Spaghetti with meat sauce

‘Idál (Justice), 13 Kalimát (Words), 169 BE – Wednesday, July 25, 2012 about 5:25 PM Pacific Time

I fixed a batch of spaghetti with meat sauce today. It was spaghetti sauce from a can, but it tasted all right for a quick meal. I did not feel like making the meat sauce from scratch even if I had all the ingredients. Normally, I prefer my spaghetti sauce either homemade or from a jar.

The jars of spaghetti sauce taste better then the sauce from a can; however, I did not have any jars of spaghetti sauce in the pantry. The cans of spaghetti sauce gifts, so I used those today. I fixed enough spaghetti to last us until Saturday or Sunday (I hope), so I had to use two cans of the sauce to flavor the amount of spaghetti I cooked.

I am looking forward to having spaghetti for lunch tomorrow with a salad and maybe some iced tea or iced coffee. Fortunately, with the spaghetti all I have to do is warm it over in the microwave and add a little grated cheese. I have a grater and I can grate the cheese manually. Once the cheese and spaghetti are heated, it will taste good. I do not need very much to eat for lunch on Thursday, just something to keep me from getting hungry. Maybe I will fix me the same meal for Friday.

Planning my weekend menu

Istiqlál (Independence), 2 ‘Azamat (Grandeur), 169 BE – Friday, May 18, 2012 about 5:50 PM Pacific Time

Monday through Friday Mom goes to the adult daycare center and receives two meals plus snacks. On Saturday and Sunday, she remains home; therefore, I have to plan her meals and snacks. This weekend we will have waffles and eggs for breakfast with coffee and juice. On the waffles, we will have hazel nut spread, jelly, or peanut butter. Mom usually has peanut butter on her waffles, but this Saturday I will put the hazel nut spread on her waffles and see how she likes it.

For lunch on Saturday, we will have leftovers. I fixed a large pot of spaghetti on Thursday, so we have a lot leftover. There are green beans and sweet potatoes in the refrigerator that I will fix. If we don’t finish those for lunch then we will have them for supper on Saturday.

I think that for snacks I will serve canned fruit or ice cream. I have waffle cones; I know Mom would like to have an ice cream cone. It is warm now and so the ice cream will be a cool treat. I am looking forward to the ice cream myself.

Mom is not able to fix her own meals any more. The thing I miss most on weekends is my mother’s cooking. Mom was a good cook and she fixed wonderful dishes for us to eat on the weekends and the days we were both at home. I guess things like this are to be expected when caring for an Alzheimer’s sufferer.

Spaghetti and Spicy Mustard

‘Idál (Justice), 5 ‘Ilm (Knowledge), 167 BE – Wednesday, October 19-20, 2010 about 12:53 Pacific Time

Life is like spaghetti and spicy mustard. All right, that does not seem to make much sense. I emptied a bottle of spicy must a few days ago, but there was still some mustard left. Instead of throwing the mustard away I put it in a pot of spaghetti.

I did this for two reasons. First, I needed something to use with the mustard. Second, the flavor sounded intriguing. I am a good cook. I am a creative cook. I do not like to waste anything; therefore, I put the mustard in the spaghetti while it was cooking.

I poured vegetable oil, in addition to some water, into the mustard bottle to rinse out the remaining mustard. Then I emptied the bottle of mustard into the spaghetti. The aroma of the spicy mustard and the spaghetti was tantalizing. After that, I opened a can of spaghetti sauce and put it in the pan.

I prefer to make spaghetti sauce from scratch, but we received the sauce when we picked up our commodities and I needed to use the sauce. The canned spaghetti sauce tastes good; true not like the homemade sauce, but it will do in a pinch. I am cooking for only my mother and myself so the canned sauce works well because it is quick and saves some time when I make lunch or dinner.