Slow cooker Italian sausage pasta sauce

Loved this sauce, inspired by the following recipe: https://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/slow-cooked-italian-sausage-pasta-sauce-with-spaghetti/90f4ca32-b131-4db1-946c-d8c46ca5f28d

Brown 1-1.5 lbs bulk Italian sausage or 5-6 Italian sausage links, cut into 1 inch pieces. Brown for about 10 minutes in a skillet. Pour off fat.

Place the following ingredients in a slow cooker: 16 oz marinara sauce, 28 oz diced tomatoes (2 cans), 1 can tomato paste, 1/2 t dried oregano, 1/2 t dried basil, 1 diced medium onion, 1 diced red bell pepper, 2 large cloves garlic (peeled & crushed), and browned sausage. I did NOT add any salt - none of the tomato products I added were 'no salt added' - and it was already pretty salty. Also, original recipe called for 3T of sugar - I prefer it without.

 Cook for 8-10 hours on low, stirring about once every 2 hours (this prevents the edges from burning. More frequent stirring, though, loses too much heat). Serve over spaghetti. Garnish with parsley and/or Parmesan cheese.

Adapted from the Olde Joy: Cucumber sauce as a fish topping!

cucumber sauce, on fish: beat ¾ c sweet cream with 2 T vinegar or lemon juice, or use cultured sour cream. Or yogurt? Pare, cut finely and drain 1 large cucumber. Mix; add 2 t chives or dill.

BBQ sauce

M is learning how to grill ribs.... and I am the lucky taste-tester! He wanted me to save the BBQ sauce recipe he found, which was delicious:
https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/homemade-bbq-sauce-recipe/

Even Cod is interesting when doing social distancing

from a tattered and untitled Post clipping, tucked deep into my notebook:

Multiply for number of eaters:

8 oz cod (serves two, barely) - - mine was fresh that day from Whole Foods; when I cook the other half, I'll firm it in 15 min of ice water, with a little salt and 1 tsp vinegar or lemon juice.

place in the bottom of a small saucepan:

• 1 cinnamon stick, broken into a few pieces
• 2 bay leaves
• 5 slightly crushed black peppercorns
• 1/4 tsp cardamom seed (recipe called for 1 pod, crushed)
• 1/2 tsp anise seed (recipe called for 1 star anise)

add enough vegetable stock to cover your fish (which isn't added yet) and bring to a boil.  Then add the fish, leave the lid off, and turn off the heat.  The fish should be cooked in 20 min.  Next time I might leave the pot on very low - - I thought the fish not hot enough for my taste, but at least it was cooked.  Or I will reheat the broth before pouring it over the fish.

Fiesta Chicken Soup

Prepare 1/2 recipe Joy of Cooking quick creamed chicken
Sautee 1 large (or 2 small) red onions, 1 sliced bell pepper (I used yellow), 3 sliced celery stalks, 3 diced potatoes, 3 smashed garlic cloves, 1 sliced jalapeno, 2 handfuls of frozen corn in EVOO.
Put the creamed chicken, veggies, 1 can of chopped tomates, and chicken stock to the desired consistency (about 2 cups) into a large slow cooker.
Season with cumin (2-3t), chili powder (2-3t), rosemary (1/2t), thyme (1t), salt (1/2t), black pepper (1/2t).

 Cook on low for about 8 hours.

Creamy, filling, delicious! Almost like a white chili.

Serve with tortilla chips or cornbread.

Baked Turkey Meatballs

Almost everyone in the family loved these:
https://uprootkitchen.com/2014/06/25/easy-baked-turkey-meatballs/
For Italian seasoning, I used garlic powder, sage, rosemary, and basil. I served them with whole wheat egg noodles (with a small amount of butter) and grated parmesan cheese. I left the red pepper flakes out so people could spice them up as needed.