Pasgetti....Spaghetti

1. Open jar of prefered sauce.
2. Add what you want to sauce...Spices?  Meat?  Vegetables such as onion, green peppers, extra tomatos?
3.  Heat
4.  Put on top of cooked noodles

Spaghetti is the workhorse of every working parent/guardians meal planning.  Extremely filling, easy to change the recipe, and easy to cook, it is another recipe that falls on the cheap side.  There are two camps though when including the recipe.  A) EVERYONE knows this one; don't bother to include it.  B)Nothing is easier...how can you NOT include it?!?!?!  I agree with both sides...every time I see it, I roll my eyes but when it is missing I feel sad.  To not see Spaghetti in an "easy to cook" anthology freaks me out.  It's easy!!!
So as you can tell, I included it, and I really simplified it.  Did I really need to remind people to cook the beef BEFORE you add it to the sauce?  I hope not.  And there are a million and one spices you can add (well maybe not quite that many but I am not taking an official count).  However, there are a few variations I personally want to point out.

Variation 1

The most popular type of noodle for this is obviously spaghetti noodles...it is almost as if the person naming it knew there would be people like me!!  How do you know what noodles to use in Spaghetti?  Oh, spaghetti noodles!  Whew!!  But after having little kids and watching them struggle with these long noodles, or having to chop up the noodles so they were kid sized, inspiration hit after making mac and cheese.  Different noodles!!  I've used elbows, bow ties, penne....if it is short I was sold.  Solved the long noodle problem, and way more kid friendly. 

or....Variation 2

Inspiration hit again a few years later.  I am not a noodle person....they are slimey.  Rice on the other hand, is VERY nice.  Same recipe, same ease, and rice can be just as inexpensive, but to me, a whole lot better.  Again, there are lots of different types of rice...experiment.  I love Basmanti rice...I think of it as white rice with flavor.  Works great.  Is it still technically spaghetti if you put it on rice?  Who knows, who cares....it gets eaten!  FYI...I cook my rice with chciken broth vs. water.  SAME recipe, but chicken broth also adds an extra "pop" in flavor.

Variation 3

Hahahahaha...joke's on the reader!  I have no idea what this variation is!  But spaghetti is SO easy to tinker with and change about that I know that in addtion to a million and one spices to add to the sauce, there are a million and one ways to make this dish.  Even as I write this I can hear about 10 different people saying "that isn't how Grandma made it", and another 20 shouting "Uncle Morton made a good vegetarian one!"  But that is one reason spaghetti is so popular....everyone adds or subtracts what they feel like.  Homemade sauce?  No meat?  Add sausage?  Oregano?  Onions?  Cheese?  Extra green peppers?  Ditch the garlic?  Add red wine?   Make it like you want it and enjoy!!!!