A good pasta sauce is worth its weight in gold. You can make a big batch all at once and freeze whatever you have left over for easy weeknight meals. You can make spaghetti, lasagna, penne, its so versatile and a great tool to have in your cooking wheelhouse! 

Ingredients: 

1 tablespoons olive oil

1 yellow onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound ground beef

1/2 cup red wine

1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes 

1 tablespoon fresh parsley

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp lavender salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Heat your oil, the chop and add your onion in a medium saute pan until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 30-60 seconds. Add your ground beef and cook until brown and cooked through. Remove your meat mixture. Add your wine and deglaze your pan for 2-3 minutes on high heat. Stir in your tomatoes, parsley, salt, pepper, and add back your meat. Simmer for 15 minutes. 

We hope you enjoy this easy and oh so delicious cooking staple. 
Bon Apetite! 

This savory pasta is packed with ooey gooey cheese, a rich pork sauce, and satisfying cavatappi noodles. Its an easy inexpensive family friendly dish. 

Ingredients: 

16 ounces cavatappi noodles

8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

4 ounces shredded parmesan cheese 

2 tablespoons olive oil 

1 pound lean ground pork 

Lavender Salt

Freshly Ground Pepper

2 cups tomato sauce

1 tablespoon italian seasoning

6 springs fresh basil

2 cloves garlic, minced

Directions: 
In a pot of salted water, boil your pasta until slightly under done, about 6 minutes. In a large skillet over medium high heat, warm your oil. Add your pork and heat until browned and cooked through (about 8-10 minutes). Add your lavender salt, pepper, and garlic. Cook for an additional 30 seconds. Then add your sauce, italian seasoning, and basil. Stir until combined. Grease a 9x13 pan and pour your noodles into it. Then cover the noodles with the sauce and mix. Then cover with both the parmesan and mozzarella cheese. Bake at 400 degrees until the cheese on top is bubbly and golden, about 20 minutes. You can top with additional basil leaves if desired. 

This is a quick, no brainer meal that will leave everyone in your family happy and with a full tummy. Enjoy!

This week I want to highlight some of my favorite easy meals. We are a pizza house over here. Peggy makes the most delicious homemade pizza. Pizza is a cheesy, carby delight, what's not to love? It's also relatively inexpensive to make for a crowd, and the Nelson's love to entertain. Well my husband recently introduced me to a super simple cheater way of making last minute pizza. It's super delicious, and takes less than 3 minutes to put together! 

What's the secret? Using a loaf of french bread rather than making homemade dough! In this particular photo I used a delicious seeded honey wheat loaf, but we've had lots of success using everything from plain french bread to asiago cheese loafs! The best part is you can buy a bunch of loafs and simply freeze them. That way they are waiting for you whenever you are having a "I'm feeling lazy and I don't want to cook tonight" moment. It will save you from running to get take out, and its way more delicious! I promise. 

Ingredients:

Any loaf type bread 
Fresh mozzarella cheese
Your favorite jarred pasta sauce
Fresh Basil 
Balsamic Glaze 

Simply slice your loaf in half, cover each side with sauce, top with cheese, basil, and your glaze. Pop it in a 400 degree oven until the cheese is nice and golden and bubbly. Tada! A super simple, super satisfying meal that you can whip up in less than 3 minutes. If you don't have baslamic glaze, you could just do regular balsamic as a drizzle. We also add pepperoni, chicken, olives, whatever pizza toppings you have laying around. This is a super flexible dinner idea. We hope you enjoy!