitten' any more, having a 'cousin' around to play with can be lots of fun. They both fetch and throw mousies, and chase each other, and wrestle. Since Emmitt will be come-and-go, and also since we've run out of perches for kittehs, I ordered a cat-tree from Amazon. I didn't go all out because I'm a little bit of a cheapy, but this one is almost as tall as me [but then again I'm only 5'3"] and cost $60. I put it together all by myself! Which of course brings me way more joy than it should. All the cats ignored the tree for the first day or so, but Bill has discovered that it's great for derping about, and they both love the fuzzy mice on elastic. Oh man. Hours of entertainment right there! Once full grown, Emmitt should be the size of a small dog, but he was the runt of his litter and seems to be a late bloomer. He's very tall and thin, and can jump disgustingly high. He may look the same size as Bill, but when you turn him into a kittyball, there's hardly anything there! 

 Considering the Italian's upcoming surgery, we started turning the excessive space in the upstairs into a kitchenette. We put in a mini fridge to match the microwave, and later he insisted on adding a toaster oven. After introducing him to "The Met," where we found fresh, hand-pulled mozarella, made in-store putanesca, and all sorts of absolutely to-die-for goodies, I now know why. [The Met also sometimes carries divine Mango Chutney chicken, as well as bottled Thai coffee and literally... espresso soda. It's pricey, but to see him so happy was worth it. I knew he'd love it, and my favorite part about finding something neat is sharing it with someone who Really--capital R--appreciates it. We have yet to hit the olive bar, salad bar, or gelatto bar, but they're the second best place to go for cut flowers, only beat out by Stadium Thriftway, in my opinion.]

Woah, sorry for the tangent. Anyways, he threw together these mini pita-pizzas in about five minutes, and they are to die for! Impressively filling, and the putanesca gives them a little after-kick. Only down side... they taste better when someone else makes them. tee-hee.

The other day I was out and about and decided to pick up burritos for lunch/dinner. The quote on the bag was so apt that I decided to art it up. I figured the brown-paper-bag feel would be an interesting thing to work with. Here it is half-finished. I've got a couple more layers of textures to add before I call it done. I am really enjoying art still, although mostly I am doing it from bed these days. And also, I am not sure what to do with it all anymore... Sure, I can keep hanging it on the walls, and that's great for me, but it's not really getting anything OUT there for others. And I guess that's still a big thing for me. On the other hand, Honey Bunches contacted me last night to do an art trade... apparently he's got a project in mind? I asked for a quote to work with, and now must do some research on Freddie Mercury. I've got to do a test run on a theory I have [using crackle paste to transfer instead of gel medium], hopefully it works out, because in my head it makes perfect sense for the quote he gave me.

Last but not least. I have been putting off planting my flowerbed for at least a month now. I was really excited at first, and bought bulbs and some tools... but then the rain and pain set in, and I lost my motivation. Somehow today was the perfect combination! It was dry outside, but not warm, and I didn't feel like crap. I also had nothing to do and was feeling good, so I decided to attack it. I wasn't looking forward to digging up the topsoil, but it turned out not to be too bad. I planted yellow crocus, Wildflower Tulips, and Muscari. Tried to leave some room in back for Dahlias when the spring comes, and finally put the LED/solar charged garden lights. They are so cute! I also laid down some nice red top bark, but I should have listened to the guy at the shop and bought three bags instead of just two. From there I don't know why but I started raking the yard... I got a little overwhelmed with that. I was about a minute from calling it quits when the Italian came home and insisted on taking over, even though I tried telling him it was unnecessary. Of course, that led to me getting further distracted and digging up the mushrooms that were taking over our yard, as well as cleaning up the hens-and-chicks under the big tree [trying to get them to root and spread after almost killing them all this summer--my bad]. I also had a handfull of Muscari left, and finding that the dirt in the flowerbeds by the front door was much softer than the one under the window, I lined the stairs with the extra bulbs. I'm excited to plant more, even though I suck at garden follow-through. Also, I'm afraid for the Fibro repercussions of what I did today... we'll see how bad it gets.

Seems like lately all my projects have been trying to teach me patience--none of them are instant gratification! The art must always be done in layers, and seems like each one takes longer to dry than the last. The glass project, well I'm on day two of that one, waiting for stuff to dry. The bulbs... well I won't even get to see them until spring time. I'm sure they'll be great though, I can't wait! And even if we move out, I hope they bring some happiness to the folks who move in after us. But that's a whole 'nother story.

Lots of Feel-Goods

Whew, where to begin?

The other day, I cleaned out my car and reinstalled the boom-boom in the backseat. Although it was unfortunate to see the lovely blue crystals on my battery terminal, the good news is I am competent enough to rewire things in my car. Thus, I has moar bass again. This of course spurned a loud ride to my doctors appointment this morning, blasting Bayside and singing along. And I realized, this guy here, he is one of the best songwriters I've heard--at least, since the likes of Matt Skiba and Dan Andriano. So simple, so straightforward, yet with that play on metaphors I love so much. Snarky, heartfelt word play, showing a glimpse of pain so deep you feel it too. The funny thing about Bayside is that even though his lyrics tend to be fairly specific, they are still so relateable. So, as Mrs. K predicted, I have spent my free time today cleaning my metaphorical wounds with ink and paint. One of the tips I'd been meaning to try was printing onto tissue paper, and holy crap. I'm not done with this one yet, but below is the progress so far. I'm waiting for the clear coat to dry before I start layering the tissue paper on. I'm really excited to see how it turns out, I'm just hoping I don't have the same issue with the ink bleeding that I did when I got into stamping.

