Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

My Mama always made homemade spaghetti sauce, but I always used the ready made jar version and doctored it up. Why? Because I thought it took too long to make homemade.  I never tried it until one night for supper I wanted to make spaghetti but I didn't have any sauce, so off to Pinterest I went!  I found a yummy recipe here.  I changed my recipe up a bit because I used what I had on hand.

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

• 2 lbs lean ground beef
• 2 large cans (28 oz.) diced tomatoes
• ½ yellow onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 tsp Italian Seasoning
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 2 tsp garlic salt
• ¼ cup fresh basil (1/2 tsp dry basil if you don't have fresh)
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• 1 tbsp oil
• 2 bay leaves

Directions

1. Brown ground beef and onions in a large pan.
2. Drain ground beef and add all ingredients and simmer using a medium to low heat for 15-20 minutes, longer if you like.
3. Serve over whole wheat spaghetti and enjoy!

Since I've tried the homemade sauce I've not purchased another jar of the store bought stuff!  Homemade is just so much better and it took me all these years to discover it! Just goes to show ya, Mama IS always right! :)

It doesn't have to be done all at once.  It is a slow process in the works! C-ya next time!

I'm Linking to:
These lovely and FUN parties!
Between Naps on the Porch
DIY Home Sweet Home
We Call It Junkin

Reuben Burgers - Yummy Summer Food

Grilling in the Summer is our favorite!  For Father's Day I gave my honey the Weber's Big Book of Burgers.  The book not only has burger recipes but Hot Dogs, Sides and Drinks too!

The Reuben Burger is one of the first recipes we tried.  We loved it!  Just so you know, these are not anywhere near healthy eating! So not good for the waist line!  Nuff said!

Here's what the book looks like in case you go looking for it.  I think it would make a great gift for guys or girls.

The recipe I'm about to give you is straight from the book.  I hope I'm not breaking any rules by sharing it.  These burgers are a bit of work, but very worth it!

Reuben Burgers

Patties
1 pound ground chuck (80% lean)
4 ounces pancetta or lean bacon, finely chopped
2 tsp whole grain mustard
1 tsp granulated onion
1/2 tsp granulated garlic

Kosher Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Dressing
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tblsp sour cream
1 1/2 tblsp ketchup
2 tsp prepared horseradish
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp minced fresh dill
1 garlic clove, minced or pushed through a press
1/4 tsp white vinegar

8 slices rye bread
2 tblsp unsalted butter, melted
8 slices Swiss cheese, each about 1 ounce
1 cup sauerkraut, drained

1. Mix the patty ingredients, including 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper, and then gently form four patties of equal size, each about 1 inch thick.  With your thumb or the back of a spoon, make a shallow indenetation about 1 inch wide in the center of the patties to prevent them from forming a dome as they cook.  Refrigerate the patties until ready to grill.

2. Prepare the grill for direct cooking over medium-high heat (400 to 500F).

3. Combine the dressing ingredients, including 1/8 tsp salt.

4. Lighlty season the patties on both sides with salt and pepper, and then  grill of direst medium-high heat, with the lid closed, until cooked to medium doneness (160F), 9 to 11 minutes, turning once.

5. Brush one side of each bread slice with the melted butter, and place them on a work surface, buttered side down.  Spread the unbuttered side of the bread slice(dressing side up), one slice of cheese, a patty, another slice of cheese, sauerkraut, and a second bread slice(dressing side down).  Place the burgers over direct medium-high heat, close the lid, and cook until the cheese is melted and the bread is toasted, about 4 minutes, carefully turning once.  Serve warm.

If you like a regular reuben sandwich, you will probably enjoy these burgers.  They are so good!  If you happen to try this recipe, let me know how they turned out and if you enjoyed them as much as we did!

It doesn't have to be done all at once.  It is a slow process in the works! C-ya next time!

