Horne Gruel

Last night, I made spaghetti for dinner.  I decided I wanted to “take it up a notch,” so I added some things to my normal boring spaghetti.  The result was pretty yummy.  Mark liked it so much he requested that I make it in large batches to keep on hand as “Horne Gruel.”  This made me think about how cheap it was to make, and now I am sharing it with you.

Ingredients

½ pound thin spaghetti

2 yellow squash (chopped in large chunks)

1 small yellow onion

2 – 4 T olive oil

1 pound ground turkey

1 26 oz. jar spaghetti sauce

Ground parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions.  Put aside.

Sautee onions in olive oil.  As they start to become a little transparent, add chopped squash.  Sautee until squash begins to soften.  Add ground turkey.  I push the veggies to the outer sides of the pan and brown the turkey in the center of the pan until it is fully cooked.  When the meat is cooked, mix the meat and veggies together.  Do not drain.  (There ‘s not much excess oil from the turkey, and by now, the olive oil has been absorbed by the squash.)  Add the jar of spaghetti sauce, and simmer for a few minutes.

Add cooked spaghetti to the sauce.  Mix to cover.  Sprinkle liberally with parmesan cheese.  Mix in.

With buying all my ingredients at Aldi, the total cost for 8 servings was: $4.50 — less than 60 cents per serving!

My friend Lori is what I dubbed a “snooty cook.”  She is a terrific cook, and has great recipes that everyone should try.  However,  I am not that at all.  I am a “plain cook” who likes good flavors.  So I appreciate all the work that goes into snooty cooking, but I want the same sorts of flavor without all the work.  I think this recipe does just that.

One last thing, if you haven’t shopped at Aldi for groceries, you should.  I first shopped there when we first came to St Louis in 1995 for Mark to go to seminary.  Limited funds were a big issue to the family of a student, and I would often say we wouldn’t have made it through seminary without Aldi.

I think the prices now are a bit higher, but they are still lower than the big grocery chains.  All their store brand foods are of great quality.  Plus, they have double back guarantee if you buy something that doesn’t meet your standard.  I am not a spokesperson for Aldi, but I am a fan.  I found this blog entry that lists  some of their standard prices.  The prices may have gone up since the time of this entry, but these are certainly in the right ballpark.

 

5 thoughts on “Horne Gruel”

  1. This sounds great and I’m looking forward to trying it. We don’t have Aldi, but it should still be relatively low-cost. I too am of the “plain cook” variety, wanting great flavor with simple recipes, yet loving the fancy fare when someone else serves (and prepares) it.

  2. Mom,

    Horne Gruel is not a very appetizing name, but I thought it was funny when Mark said it.

    I think it will be relatively low cost regardless of where the ingredients come from. But I think it is only a matter of time before Aldi appears somewhere near you. They seem to be expanding their territory a lot, and with the economic climate as it is, I imagine more people are willing to shop there than may have been in the past.

  3. This sounds good. I’m an Aldi lover, myself. I often wonder what I’d do without that store. And, I’m finding that more and more of my recipes can be made using ingredients that can be found there.

  4. Hi,
    Marci from Garrett’s church here…
    Reading your spaghetti recipe reminded me of my friend in grade school – high school. Her dad was my pastor. Her mom made spaghetti with RAISINS in it – old family recipe. I didn’t know WHAT to do the first time it was served to me – I didn’t know what it WAS!! But actually, it was pretty good – the sweet with the tangy and all…..

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