The other day I was cooking with a friend – we were going to conquer meatballs. I had to laugh when she looked at the recipe for the sauce for the meatballs – she said, “they have a recipe, but I have a jar and canned food.” Simply homemade, or semi-homemade is such a great way to make a recipe your own. You can start with a canned item, frozen food or already cooked ingredients and then make them your own.
A recipe is a road map and part of the adventure is to divert and follow your own path. Sandra Lee spoke to me when I would watch her Food Network show and watch as she gave all of us viewers permission to use boxed mixes and canned food. In the everyday world, we don’t always have access to the freshest of ingredients or have the time to make everything from scratch.
I’m not knocking fresh, or putting down gourmet cooking – I love both of those! But I have been a working mom most of my adult life in the midwest and understand the practicality of semi-homemade. And when my friend said that she had a jar – I just laughed. Not only do I really like the ease of spaghetti sauce in a jar – that is one of my pantry staple items.
If I have time and fresh tomatoes, I really like making a marinara sauce, but today I was focusing on the meatballs and knew they were going to take a lot of time. So I was super relieved that she had a jar and canned food and we could get the meatballs done.
I have not made a lot of meatballs, I have found several frozen brands that I like, but I was up for the task and got to put my spin on the recipe. We made a great gluten-free variation of a meatball!
I have a jar and canned food what are you cooking with yours?
I can’t wait to see what you like to make with your precious time. What are you cooking semi-homemade? Join Mama Caruso Cooks Cooking Club and let’s learn from each other. I can’t wait to find out what you are cooking.