I'm Linking to:
These lovely and FUN parties!
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Kitchen EAT Sign - A Thrifty Find

I've been wanting an EAT sign for our kitchen forever, but I am too cheap to pay lots of money for one, so I finally made one of my own!  We've been looking at letters every time we go to thrift shops, yard sales or auctions, but these people know the letters are wanted by us DIY types so they mark those prices up!

Just so happens the last swap meet we had in our little town finally gave me what I wanted.  E A T letters for a good price! $2 each! YAY!

The 6" letters are metal, a very nice weight of metal, a real bargain at $2 each.  They had some all thread screws in the back of them, which I removed with pliers so they would lay flat against the wall.  I cleaned the dust off of them with a wet paper towel, let them dry real good and then they were ready for paint.

Since the letters had a slick surface, I wanted to used a primer first.  We had Rustoleum primer good for metals on hand, so that's what I used.  I used Krylon's Pumpkin Orange gloss paint for my color. 

I just grabbed a scrap piece of wood for my painting surface and got to work.  First the primer.  I used a few thin coats and then let that dry really well.  Final step, the color.  Same thing, a few thin coats and let it dry really well.  So easy!

There they are hanging over the kitchen window.  It took me a while to position the nails just right to match the screw holes already in place in back of the letters, but I really like how they turned out!

I love the orange!  It really pops against the lighter colors in our kitchen. I guess you could say it makes a statement! Ha ha!

It doesn't have to be done all at once.  It is a slow process in the works! C-ya next time!

I'm Linking to:
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Between Naps on the Porch
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Easy Turkey Provolone Pinwheels

If you're having friends over for lunch and want to make something a bit fancy, but easy to put together, try this quick and easy recipe.  It's sure to be a hit!

Turkey Provolone Pinwheels

This recipe makes two wraps (4 to 6 pinwheels each):

Ingredients:
2 whole wheat tortilla wraps
2 Laughing Cow light queso fresco & chipotle spreadable wedges
1 handful of salad mix or baby spinach leaves
12 thin slices of deli turkey (6 for each wrap)
4 slices provolone cheese (2 for each wrap)
1/4 red pepper thinly sliced
1/2 of an avocado thinly sliced
Salt & Pepper to taste

For each wrap, starting with your tortilla first, layer the ingredients as they are listed above.  Spread cheese wedge over entire tortilla.  Next lay down the salad mix then place turkey evenly around the tortilla over the salad.  Center provolone and all other ingredients along the middle of the tortilla.  Wrap up and then cut into about 2 inch sections to create your pinwheels.  Lastly, ENJOY!

All the flavor combinations in these wraps are perfect!  Not only are these yummy but good for you too!  They travel well for a take-to-work lunch if you skip the cutting into sections part and wrap them in foil for traveling.

It doesn't have to be done all at once.  It is a slow process in the works! C-ya next time!

I'm Linking to:
These lovely and FUN parties!
Between Naps on the Porch
DIY Home Sweet Home
We Call It Junkin

23 Picket Fence Projects and a Hometalk Feature

Hometalk?  Have you heard of it?  Did you know you can find Clover House on Hometalk too?  You did? Oh, ok...some of you have seen the graphic over there on the right.  Gotcha!  Well, just in case you haven't visited Hometalk, I post there all the time and I also love to clip my favorite ideas that I see on there.  There are lots of awesome people with fun stuff to clip for future reference. I have many boards to clip to.  One of them is being featured by Hometalk!  How cool is that?  The coolest!

Just look at all those awesome projects up there?  Do you see something up there that catches your eye?  Would you like to see the entire post for each of my 23 clips?  Just click on over to My Fence Picket Love board and see all the beauties you see above and more!  If you're already a member of Hometalk, you can follow me HERE.  If not, sign up, its FREE!  See ya on Hometalk!

It doesn't have to be done all at once.  It is a slow process in the works! C-ya next time!

I'm Linking to:
These lovely and FUN parties!
Between Naps on the Porch
DIY Home Sweet Home
We Call It Junkin

DIY Kids Bike Makeover - Summer Kid Fun

Do you need a fun summer project that the kiddos can get involved in?  Keep reading!

