Shamrocks and Shenanigans: Spaghetti & Meat Sauce with Texas Toast

I am guilty of making spaghetti out of a jar on occasion. It is easy for The Ballplayer and I to get a warm dinner on the table when it is just the two of us. But when it is a full house or if somebody has....say.....a baseball game (it is a reoccurring thing for us) I like to make my own meat sauce. It is basically meat, tomato sauce, some herbs and cheese. Really that is about all there is to it but it makes my boys coo. Add some Texas Toast (garlic bread with a fancy name) and now my boys are pretty much going to do anything I ask.

Spaghetti & Meat Sauce with Texas Toast
1 pound of hamburger meat (lean please but turkey can be used)
1 1/2 small onion diced
2 cloves garlic minced
2 large cans tomato sauce
2 TB Italian seasoning
1 box of your favorite spaghetti cooked
1/2-3/4 grated fresh parmesan cheese plus cheese for garnishing

Texas Toast
Thick Sliced Sourdough Bread
Butter
Garlic powder
parmesan grated

start browning the meat over medium high heat

slice the onion. I like the onion really small.

Add the onion and the garlic to the meat. I love the smell of the onion and the garlic cooking with the meat. Somehow it fills the house with the greatness and my family thinks I am making a gourmet meal. There is nothing like it. I keep telling you people this.

Tomato Sauce...notice I have a can and a plastic container because SOMEBODY that will remain nameless opened up tomato sauce instead of whole tomatoes. Oops.

I drained off the meat. It was pretty lean but still....

Add the tomato sauce and turn down the heat to low. Only because the dishwasher does a really bad job at cleaning the stove. I need a new maid. Wait...I think I am the maid.

Add the herbs. If you have fresh, great but I don't. Or I have some but not all. I like to run them thru my hands to release the oils in the dry herbs. It really makes a difference. Wakes them up.

Cover and let simmer for 20-30 minutes on low. I cover, again to save my counters and stove top. Better the lid than my counters.

I like to cook my noodles and then add them to the sauce. So I try not to over cook the noodles since they will cook more in the sauce. But I find that cooking them in the sauce really makes a difference

I dump the sauce into the noodle pan. Its a scary process.

Fortunately I am not wearing any of it. Hooray!!

Add the 1/2 cup Parmesan to the pan. Stir up, Cover and let simmer on LOW while you make the Texas Toast.

To make the Texas Toast. Put the Sourdough bread on a cookie sheet and place under the broiler DRY. Keep an eye on it. Once the FIRST side is brown, pull it out and carefully butter the UNTOASTED side

sprinkle garlic powder over the butter and I then take a knife to make sure mixed. Then cover with the parmesan. I leave cheese off of a couple The Ballplayer is weird on cheese.