This series of articles is dedicated to passing on the art of surviving as a young man just out of mom and dad’s home. Being a 40 year old married man who has been married for 17 years, I have been lucky enough to have a wife who has kept me well fed.
With multiple young single guys coming under care of our church over the last year, I have been reminded of the plight of the 18 to 24 year old male. The struggle to feed yourself on a tight budget without meaningful cooking skills. This article and the ones to follow are the secrets to survival passed down from man to man over many generations.
The Secret of Spaghetti:
A Spaghetti meal for the bachelor male is the height of culinary class. Where this meal is relegated to the Monday nite simple meal for families, it is a showcase meal for a single guy, useful for impressing buddies or dates.
This meal in its most basic form consists of simple spaghetti noodles, ground beef, and spaghetti sauce.
Here is the shopping list if you were shopping at Lowe’s Food in North Carolina (results may vary around the US):
- Mueller Spaghetti Noodles, 8oz box – $0.79
- Hunt’s Spaghetti Sauce, 26 oz can – $1.45
- Ground Beef 80% Lean, 1 lb – $2.99
The assembly instructions:
- Fill up a 2 quart sauce pan about half way.
- Place on stove on high setting until boiling.
- Take the spaghetti noodles from the box in a bundle and break the bundle in half.
- Place noodles in boiling water for about 15 minutes – they are done when you can easily cut a noodle in half with a fork.
- At the same time you place the noodles in the water, brown the 1 lb of ground beef in a frying pan on med-high heat.
- You will know its done when it is brown all the way through and appears to be in crumbles.
- If you don’t want to die an early death, place a strainer in the sink with a cereal bowl under it and pour the browned beef in it to strain off the excess grease.
- Place the strained beef back in the frying pan and pour in the Spaghetti sauce.
- Stir that sauce and ground beef together until well mixed.
- Let the sauce simmer on med-low heat until hot (the sauce will bubble when hot)
- BE SURE TO STIR SAUCE EVERY FEW MINUTES OR SO. DO NOT WALK AWAY AND LET IT BOIL DOWN
- Remove the bowl with ground beef grease from under the strainer and place to the side. (DO NOT POUR THIS DOWN THE SINK DRAIN OR GARBAGE DISPOSAL – THIS WILL GUM UP THE SINK PIPES)
- When the noodle are done (refer to STEP 4), pour noodles and water in strainer that is in the sink.
- You are now ready to plate it up.
- Cover a dinner plate with noodles so you cant see the plate.
- Cover the noodles with about a cup or two of sauce.
- Dinner time.
This should make you about 4 servings, depending on how heavy-handed you are on Steps 15-16. If you are able to get 4 servings out of this recipe then you are eating for about $1.25 per meal. If you feed your buddies with this, then you are a hero for $5 out of pocket! That’s what it would cost you to feed just yourself if you rolled into a fast food joint.
Well, there you are guys. The secret to the premier batchelor meal for 5 one dollar bills. Once you master the basic recipe, feel free to venture out with modifications by adding mushrooms, sausage, and maybe some garlic bread on the side…
Stay tuned for the the next Single Guys Survival Guide Article – Turbo Grub
Tags: Single Guys, Spaghetti, Spaghetti Recipe, Survival Guide
