Settling In, Popcorn and Spaghetti Sauce

After the sun rose high enough to provide warmth we headed out into the desert on one of our favorite walks to Inspiration Point.  Years ago someone at North Ranch named the various paths through the desert, erecting signs with path names and mileage making it easy to chose a destination.  Going out to Inspiration Point we walk about 2.5 miles. 

The cowboy decided the motorhome needed a bath and was out there with a hose and his brush right after we returned from walking—our old coach does look much better when clean!  And now I can see out the windows. 

The holidays are almost over and we are ready to get back to our healthier eating habits—eating our big meal at noon and snacking less.  All the Christmas goodies are gone—I sure miss those homemade chocolate turtles!

For lunch I made spaghetti sauce—every time I make spaghetti sauce and take the first bite I say, “I make the best spaghetti sauce!!”  I’ve tweaked an old Little Rock, Arkansas Junior League recipe over the years and here it is:

Spaghetti Sauce

Serves 6-8

1 lb ground beef

½ cup chopped onion

2 tsp dried parsley flakes

6-8 cloves of garlic minced

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp oregano

¼ tsp pepper

Dash basil

6 oz. can tomato paste

8 oz. can tomato sauce

16 oz. can diced tomatoes

8oz. package spaghetti

Brown ground beef and drain, then sauté onion and garlic in oil remaining in skillet or add a small amount olive oil—don’t let the garlic brown. Add all other ingredients except spaghetti. Simmer covered 1 hour then uncovered one-half hour. Serve over cooked spaghetti.

And now for popcorn.  I grew up with a grandfather who loved popcorn—he used a cooking pot on the stove to make his popcorn.  Fast forward many, many years to 1994 when I married the cowboy.  A popcorn eating/addicted cowboy—who also cooks his popcorn on the stove top.  When we first married he used vegetable oil, I converted him to using a smaller amount of light olive oil and now we are using coconut oil.  The coconut oil gives the popcorn a delicious flavor but makes our smoke detector go off every time—you would think I would remember to hang a towel over the dang thing! 

Why would anyone put a smoke detector right beside the cook top?  In our 5th wheel the smoke detector was right over the stove on the ceiling, I couldn’t even scramble an egg without that stupid thing shrieking at me.  It shrieked one time too many and took a flight out the door one morning!!  It didn’t survive causing the cowboy to relocate the next one away from the stove!! 

Life is good!