It's Not Spaghetti Sauce

Maybe in other parts of the world there are sauces for spaghetti that are not red, green, or white and they are good. Here at this uncultured table, spaghetti is red, and alfredo and pesto are noodle sauces. Nothing more, nothing less. Romesco sauce had two ingredients no red, green, or white sauce has ever included: roasted red pepper and almonds.

Modifications Made:

Parsley was omitted

Scaled for Likability: Fail

My dinner looked just like the pictures! I couldn't wait to try something so vastly different, something so full of healthy foods, something new and exciting. Wrong. It was not love at first bite, nor second bite, and by the third bite the chickens were dancing on their toes for the blessing of manna from heaven: pasta. Oh, how these crazy chickens love their carbs.

Omission of the parsley nor the taste were the cause for the complete failure of this dish. Failure was due to one simple but important element: texture. Eating this sauce with its crunchy almond pieces against its soft noodle base was wrong. Lack of flavor could have been over looked if it were not for the texture. Gritty, chewy, and odd in taste, this meal was a complete waste. What I fail to understand is why regular red spaghetti sauce is not vegan, especially when one is making their own sauce anyways? If you are taking the time to make this sauce, a vegan can simply make a homemade spaghetti sauce with roasted bell peppers just as easily. Drop kick the almonds to a salad topping, a tasty desert, or hell just in your mouth. What a waste of quality ingredients was this sauce.

Better Than Campbell's Old Fashion Vegetable Soup

Went to the store with the hopes of gathering fresh produce for soup. With more than 45 people in line for two packages of any meat product and the produce section containing only avocado, orange, and most randomly, strawberries, I settled upon canned soup. Well not canned soup since that section was still void of food, too. Instead soup made from canned goods as the canned vegetable section had been mostly restocked. Soups like this 15 Minute Vegetable Soup are ideal in dire food situations such as current times. Modifications Made: Plain petite diced tomatoes omitted, frozen carrots instead of canned, green beans and corn undrained, peas omitted (gross, nasty little pods), one cup celery, three cups diced potatoes, one can tomato sauce, two beef and two pollo de tomate bouillon cubes, six cups water. Once onions were softened, carrots/celery/potatoes/juice of green beans and corn, sauce, bouillon cubes, water were added and allowed to simmer until carrots almost tender. Green be

Sour Cream & Chive Scalloped Potatoes

Can't believe the Month of the Potato is over. There are so many more potato recipes saved. Guess I will have to work them into another month. Last week's scalloped potatoes were one of the best new recipes during the month of potatoes. With today being the last day in the Month of Potatoes, I decided to go out with a bang by cooking another batch of scalloped potatoes but this time sour cream and chive. The Best Scalloped Potatoes , or so they said. Modifications Made: Recipe was reduced by half. Mayo was omitted and one entire package of chives were chopped and added to sauce before pouring onto layers. Scaled for Likability: Good Betty Crocker Sour Cream and Chive Box Scalloped Potatoes were the standard for this recipe. These were a family favorite for years but have long since been discounted. Bummer. Trying to replicate this seemed easy enough. Alas, it was not. These had a nice texture but were too oily from the cheese and did not contain enough onion, garlic,

Papas a La Mexicana (Ranchera)

It is a crying shame that there are six hens and not a egg in sight. What am I supposed to do with homemade ranchero sauce? Thankfully with a few quick searches of the internet a recipe from my hometown newspaper was discovered: Papas Ranchera . Not once in the thirty years I lived in my hometown did I ever eat at a local food joint serving papas rancheras. No time like the present to remedy this cultural dish. Because this recipe is hidden behind a paywall (grrr...) I have included it here for you: Servings: 4-6 Ingredients: 1 pound potatoes, diced 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2 large onion 1 1/2 medium tomatoes 3 jalapenos 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup juice from canned tomatoes Instructions: Fry potatoes in vegetable oil until lightly browned (about 4-6 minutes). Saute onions, tomatoes, jalapenos until soft. Add garlic powder and salt. Add tomato juice until vegetables are covered (may need to add water). Bring to a boil and then add potatoes. Cover and reduc

Eating Waffles

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