Veggieheads VS Meatheads!

[Elvalia]

Did you know that the citizens of my country are totally unfamilliar with meatballs? They just fry the minced meat and stir it up with the sauce.

I can believe it. I can't remember ever having actually had spaghetti with meatballs. With hamburger in it, yes, with both ground and simply chopped hot Italian sausage, yes, but not with meatballs...

[Ubi Dubium]

I can't remember ever having actually had spaghetti with meatballs. With hamburger in it, yes, with both ground and simply chopped hot Italian sausage, yes, but not with meatballs...

Oh, you are deprived! This is usually easy to fix, with no complicated cooking required. In my area, all the grocery stores sell bags of frozen meatballs. Yours probably do too. Get a jar of your favorite pasta sauce, dump it in a pot, throw in a couple of handfuls of the frozen meatballs, cover it, give it a long slow simmer, then serve on your favorite pasta with gobs of fresh-grated parmesan. You'll be a happy bunny.

[ET, the Extra Terrestrial]

Get a jar of your favorite pasta sauce

AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
Philistine!!!!
Make your own sauce, it's not hard, you can do it in a slow cooker/crockpot and not have to mess around with it. It is SO much better than the watery crap you buy in the store it's not funny. You can make your own meatballs, too. ends up costing about half as much.

[Ubi Dubium]

Get a jar of your favorite pasta sauce

AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
Philistine!!!!
Make your own sauce, it's not hard, you can do it in a slow cooker/crockpot and not have to mess around with it. It is SO much better than the watery crap you buy in the store it's not funny. You can make your own meatballs, too. ends up costing about half as much.

Well, yes that is by far the best way. But I'm not assuming cooking ability or adequate kitchen equipment. I have my own well-stocked and equipped kitchen, but I still don't have a crock-pot. Blessed Meatballs need to be available to all, whether they can cook or not. Even college students with only a hot pot or shared microwave. Just as long as they don't use that crappy dry Parmesan in the can...

[ET, the Extra Terrestrial]

Just as long as they don't use that crappy dry Parmesan in the can...

*disgusting noises from behind closed bathroom door*

[Elvalia]

I'd have to go with canned pasta sauce, because my cooking skills aren't exactly great (and I don't even know what a crock-pot is). I can't seem to cook anything but pasta properly, and I can only seem to bake desserts. But, I would never use dry parmesan. Only freshly grated for me, and I like to try different cheeses, too.

[Ubi Dubium]

Pasta and desserts? That sounds like quite sufficient cooking skills to me. Just as long as you can get in all the basic food groups:

Fat
Sugar
Salt
Alcohol
Caffeine

you should be fine.

(A crock-pot is also known as a slow-cooker. It's an appliance that you plug in, and it slowly simmers your food for hours. What's nice about it is that it can be left unattended while you go off to work or class or whatever. But it also takes up rather a lot of cabinet space.)

[ET, the Extra Terrestrial]

Alcohol
Caffeine
Sugar
Fat
Salt

Re-ordered to clarify priority.

[Cardinal Fang]

I'd have to go with canned pasta sauce, because my cooking skills aren't exactly great (and I don't even know what a crock-pot is). I can't seem to cook anything but pasta properly, and I can only seem to bake desserts. But, I would never use dry parmesan. Only freshly grated for me, and I like to try different cheeses, too.

You don't even need a crockpot to make a decent pasta sauce. Chop an onion up, crush a clove of garlic and fry them both in a pan until they're translucent (you can also add some sliced bell peppers or dried chillies at this point). Then add a can of tomatos. If they're whole ones, use a potato masher or a fork to break them up. Cook on a medium heat until it's reduced down a bit. Easy. Takes about 15 mins max. If you want you can bung some dried herbs in or a slosh of red wine or red wine vinager.

If you're doing meatballs with it, fry them first then simmer them in the sauce until they're cooked through. Alternatively (and better), chuck some shop bought Swedish meatballs in. They don't need cooking, just warming through.

CF

[Elvalia]

(A crock-pot is also known as a slow-cooker. It's an appliance that you plug in, and it slowly simmers your food for hours. What's nice about it is that it can be left unattended while you go off to work or class or whatever. But it also takes up rather a lot of cabinet space.)

Ah. Thankyou!

You don't even need a crockpot to make a decent pasta sauce. Chop an onion up, crush a clove of garlic and fry them both in a pan until they're translucent (you can also add some sliced bell peppers or dried chillies at this point). Then add a can of tomatos. If they're whole ones, use a potato masher or a fork to break them up. Cook on a medium heat until it's reduced down a bit. Easy. Takes about 15 mins max. If you want you can bung some dried herbs in or a slosh of red wine or red wine vinager.

If you're doing meatballs with it, fry them first then simmer them in the sauce until they're cooked through. Alternatively (and better), chuck some shop bought Swedish meatballs in. They don't need cooking, just warming through.

CF

Is it horrible of me to think that that's terribly complicated? I tried to cook vegetables once... I don't think I want to try again. I'll get my mother to do it.
And suddenly the meatball idea scares me. My mother makes Swedish meatballs (or she used to), and I really don't like them at all.

[ET, the Extra Terrestrial]

Is it horrible of me to think that that's terribly complicated? I tried to cook vegetables once... I don't think I want to try again.

Oh, come on now. You can bake stuff, but you're scared to fry veggies? Baking is WAY more complicated - you have to measure stuff, and mix it, and fold it (whateverthehell that is), and use this big-assed honkin scary mixosaurus machine, and add stuff in the right order, and precise timing and exact temperature and don't slam the door and all kinds of crazy crap like that. Veggies is easy, you choppa them to bits (it's more fun if you pretend to be a serial killer while you chop), put 'em in a pan with some greasy stuff, and turn on the fire - just mish 'em around some until they smell/look done. I could train either of my brothers to do it right, especially if I'm allowed to use enhanced training techniques (commonly known as pain aversion) - and neither of them is currently capable of correctly identifying any kitchen appliance that's not a refrigerator. You could make awesome spaghetti sauce just by thinking of how you want it to taste as you're mixing the junk together. That's how I started - think of it as the same as playing music by ear, only with food.

[Elvalia]

But that's what I did last time I tried to cook vegetables! You know, with the pan, and the olive oil?! But they didn't really taste the way I wanted them to. Besides, baking really isn't that exact. In a lot of the recipes I have, some ingredients don't have measurements (for example, the vanilla in my cake. I just put in whatever I feel like). Desserts are easier...

[Ubi Dubium]

Bunnies should probably stick to raw veggies. Except pasta sauce. Don't let Swedish meatballs put you off - you can probably find Italian style meatballs for your pasta.

[ET, the Extra Terrestrial]

But they didn't really taste the way I wanted them to.

*suspects she wanted them to taste like chocolate cake*

[Elvalia]

Bunnies should probably stick to raw veggies. Except pasta sauce. Don't let Swedish meatballs put you off - you can probably find Italian style meatballs for your pasta.

I will indeed stick to my raw veggies. I don't know about the meatballs... I'll try them sometime, though, I promise.

*suspects she wanted them to taste like chocolate cake*

It was an accident, I swear!