Garden Fresh Spaghetti Sauce

One of my favorite things to do with my grandparents when I was a kid was helping in the garden. Travis and I wanted to do a garden in our backyard last year but with the wicked morning (all-day) sickness I was experiencing, we decided to skip it so I was excited to get my hands in the ground this summer. We built a small, 4X4 garden box in our backyard and planted crookneck squash, cucumbers, peppers, cabbage and tomatoes. The total cost of our little box was about $100 (which included materials for the box, soil and plants.)

 Some of our late-summer harvest

The squash started coming in just as Ada was starting solids so I've been able to save a bundle on making her food, which is all-natural and still warm from the sun when I start steaming it! Of course, we've saved a lot of money skipping the produce aisle and shopping in our own backyard. Here is one of my favorite, garden-fresh recipes I've come up with. You'll need:

1 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup red wine
4 cups chopped, peeled tomatoes (6 large or 8 medium)
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
1 teaspoon sugar (I add a little extra to taste)
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)
1-2 teaspoons of Pampered Chef Crush Peppercorn and Garlic Rub (optional)
Oregano (to taste)
1 pound hamburger
8 ounces spaghetti

1. In a dutch oven or large pot, cook onion and garlic in oil until tender. I like to add a little oregano at this point. It makes the house smell AMAZING.

2. Stir in the red wine, tomatoes, tomato paste, herbs, sugar, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer. I watch the sauce at this point and add additional herbs if needed. We really like pepper so I go by appearance and taste. Basically, if it doesn't look peppery, it's not peppery enough!

 3. Meanwhile, cook the pasta and hamburger. I like to add the Pampered Chef Crushed Peppercorn and Garlic rub to the meat to give it a good flavor. That is hands-down my favorite PC product and I use it in just about everything.

4. Let the sauce simmer and continue to nurse to flavor. Once you have it to your liking (I sometimes throw in a little more red wine just to get it there) I drain and toss the spaghetti and meat into the pot with the sauce and serve.

5. Enjoy!