OK so what's the choice? Are we choosing between meat sauce + spaghetti, and meat sauce + meatballs? Meat and meat all the way.

So spaghetti sauce needs the meat? That's what I'm trying to see. I thought if I add meatballs it bypasses the ground beef in the sauce.

Ohhh I'm with you now. If you're including meatballs then you can go for some canned tomato sauce or whatever. No need to meatify the sauce.

What I'm trying to say is that I wouldn't eat spaghetti (or any pasta) with just sauce (meat sauce or other), I don't know if that's normal or not but I'm not a big pasta guy so the meatballs are essential.

Do not need to put meat in the sauce Ness if you are serving with other meat cooked in the sauce. The meat balls replace the ground meat.

Another tip, if you are cooking things like pork chops, chicken breasts or thighs, ribs or beef chunks, you can cook them in the sauce, then pull them out and serve separately. That is the way traditional Sunday gravy is made.  Also why Sunday gravy has such a unique taste, since all the fat from the meat renders into it.

For cheap, fast pasta, get a bag of frozen meatballs and cook them in the sauce. By the time the pasta is ready, the sauce and meatballs should be done as well.

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For red sauce, all it NEEDS is tomatoes.  Rest is kind of all optional to taste.  Beef, pork, seafood and turkey/chicken all give it different flavor profiles.  As does spices/aromatics and fat.  Sugar cuts the acid of tomatoes if not using anything else that will do it.  But you really just mix and match per taste.

Treat recipes as a suggestion and experiment.  Taste everything you safely can too, and the meals as you add stuff, to see what you actually like, and what you do not.  No reason to add shit you do not like to your personal meals.  

Didn't break the noodles this time, let them slide in like they were sneaking in after cheating on their girl. Pretty good, only 1 of my 10 meatballs found their way into my initial plate though.

Eying a 14 by 14 Sicilian Pizza pan to change up my pizza game a bit and learn Grandma Pizza.

Grandma pizza for those not familiar with this style. Another NYC regional pie. Can make Sicilian easily too with that pan.

www.sipandfeast.com/grandma-pizza

Moved to a new THICC sauce using whole tomatoes that are gently hand crushed then drained.  Not so much of a sauce but almost a paste.  Mix it with diced garlic and onions, and some basil.  Comes out great.  Want to try on a Grandma style.

Ah, here is the old thread.

So mom tried out of one of those food box subscriptions. Pretty much simple means you can make at home, if you just buy a few veggies and meats. Ship you basic staple veggies and a meat with instructions on how to make a simple meal with them, like breaded chicken and broccoli or a cottage pie. Def thinking here not worth at all. 15 bucks for a cottage pie is insane given it is like a bag of peas, two carrots, six potatoes and a pound of ground meat and small can of tomato paste as a base. Small chicken breast split in two and a single broccoli head also not gonna get you to 15. Rest of the meals are like this too. Kind of has to point it all out to her. Good for like young cooks as there are recipes and the ingredients are all there, but not for the value.

That said these are absolutely deals if you can get the codes for five meals for two for 50% off. Trick is to try to get a lot of meals that have a lot of ingredients you can then use for other meals you want to cook. Easy to creatively order and get a bunch of meat and a box full of veggies shipped for $25 that way. Just avoid anything with rice, wraps or pasta as filler. Cottage pie at 15 for instance is not costly, at 7 shipped, it is another story as that is cost around me, but brought to your house.

Deals are fairly regular too, so I do not know people who just bounce from one to the next. Influencers live off these basically as they get a few weeks free to sell them to their viewers. If you ever want to have a good laugh watch an influencer cook one of the meals. Either it is insanely over prepped with stuff they open to prepare the meal with, or it is clear they never cooked before and glorious disasters.

Always wondered about these. Like how do they ship perishable stuff like this to get to you? Surely this shit isn't being sent through the mail or parcel delivery guys like ups?

Yup everything for me came in great condition. Box has a massive ice-pack in it. Feels like these are all different brands of the same company, and they have distributed hub so coming from the place closest to you, and not shipped all out of the same place. Websites are all very, very similar for all the competing brands.

We have a similar service in the UK called HelloFresh. You get send a big box of ingredients in an icepack. I used it for a few months. It's a rip off compared to buying the ingredients at a store but the recipes are very well-written, a good way to a get off to a start in cooking for yourself.

They should just sell a premium cookbook!

Feb 11, 2024 17:04:04 GMT Emperor said:

We have a similar service in the UK called HelloFresh. You get send a big box of ingredients in an icepack. I used it for a few months. It's a rip off compared to buying the ingredients at a store but the recipes are very well-written, a good way to a get off to a start in cooking for yourself.

Yeah pretty sure Hello Fresh owns Every Plate.  Best thing about these services is for people learning to cook is you can take the cards, and just buy what is on them locally to then remake the recipe at home.

I did one of those services. I liked them overall but some of the provide was questionable. The carrots were rubbery and floppy. I did like they provide small packets of things like Demi glacé that I don’t use very often.