I am still getting back into the swing of things after our vacation. Yesterday we went to Wal-Mart and picked up some groceries so that I could make spaghetti today. I managed to pick up some school supplies while I was there as well. This is the first time I’ve bought groceries for our home in July, so my total for this month so far is 32.82, but will only have about 21 days included in this monthly total. My digital camera is dead right now, so no picture today. Here is a breakdown of what I bought:
4 rolls paper towels, 2 cans mandarin oranges, 1 pound butter, 1 jar mayonnaise, 1 loaf French bread, 1 bag popcorn, 1 pound ground beef, 1 pound Italian sausage, 2 packages spaghetti sauce mix, 10 packages cream cheese (price matched from Walgreen’s sale), 1 Clearasil, 10 bottles shampoo, 1 package index cards, and 20 spiral notebooks.
I made a spaghetti/meat sauce using green peppers from the garden (free), onion (25 cents), garlic (10 cents), 2 cans of diced tomatoes($1.72), 2 cans of tomato puree ($1.72), one pound ground beef ($2.98), 1 pound Italian sausage ($3.50), and spices ($1.96). The French bread was $1.50, which works out to a total of $13.73. I fed six adults with this for dinner and still have plenty of bread and sauce leftover for another meal. I was also able to use my "new to me" Pottery Barn pasta dishes that I picked up at a yard sale in Illinois last week.
Soulds delicious. Just what is in "spaghetti sauce mix?" I am wondering if it's just some Italian spices, which would be cheaper to purchas than these mixes.
ReplyDeleteIt was the McCormick Thick and Zesty Spaghetti Sauce Mix. Here are the ingredients:
ReplyDeleteSUGAR, TOMATO POWDER, MODIFIED TAPIOCA STARCH, SALT, ONION, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, SPICES (INCLUDING BASIL, OREGANO, AND BLACK PEPPER), GARLIC, MALTODEXTRIN, PAPRIKA, CITRIC ACID, BEET POWDER, XANTHAN GUM, AND MALIC ACID.
I replied to this last night, but it didn't show up for some reason. My niece made us some last week when we were at her house, so I wanted to try it. My grandmother always uses it when she makes meat sauce for her lasagna. I guess it is the tapioca that makes the sauce thick. I'm sure it could be easily duplicated at home.
Just my 2 cents trying to save you some pennies. : )
ReplyDeleteSince you already had peppers, onion, garlic as well as Italian sausage, I think you would have done just as well to simply add dried/fresh basil, oregano, black pepper. I am guessing that these packets are pricey in comparison. I have fresh herbs right now, and will freeze some in ice cubes for Winter as well as bring some pots inside for Winter use but I also buy inexpensive dried herbs for 50-67 cents at the discount stores. HTH
Sure does help, Carol. Will give this a try the next time I make this sauce. This was one of the first times I made this kind of sauce for spaghetti (had done it for lasagna before). It was so much better than the jarred sauces I usually use! It tasted fresh and light with just tomatoes and tomato puree. :)
ReplyDeleteMeant to add...thanks, Carol! :)
ReplyDeleteI was looking at another blog today, and look what I found:
ReplyDeletehttp://busycooks.about.com/od/homemademixes/r/spaghettimix.htm
A recipe for spaghetti sauce mix. lol