TRUCK's MOM's PASTA SAUCE

but i made it spicier

ingredients:
1 big wide saucepan
1 onion, any kind
a handful of garlic
ground italian sausage or other ground meat
fresh or frozen spinach
1-2 cans crushed tomatoes
salt, lemon pepper, paprika, oregano or "italian seasoning"
optional: diced tomatoes and black olives
roughly chop onions, dice em smaller if you want a more smooth sauce but i like it CHUNKY. throw em in the pot

PICO DE GALLO!

ingredients: 1-2 white onions, yellow works but doesn't taste as good
5-10 roma or beefsteak tomatoes, the firmer the better
as much cilantro as you want
lemon or lime juice, I prefer lime. fresh or bottled whatever works.
salt
DICE tomatoes and onions, a dicer or food processor would be nice but I just thug it out and do it by hand. It doesn't need to be crazy uniform but it will mix better and taste better if everythings around the same size.
CHOP up cilantro and throw it all into a big bowl
SQUEEZE lime juice in to taste, salt to taste
Mix everything together really well, and LET SIT IN FRIDGE OR COLD PLACE FOR AT LEAST ONE HOUR!!!! It wont taste good right off the bat! its gotta get all acclimated and juicy.

CHILI!!!

ingredients:
you will need ONE BIG WIDE POT!
1-2 white, yellow or red onion it doesnt matter
1-2 lbs ground beef or ground meat substitute, the fattier the better.
1 can of kidney beans, 1 can of chili beans (play around with this if you want, these are just my fav beans for chili)
1-2 cans of crushed tomatoes
oils spices and herbs (in order of importance) olive or vegetable oil, salt, chili powder, paprika, lemon pepper (or just regular pepper im just so down bad for lemon pepper), rosemary, balsamic vinegar, garlic powder if you feel like it. optional:
some diced tomatoes for added texture, minced crushed or powdered garlic.

Roughly chop/slice onion, i like doing pretty thick chunks i loooove onion, toss it into the pot with oil* and rosemary on low heat, just enough for the onion to sizzle but not to burn too fast. I also like to add some balsamic vinegar here, maybe it makes the onions cook faster maybe it doesn't but it sure does make them taste really really good.
If you're using fresh garlic, add it just a little after the onion, garlic tends to burn faster.
Once onions are slightly soft and transparent, add in your ground meat, you're welcome to turn the heat up a little bit as well. I like to season a little bit in-between every step, idk if it does much but to me it makes the different parts of the meal taste more cohesive. While the meat is browning I'll typically add a little salt, paprika, msg, and lemon pepper.
Once the meat is almost all the way browned, add your two cans of beans and mix in.
Once mixed, add tomatoes. Add chili powder, paprika, lemon pepper, etc., no measurments. just season to taste.
Let simmer for 15-30 minutes, I haven't figured out the perfect simmer time yet, under or over cooking doesnt matter a ton here as long as the meat is fully browned.
Serve plain or with sour cream, shredded cheese, fritos, or make some chili dogs!
*an old roommate of mine made chili once where they cooked the beef first, took it out, cooked the onions in the grease, and put the beef back in once they were cooked. pretty fucking baller. i dont do that just bc its not my routine but i encourage anybody to try it.

JUNK pasta salad

ingredients:
1 big bowl 1 box of pasta, i use rotini or penne or macaroni.
whatever frozen or fresh leftovers you can find that could possibly go together
any combination of random condiments like mayo, sour cream, ranch, blue cheese dressing, italian dressing, salt, lemon pepper, paprika, msg.
I LIKE pasta salad but I had never really thought to make any until I had a bunch of leftover elote sauce but no corn cobs.
STEP 1. make an entire box of pasta
STEP 2. DIG AROUND! steam-in-bag veggies are PERFECT for this. if you only have fresh, chop some and steam them on the stove or in a rice cooker, or don't steam them if you wanna have some crunchy ass veggies in your pasta salad. broccoli, green beans, carrots, corn etc.
If you have leftover lunch meat, chop into strips. If you have leftover cooked chicken ham beef or pork, chop into small cubes.
STEP 3. get it sloppy. throw in whatever viscious sauce or dressing you can find, mix some together do some experiments. season and salt to taste, chill in fridge for a while and EAT

ELOTE pasta salad

ingredients:
1 big pot
1 big bowl
1 whole box of pasta
canned or frozen corn
mayo
sour cream
crumbled feta and/or parmesan
tajin, salt
make a box of pasta. in a bowl, add equal parts mayo and sour cream, a whole can of corn or a handful of steamed frozen corn. crumble or grate in your cheese. drain and add pasta. stir and season with salt and tajin to taste.