Simply Fancy Spaghetti

Good morning!  I was reading Young House Love the other day and they were talking about easy budgeting tips that anyone can easily incorporate into their lives.  One of the things they said was that spaghetti is basically a $1 per person dinner.  $1!  And that's true - but let's face it, spaghetti is kind of boring.  Usually when I make a pasta or spaghetti I add meat, but I think that defeats the purpose of it being inexpensive.  Meat is expensive!  So I tried something different last night - let me know what you think!

Simply Fancy Spaghetti

1 box Linguini

1 jar/can traditional Pasta Sauce

1/2 cup Water

1 can Diced Tomatoes

1 can Mushroom Pieces & Stems

Minced Onion

Garlic Powder

Oregano

Salt & Pepper

This is really all you are going to need to buy, because the spices are all to taste, so use what you have - and this cost less than $5!  I think I'm going to challenge myself to make more meals for less than $5.

Spices.  I actually picked up a yellow onion when I was at the grocery store, but forgot to ring it up!  Whoops.  Minced onion works just as well!

Okay, this is going to sound counter-intuitive, but start with your sauce.  If you heat the sauce slowly, you really let the different flavors seep into one another.  

Add about 1/2 cup water to the spaghetti sauce.  When you start adding other stuff, the sauce will thicken up, so thinning it out ahead of time with give you a good consistency.  Turn the sauce on low to medium-low.  You want the sauce to heat slowly.

Stir in your diced tomatoes (juices and all).

Drain your mushrooms and then stir them in.

Then it's time to season.  Don't be afraid to over-season!

Like I said - don't be afraid to over-season.  Seriously - everything you mix into your sauce is the difference between fancy spaghetti and pasta with tomato sauce.

Once you've got the sauce simmer, you can start with the pasta.  I chose linguini because it's a little bit thicker than regular spaghetti - and it's nice to try something different every now and then!  It makes you feel FANCY!

I was cooking in red last night!

When your pasta is ready ...

... it's time to eat!

Oh my yum.  This dish had so much flavor!  Even Bruce asked halfway through dinner, "Did you make this sauce?"

The best part?  Less than $5!  Bruce and I both ate a huge serving last night and I was able to put away three servings for lunches.  So it really was less than $1 per serving!

So do you make anything ridiculously delicious that is less than $1 per serving?  Now I am on a mission ...