Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce

This recipe makes enough for us to eat one meal, and freeze the rest for another meal! It is delicious and just a "throw in the pot and forget it" kind of recipe! It's a total winner in our house (especially since I'm essentially fixing dinner for 2 nights at one time!!!)

Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce

2 lb ground beef

2 onions, chopped (about 2 cups)

2 cups sliced mushrooms (6 oz)

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 can diced tomatoes, undrained (28 oz) 

2 cans tomato sauce (30 oz total)

1 can tomato paste (6 oz)

1 Tbsp. dried Basil

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 Tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

In a large skillet, cook meat, onion, mushrooms and garlic. Drain and spoon into crock pot. Add remaining ingredients, stir, cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours! It's seriously THAT easy!!!

As a grocery note, we shop at Aldi, and they have diced tomatoes with basil and garlic! I love my spaghetti sauce "tomatoey", so I use two cans of diced tomatoes, and one can of sauce!

ENJOY!!!! (PS-We had already ate dinner after my picture was taken, so please excuse my dirty looking crock pot!)

One Pan Mexican Quinoa

Hello my friends, I am so excited to share with you that our family has now grown, and we now have not just one, but two beautiful girls that God has blessed us with!!!  My sweet Nora arrived very quickly on August 12 at 1:28pm! She weighed 7 lb 1 oz and was 20 inches long! It was such a blessing to have my baby sister, Madison-who is about to get married and move to Alaska, in the delivery room with me! If you'd like to see more pictures, read her perspective of the birth, AND see her Alaskan journey, visit her blog!

I am so very excited to report that Big Sis is head over heels in love and so so very helpful!! She loves to put her paci in when Nora begins to cry and realizes that Mommy is busy and can't go right to her rescue! She also loves to hold her. She will walk up to me and say "I hole sissy? I get da boppy, okay?" and return to the couch and place the boppy around her waist, look at me and say "I hold sissy!" With a few minutes of sweet kisses, nose snuggles in the cheek, and "sissy talk", she happily smiles up at me and giggly says "I done!"

Soooooo.......due to the sweet new addition to our family, I have been seeking easy, quick and high in protein dinners! Between nursing, laundry, cleaning, doctor appointments, naps, and a shower and teeth brush here and there planning ahead has been vitally important to our finance and our dinner survival!!! While I was pregnant, I fixed this dish at least once a week! It is so so easy, and it is just as delicious the next day as it was the night before! So, without further jabber, here is One Pan Mexican Quinoa!!!!

One Pan Mexican Quinoa

(I'll take a picture next time we have it! Sorry!)

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno, minced (we don't use since we have a little mouth eating!)
• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (14.5 oz) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
• 1 cup corn
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 avocado, halved, seeded, peeled and diced
• Juice of 1 lime
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Heat olive oil in a large pot or wok over medium heat.  Add garlic and jalapeno and saute for about 1 minute. 

Stir in the remaining ingredients EXCEPT avocado, lime juice, and cilantro.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat and cover. Allow to simmer is cooked through (about 20 minutes). 

Place in bowl and top with avocado, lime juice and cilantro. We also top ours with salsa!!!

IF YOU'VE NEVER COOKED/HAD QUINOA-my personal description is that it is similar to rice. It takes on the flavor of what it is cooked in! When it is done cooking, it will have slightly expanded, and it becomes somewhat translucent! You can see a "tail" inside it! (My best way to describe it! lol)

As I stated in the recipe, we have a small mouth, so we opt out of the jalapeno! I have also used Rotel instead of the fire roasted tomatoes and jalapeno-it gives it a very spicy kick! I also have use chicken broth before because my vegetable broth was moldy-YUCK!!!! It worked just fine!!! AND my husband eats rice chips with his!

Enjoy, and let me know how you like it!

I got this off of Pinterest. Here's the original recipe!