
Almost as easy as Quick and Easy Pizza Sauce, but tomato puree (if you pick the right one) has no added salt or ingredients, so adding a little extra salt and spice helps. And, this one has no olive oil added, which some people may prefer.
Ingredients
- 8 Ounce can of Tomato Puree
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp pepper
- 2 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp rosemary
- 1 tsp sage
- 2 tsp powdered onion
- 1 tsp powdered garlic
- 3 cloves fresh garlic, finely chopped or pressed
Directions
- Blend all ingredients in a large bowl
- Let sit at least 30 minutes for flavors to blend well prior to serving.

Based on a Recipe by Guy Fieri
Servings: 4-6
I like sloppy joes served over potatoes. They hold up better to the moisture than buns do. Serve the sloppy joe mixture on anything you prefer. Rice is also a great option.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, deveined and diced
- 1 red onion, diced
- Either:
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound ground pork
- OR
- 1/2 package of extra firm tofu, cut into 1/2 in cubes
- 1/4 cup sliced mushrooms
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1/4 cup red wine
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
- 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- 3 large or 6 small russet potatoes
- 1Tbsp butter
- 4Tbsp sour cream
Directions
- In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, combine the canola oil, bell peppers, jalapeno and onion; cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the beef and pork; cook thoroughly, breaking up the meat as it browns.
- OR
- Add the Tofu and sliced mushrooms
- Add the garlic.
- Depending on the amount of residual grease, you may need to drain some of the fat from the pan (if you used meat).
- Deglaze with the red wine, then stir in the remaining sloppy joe ingredients
- Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.
- If the sauce gets too thick as it simmers, add up to 1 cup water to adjust the consistency.
- While sloppy joe mixture is simmering, cut potatoes into 1" pieces, boil for 20 minutes, and until a fork easily penetrates the potato
- Drain water from pot, or pour into a colander and return potatoes to pot
- Add butter and sour cream to potatoes, and mix with a potato masher
- You can also just serve over sliced or baked potatoes, or mashed without the dairy, rice, or the more traditional buns or bread as well

A great cold day stew. Chunky veggies, simple broth.
Difficulty: Easy
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 90 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 6 new potatoes, quartered (or other potatoes, cut bite-sized)
- 2 carrots, roughly chopped
- 2 stalks of celery, roughly chopped
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 2" piece of ginger (about 2 Tbsps), chopped
- 1/4 cup of mushrooms (I used portabella, but pick your favorite), sliced
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp basil
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
- 1/4 soy sauce
Directions:
- In a dutch oven over medium heat, add the onion, cook until translucent
- Add garlic, carrots, celery, cook for a minute or so, until aromatic
- Add water, vinegar, soy, chicken, ginger, mushrooms, potatoes, cinnamon, salt, thyme, basil, pepper, stir until combined
- Turn heat to medium/low, cover
- Cook for 60-90 minutes, stirring every 30minutes, and making sure there’s enough moisture

Hummus is so easy to make, it almost feels like cheating to call it a recipe. But as the $5 containers of "gourmet" hummus in any specialty market show, maybe it’s not so obvious. There are a lot of variations, I’ll post a few different ones, and you should feel free to mix/match as you see fit! Given an inexpensive can of garbanzo beans, and some other inexpensive ingredients, you can make your own for way less than commercial varieties, and you’ll know exactly what’s in it.
Difficulty: Trival
Ingredients:
- 1 Can of Garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas), drained
- 1/2 Cup olive oil
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil
- 3 cloves garlic, pealed
- Plus, one of option #1-3
Option #1 – Spicy
- Juice from 1/2 a lemon
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cayanne pepper (optional)
- 1 habanero, seeded (optional)
Option #2 – Olivey
- 8-12 seeded Kalamata Olives
Option #3 – Tomato-y
- 4-6 Ounces Sundried tomatoes
- Depending on what the tomatoes are marinated in, you might want to add salt, pepper, cayenne
Directions:
- Put garbanzo beans, sesame oil, salt, garlic, your choice of other flavors. and 1/2 the olive oil in a food processor.
- Blend, and slowly add remaining olive oil until hummus is the consistency of mashed potatoes. You can add more olive oil if necessary, 1/2 cup is a guideline.
- Um, that’s it! Put in a bowl and serve!
- The hummus is usually better if you let it sit overnight for the flavors to blend. Stir before serving, if the oil has separated a little while sitting.
- Obviously you can omit the habanero, and have "regular" hummus.
- Keeps up to a week, covered in the fridge.