Tuesday, August 7, 2007

WFMW: Getting the Last Bit of Sauce!

Or, "Getting Sauced..." :)

I love pasta. Spaghetti, rigatoni, shells, penne, linguine... it doesn't matter what shape the noodles are; I love it! And my family loves it. We eat spaghetti about once a week.

Of course, the sauce makes all the difference. I will admit that I use a bottled sauce. Three cheese is usually my choice, but I'm not above a jar of mushroom or tomato basil. And I'll just let you know that I'm a Classico fan and while Prego will do, I never choose Ragu.
I always hate to waste even a tiny bit of that sauce. (I like LOTS of sauce with my pasta.) I shake the jar. I put the lid on and "whip" the sauce to the lid. I stand the jar on the lid for a few minutes. Whatever it takes, folks.
(Except adding water. My mom always did this strange water dance where she moved water back and forth between jars and cans of assorted pasta sauce goodness to completely empty the jars and cans. I only use one jar and I don't want to water it down.)


(Really, the WFMW tip is coming...)
Just last week I was stubbornly trying to rescue the last bit of sauce from the jar. In a moment of brilliance, I put a few cooked spaghetti noodles into the jar. I swished them around and they collected that last bit of sauce! YES!

Fire up the garlic bread, spaghetti friends... even more joy if you can do that spectacular spaghetti twisty thing with the fork and spoon like my
one-armed-hanky-boy.

For more great Works for Me Wednesday tips visit Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer.



12 comments:

Overwhelmed! said...

I like your idea, really I do, but since I married my Italian husband I'm no longer allowed to use jar sauce. :) He makes a big pot of his Italian marinara sauce once a month and we freeze it to use throughout the month. It's fantastic! If you ever want the recipe, let me know and I'd be happy to share. :)

Back in my single days, I was a Prego fan. I'm with you, Ragu was never all that great.

Kelli said...

Seriously great idea!

At A Hen's Pace said...

Yum--we're pasta eaters here too! Great idea!

Jeanne

Lori - Queen of Dirty Laundry said...

Great idea! I am seriously a "cleaning out the jar" freak. I just hate to waste anything at all.

I've lightened up just a little, though, since I see most of the TV chefs just leave whatever in the jar or bowl. There's some hope for my OCD after all!

Mrs. O said...

Brilliant! Simply brilliant. My kids love to help with this meal and they'll love doing this step!

Mary@notbefore7 said...

Wow - great idea. I am all about the jar sauce! (not much of a cook) That is so logical when you think about it, yet I never had thought to do it.

SimplyAmusingDesigns.com said...

I love this idea. I am not ashamed to admit I use jar sauce and then "tweak" it. :)

Mom2fur said...

This is an Italian house and I'll tell you straight out, it's usually Classico or Ragu or Barilla during the week. Homemade sauce is for Sunday, and my husband handles that. But he does add a little water to the tomato puree. Mostly because the sauce simmers for about 6 hours before we eat it, and the little extra water helps keep it from getting way too thick.
Ha, ha, I can just see your mom's 'strange water dance'! I wonder if it rained a lot when she made pasta?

T with Honey said...

That's much easier than getting a silicon or rubber spatula dirty just to get the last bit out of the can/jar. Great idea!!

We're also Classico fans for non-tomato based sauces at our house but for red sauce we go for Hunts.

penguinsandladybugs said...

I absolutely love WFMW--I am always scratching my head and saying...."now why didn't I think of that?" I had one of those just now. I'm so gonna do that from now on!

Moosler said...

*blushes* I'm a swish-some-water-in-the-jar person.

Unknown said...

You can use it to get ketchup out of the jar too.

Here we eat pasta with homemade sauce and vegetables.

But maybe, if we had your brand of sauce...