But first, have I ever mentioned that my honey is the best? If you follow me on Instagram, you'll notice I use that tag a lot! #myhoneyisthebest  You can find me on Instagram by searching ddcamp170 if you're interested.  Anywho....my honey is a true handyman and he loves to work with his hands.  Just had to brag a little!

A while back we had his nephew over for the weekend and they decided to makeover his bike while he was here.  What a fun project!  Purple is Payton's favorite color, so purple was definitely the color of choice.  They used Krylon's Purple Gloss paint.

This was the before picture.  The bike was weather worn and had lots of peeling stickers that needed to be removed before repainting could happen.  Of course there were some minor repairs to be done as well.

The two of them worked together and got all the little tedious work done so the bike could get a fresh coat of paint.  Payton took his time and taped off each and every spoke with painter's tape so the wheels could be painted too.  While Payton was doing that, my honey worked on some of the repairs needed.

Payton even got work using some sandpaper to remove the sticky that all the stickers left behind.  They needed a smooth service before they got to painting.

After all the prepping was done, all the pieces got two thin coats of metal primer.  They let each coat dry real well before they went on to the purple paint.

The wheels got two thin coats of gloss black and the bike body got two thin coats of gloss purple.

We let Payton pick out a font on the computer and then I printed out his name onto paper.  My honey used an exact-o knife and carefully cut out the name.  He then taped it on the side of the bike and used it like a stencil and traced it with a black sharpie.  After the tracing was done he removed the paper and filled the rest in.  Pretty cool huh?  Most kids don't have their name on their bike, but Payton does!

After everything was good and dry, they removed all the painter's tape and then reassembled the bike.

The bike got new pedals, new reflectors, new hand grips, a new chain and fresh tubes in the tires.  Almost like new again!

I think they did a fine job with the makeover.  Hopefully Payton learned a lot that day and can makeover another bike someday on his own.

It doesn't have to be done all at once.  It is a slow process in the works! C-ya next time!

I'm Linking to:
These lovely and FUN parties!
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Feta Basil Turkey Burger - An Easy Recipe

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!
Often we have turkey burgers on the menu. They are easy to put together and they are good! Here I showed you the recipe I normally use, but I've found one that we like a lot better.  Yep, I found it on Pinterest here. Thank you Fifteen Spatulas!!

Don't they look delicious?  They are!  These are very easy to put together for those days you don't have lots of time to spend in the kitchen.

Luckily I have fresh basil growing in the garden!  You can also see my spearmint in the lower right hand corner.  Strange combo huh? LOL!

Feta Basil Turkey Burgers

Ingredients:

• 1lb ground turkey
• 1/2 cup feta cheese crumbles
• 4 tbsp chopped fresh basil
• 1tsp worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt
• black pepper to taste
• Olive oil (not pictured)
• McCormick Montreal Chicken Grill Mates (not pictured)

Directions:

1. Mix together the ground turkey, feta crumbles, chopped basil, worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper with your hands. Be careful not to over do it, mix just enough to get all the ingredients distributed throughout the meat. Shape into (4) "not too thick" patties and sprinkle one side with Montreal Chicken seasoning.
2. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil in your hot pan and add turkey patties.  Cook for about 3 minutes on each side, maybe a bit longer depending on the thickness of your patties.
3. You can make burgers using buns or just have them alone with sides of your choosing.

I took just the leaves off the two stems of fresh basil I cut from the garden and roughly chopped them like so.

Here's the patties before cooking.  They look good already don't they?

A very small amount of olive oil is all you need to get a good browning on your patties.  At this point the house is smelling wonderfully yummy!

Let me just tell you, if you like turkey burgers, basil and feta cheese, you're going to LOVE these burgers!  I hope you try it soon!

It doesn't have to be done all at once.  It is a slow process in the works! C-ya next time!

I'm Linking to:
These lovely and FUN parties!
Between Naps on the Porch
DIY Home Sweet Home
We Call It Junkin