Red Sauce--for spaghetti, pizza, and *anything*

When one of my brothers was tiny my mom was trying to explain to him about Thanksgiving. She said, "It's a special day where we are thankful and we get to eat our favorite things."

I hear that my brother looked at her and said, excitedly, "You mean we get to eat spaghetti?"

Sorry, there is no spaghetti in a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, but we get to eat red sauce year round, which is even better.

Easy Baked Potato--low-fat option

My mom has never met a potato she didn't like, and I'm her daughter. Even simple potatoes are worthy of a meal.

Growing up in a family of nine, my mom would make baked potatoes in the oven. I remember scrubbing and wrapping them for my mom, as she prepped the rest of dinner.

But now that I'm living with just my husband it doesn't always make sense to heat up the entire oven for 2 baked potatoes.

My father-in-law showed me this trick: Use plastic wrap to steam your potato in the microwave.

Trivia question for you:

What has more potassium, a banana or a baked potato?

Sausage Cornbread Muffins

These are a version of grown-up corn dogs. Inside isn't a regular hot dog, but nice sausage in casings, and they're topped with jalapeno. I won't tell anyone if you want to use regular hot dog, though!

This comfort food is helping my husband get through long hours at the office. I'm glad to help.

Tortellini Soup

Wonderful, cool days call for warming soups. Here's a new one: tomato based soup with seasoned ground turkey, delicious cheese-filled tortellini pasta, spinach, carrots, and even some red bell pepper.

This soup isn't super-full of tortellini or meat or vegetables, but has a balance between them.

I served this with my recipe for Golden Rolls, so we got some extra hidden vegetables and whole wheat from the bread.