Spelunking

There is a cave, and I am in it. Or that is to say, I have caved in.

My friend Amazon has informed me that my horrible abandonment of non-consumerist principles has paid off post haste, and that I have waiting for me at the apt a package of glorious distraction.

Instant gratification has never felt so good.

Of course, I'm here at the office, and cannot go home to get the package until after class. And top that off with a mid-term test to write for tomorrow. So I don't actually get to open the package until Thursday night. But when I do, there will be House. Glorious, distracting House.

And no, I will not open the package "just to look at it" tonight. I know myself. If I were to so much as take out the gift inside the box, I would, ahem, go all the way with said gift. There would be no self control involved, and I would end up spending all night and most of the morning indulging in House episodes until the deadline loometh and the paper is due. Oddly, I am not capable of looking at a DVD I'm dying to watch without watching it, but I am capable, incredibly so, of leaving that DVD in an opaque cardboard box until I have a spot of time, or need a reward. I don't recall being one of those kids who are desperate to peek at a Christmas gift, though SR will be able to comment otherwise if that's the case.

I have finished fully one half of the reading I need to have caught up on for this midterm. And I'm prepared to BS my heart out over this chapter of Pnin. Loved the book. Not sure what great important concepts are to be found, though. Mainly, I just have a grand old list of N's word games. On tap for the next two or so hours is the completion of Biblical reading, and the note-compilation of Monkey-an reading. Then class, and a teeny-tiny reward. A fill-up on gas, and a trip to Rosa's.

I am justified in Rosa's. Really. I've had a crappy weekend, followed by a crappy week. I want to spend some time chatting with KM, and the happiest place I can think of for that is Rosa's. Since I plan to call in sick tomorrow and stay home all day, I don't have to worry about being up till 3 again. It will be okay.

My main reason for blogging now is twofold. First, I had to admit to purchasing a non-necessity, and to planning another for tonight. I do not feel guilty or anything, but the whole point of blogging the unconsumerism stuff is to keep me on track with it. So full disclosure and all that. I guess.

The second thing was to share this incredible pot of spaghetti sauce. Because KM told me to do it. Now. Not later. So here it is:

You will want to have in your kitchen:
-an oven
-a large (really large) dutch oven
-a knife
-a wooden spoon with a long handle
-a cutting board
-a can opener

+roughly 2lbs of incredibly lean, lean, lean ground beef. I'm talking 97/3.
+2 medium onions
+something like a pound of carrots, the long, grown-up, spindly ones
+a tomato
+half an orange bell pepper
+a head of garlic
+1 can of cheapo, non-chunky spaghetti sauce
+1 huge ass can of whole tomatoes in juice
+1 can of sliced olives, though 2 would be better if you've got them
+1 can of green chilies, ditto to 2 cans
+bay leaves, 3-ish
+italian seasoning, more than several healthy shakes
+italian herbs of choice above and beyond the aforementioned
+cayenne pepper of the nearly tablespoon amounts
+ground cinnamon of the heaping 1/2 teaspoon variety

Now, you're going to brown your meat in your pan on top of your oven, using your spoon. You want to chop up one onion (mince, really) and half your carrots (coin those) and add them to the cooking meat. The onion is juicy, but since the meat is practically fat free, as meat goes, there's no need to drain. Cook until everything is pretty done on the veggie side and all done on the meat side. Now you'll add those bay leaves and the italian herbs of both kinds.

Then add in your garlic, all separated and chopped into pencil eraser size bits. Add the cilies, pepper, tomato, all chopped into similarly thumbnail sized bits. Stir it around for a bit, and spend some time chopping your other onion into chunks that are somewhat between nickle and quarter sized. You want them to be less cooked than the other onion. So keep em big. Coin the rest of your carrots, too. I ended up using about 7 carrots. But then, I had that 2lb bag I had to use up. I like carrots, and they make a new-tasting sauce. Add the can of cheapo sauce, and the juice from the tomatoes. Then get your hands all dirty tearing up the tomatoes into your pot. Chopping will waste juice. So tear over the sauce. Add the newly chopped onion and carrots, along with the cayenne pepper and cinnamon. No olives yet.

Simmer the stuff for a good two hours. Then add the drained olives and simmer another hour. If you really want it more tomatoey or more saucy, add another can of cheapo sauce. But I don't think you'll need it. Taste it. If it needs something, add it. Trust your judgement here, because you'll have a very large pot of this and you want it to taste good. I ended up adding more cayenne pepper, and a little bit of papprika. I found no need to add salt.

I ended up with a glorious, freezable sauce that is quite spicy, while still retaining a spaghetti sauce flavor. And I got to smell it all night while I read.

If you are like me, you'll want pasta to go with the sauce. Don't bother cleaning out your pot. Just tupperware up your sauce, add water to the pan and boil for pasta. It isn't gross. The sauce and pasta will mix eventually on your plate, so why bother with segregation now? The pasta will have a mildly saucy flavor, which is good. I made a ton of it, and packaged up pre-mixed sauce and pasta meals for the week. If I need lunch, I reach into the fridge and grab a gladware of main course and a fruit cup. It's well worth the time spent chopping and stirring, because in the morning there's no time (or brain power) for making/assembling a lunch, and at night, I'm too tired to contemplate the next day's meals.



So. There you have it. My glorious gift, and a dinner idea. Now I can rest having assured the world that I live. Back to Judges.

Love and Peace