One of the other wonderful things--aside from cooking home-made baked ziti from scratch [happy Italian], followed by crock-pot beef stew today... Anyways, now that we're all hungry, moving on.

If you know me at all, you know how pleased I am when I am able to help people. Especially good people. So although tomorrow I have to put the blasted uniform back on, I have been able to help someone because of it. A while back, someone from my bootcamp division separated and based on my descriptions, decided to move to WA. We talked about meeting up to jam a time or two, but it never panned out. After I made an off-handed comment online, he ended up coming over for dinner and socializing. Fun fact is, he's closer to my brother's age than mine! He's enlisted the Italian's help with navigating the VA, and today they have made quite a bit of progress. The boys are getting along famously, which makes me smile inside. As my dad said once, I have quite a soft spot for "puppy dogs and broken boys," and given the chance, I will feed and comfort both of them. When the holidays come around, I make a big effort to invite displaced military folks for meals. I realized last night, that it's almost like I've adopted a little brother--no offense to my actual little brother, he's just a little too cool to talk to me these days. He'll come around eventually, I'm sure, but living three states away doesn't help either.

Anyways, just the interactions between those two cracks me up and makes me happy. Loud music with good words. Making art, exploring, testing, results. Kitty cuddles, especially with a little rumble of purr... surprisingly my typing has yet to disturb Miss Z, who is draped across my arms at this very moment. Homecooked food. And of course, top it off with a bit of British humor. Ah, good days. I can't wait until my life is filled with this on a daily basis and punctuated with school and working with awesome people.

I hope you are all having some small victories or small happiness, and leave you with this--so at least if nothing else, you can say you saw a cute cat picture today.

Apparently I CAN bake.

For years and years, I could never bake. My cookies... turned out like big flat muffins. Everything came out half-burned and half-uncooked. Somehow after deployment, everything I've put in the oven has come out tasty as all hell. Okay except maybe the 'anchor' cookies... they were taste alright, but boy did they ever look wrong. Anyways, Since I'm getting back into das blogging, and happened to bake today, tadah, easy blog posting on the books.

I was out of town for about a week, and there was a bunch of bananas on the counter, which I knew no one would eat while I was gone. All that really means for me, is to get prepared to make some sort of banana bread-type yumminess. I wasn't sure if I could find the same recipe I used last time, but luckily I did. Of course, I can't really 'go by' a recipe. I tend to use it as a jumping off point, and then have fun with it. Last time I ended up with dark-chocolate chip oatmeal banana muffins. They were delish. This time, I had some extra apples too, so I set out to combine these theories.

So. Diced apples plus that caramel apple dip, about three spoonfuls, and microwave for a couple minutes. 1.5 cups of flower, a dash of cinnamon of course, and 1/2 cup each white sugar, brown sugar, and oatmeal. 3 mushy bananas. 2 eggs, a generous splash of milk, and some vanilla extract. bake for about 50 minutes at 350. They come out very dense. This recipe will get you almost exactly a 3x6 muffin pan. I'm sure you could make it in a bread pan or whatever, but that's not my style. I use baking spray on a nonstick muffin pan, and I know they're done because when I stick a fork in them, they lift right out of the pan.

AND. Obligatory cute cat photo... Mr. Bill Apollo is learning how to be Maru 2.0, the American Box Cat.

Haze Grey

Well, it’s been about 5 hours so far and I’ve already smashed my hands up three times… twice out of clumsiness and only once out of anger. This morning I was almost excited, thinking I’d finally gotten a handle on this stuff… alas, not true, you can never truly be ready for this level of stupidity and attitude. But I do feel more prepared. I would rather be home, of course, but this is the next step in an exercise of lessening the blow. So far I’m actually optimistic. The spaghetti has been a big hit, although I’m still getting ribbed on the dubious quantity—it’s not a 55 gallon drum, so it can’t possibly be enough. For those of you who don’t know, my spaghetti is somewhere in the realm of legendary. This time I grabbed some on-sale rotinis though, and turns out they were gluten free, and therefore made out of corn. Corn noodles… yeah, just not the same. They feel a little funny as leftovers. Next time I’ll be more careful. I don’t do recipes really, but if you want to give it a shot, here’s the ingredients:

-hamburger meat

-italian sausage

-diced tomatoes

-fresh diced green onions

-loads of fresh diced garlic

-fresh diced onions

-mushrooms chopped to your desired consistency [I don’t like the way they feel so I cut them very small]

-grated zucchini

-Hunt’s spaghetti sauce [doesn’t really matter what variety, but it’s cheap, and comes in huge cans, and it’s all I’ll ever use]

-spices: garlic, garlic salt, oregano, basil, mixed Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, minced onion, bay leaves

Sauté garlic and onions in olive oil. Add hamburger meat, season, cook almost through. Add sausage, cook through. Add everything else, season again. I can still guarantee you it won’t come close to mine, but you might get close. You can use whatever kind of noodles you prefer, but it won’t be quite right if you don’t use rotini.