A Homemade Dinner

I've been trying to do better at grocery shopping by writing out a weekly menu. That way I can look at the menu, figure out exactly what ingredients I'll need for the week and just make one trip to the store. And it's helpful to know what I'm making so I'm not scroungimg through the cupboard trying to put together random ingredients to come up with something edible for Kyle (which I'm sure he also appreciates!). Not that I couldn't come up with a tasty dish based on canned chilis and baked beans.... :)

So tonight's dinner was spaghetti! I normally buy spaghetti sauce and then add meat and a few veggies to it but I'm getting a little tired of the store-bought kinds. I don't know why I buy it, because it doesn't take any more work to open a couple cans of tomatoes and spices than it does a jar of sauce...? So I decided to make it from scratch today instead. I used a recipe my Mom had which is super easy--mostly ground beef and tomatoes mixed with garlic and a few spices. Once everything was mixed together it had to simmer for a few hours, so I figured I would have time to make some bread, too. I was getting low on flour, so I made half a batch of dough (just one loaf instead of the two it normally makes) and I used some whole wheat flour instead of all white, which I've never tried before. I put that in the oven to rise for an hour and, having plenty of time left, decided to make some cookies for dessert!

One of Kyle's favorites is chocolate peanut butter no-bake cookies so I made those. Perfect for today--not a lot of ingredients and I wouldn't need the oven! There wasn't much peanut butter left, so I only made half a batch but it still made enough to last a few days. This is the recipe I use:

No Bake Cookies
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
4 Tbsp. cocoa
1/2 cup milk
pinch of salt
1 cup peanut butter
3 cups quick-cooking oats
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Combine the first five ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil. Let mixture boil for two minutes. Remove from heat and add peanut butter, oats and vanilla; mix well. Spoon mounds onto waxed paper and let cool. That's it!

I considered making the noodles, too, but I was out of flour. I'll have to try that another time. :) I think the spaghetti sauce, bread and cookies were enough for today!

The sauce and bread turned out pretty good! Making meals from scratch is so much better than buying stuff pre-made!

But I didn't do it all myself. As always, I had my little helper with me while I was cooking!