When planning spaghetti for your family for a year you will want to know exactly what you need. You also have some choices to make. Do you want to store all of the ingredients to make the sauce and even the noodles from scratch, or do you want to stay sane? I'm only asking!
I used to do everything from scratch and then as my family grew and my sanity began to disappear I discovered the joys of pre-made sauce and that's okay! When I use bottled sauce I spike mine with extra spices.
What I really want to get at is the hamburger or sausage that is often used in the sauce. I can't over emphasize the benefits of having canned meats in your family store. Consider when the electricity goes out and you lose your freezer. What about long term interruption to shipping of food due to natural, man made, or government made disasters. How about rising food prices?
I know that there is an initial expense and the prospect of canning meat can be new and scary but let’s reason together. Canning meat is very easy and it is very convenient to have on the shelf. It will also provide you with a certain level of nutritional security that you will not have without it.
To make spaghetti for your family 12 times you will need:
Spaghetti Noodles
*to determine how much you will need for your family use the following equation.
2 ounces noodles X # of family members X number of meals in a year
Sauce:
12 Jars pre-bottled sauce
OR
12 Large Onions -OR- Dehydrated Onion
12 Green Peppers -OR- Dehydrated Green Peppers
36 Cloves Garlic -OR- 6 tsp Garlic Powder
12- 28oz Cans Crushed Tomatoes
12 60z Cans Tomato Paste
12tsp Dried Sweet Basil
12 tsp Dried Oregano
6 tsp Dried Marjoram
12 Bay leaves
24 tsp Sugar
6 tsp Salt
3 tsp Pepper
24 Tbsp Olive Oil for sauteing
12lbs ground beef -OR- 12 pints canned hamburger
Grated Parmesan Cheese
Spaghetti Sauce Recipe:
Makes 4 -6 Servings
1 Large Onion, Chopped
1 Green Pepper, Chopped
3 Cloves Garlic, Minced
1 28oz Can Crushed Tomatoes
1-60z Can Tomato paste
1tsp Dried Basil
1tsp Dried Oregano
1/2tsp Dried Marjoram
1 Bay Leaf
2tsp Sugar
1/2tsp Salt
1/4tsp Pepper
1lb ground beef -OR- 1 Pint Canned Ground Beef
Grated Parmesan Cheese
Rehydrate vegetables. In a large sauce pan sauté onions, green peppers and garlic if using cloves until tender. Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, herbs, sugar, salt, pepper and canned hamburger with broth. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to simmer for about 30 minutes. This can also be placed in a crockpot and left to simmer all day on low.
Cook noodles in boiling salted water until al dente. Rinse noodles in hot water to relieve stickiness. Serve piping hot with parmesan grated over the top.
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Canning ground beef is OH SO SIMPLE! You will need a pressure canner, canning jars with lids and rims, ground beef, and beef stock.
#1 Cook the ground beef just until brown. Drain to remove excess fat.
#2 Pack the beef in hot jars and cover with beef broth leaving 1 inch head space.
#3 Using a non-metalic utinsel remove any air bubbles by running the utinsel around the interior of the jar.
#4 Wipe the rim of the jar clean.
#5 Seal the jar with a lid and ring. Lids can be kept warm in HOT not boiling water.
#6 Process pints in a pressure canner for 1hour 15 minutes at 10lbds pressure below 1000ft sea level, Quarts 1 hour 30 minutes at ten pounds pressure below 1000 ft sea level.
For more specific instructions for your area refer to the Ball Blue Book, your pressure canner book of instructions, or your county extension service.