Saturday night cooking...and improvisation

Tonight was the kind of Saturday night I enjoy. I cooked. Jordan invited me to go with some of their friends to Fred's (locally famous hamburger joint) but I elected to stay home, eat leftover lamb meatloaf (next time: leave out pinion nuts) and a cabbage steak. So wonderful, if you haven't baked a cabbage steak, you must try it. The recipe has been all over Facebook, but if you've missed it, email me a j.alter@tcu.edu. So simple and so good.
Tonight I made a big batch of marinated vegetables, following (sort of) a recipe I found on highmadefoods. I signed up for their blog, printed out several fascinating recipes, but this is the first one I've tried. And, of course, I made substitutions--forgot the green beans, added a turnip and cucumber, omitted the jalapenos though in retrospect I think that may have been a mistake. The recipe called for bay leaves--who doesn't have bay leaves in their cupboard? Apparently me! I put in
dried thyme and basil. Called for black peppercorns, and again I fell short so I stole some from the pepper grinder. And finally it called for coriander seeds which I flat didn't have--considered adding a bit of cumin and decided against it. It took two hours to make this--all that chopping--and by the time I finished my back was screaming. I'm seriously considering a back brace just for cooking, though I'm not sure what kind to buy. Anyway my veggies are marinating and tomorrow I'll bottle them in jars I'm running through the dishwasher tomorrow morning.
Dinner break and Jordan and Jacob came by on their way to Fred's so I had a brief but appreciated moment of sociability. Christian didn't feel well, and I worried about that.
Then on to spaghetti sauce. Got the veggies chopped and in the food processor but was dumbfuzzled when it came to ham. I know a bought a slice early this week for ham salad--thought I'd just use part of it for the sauce. Could not find it anywhere in the fridge or freezer. Substituted bacon which should give the same smoky taste and instead of a half lb. of hamburger, I added a whole lb. After all it was defrosted. Tomorrow, before church, I'll put it in the crock pot and add the tomatoes, etc., and let it simmer all day. I plan to serve it on spinach noodles because I have an abundance of them. And that's what the recipe calls for. This is the only recipe for Bolognese spaghetti I've ever seen that does not have milk in it--and I like that.
Whoosh! I'm tired. Will settle down with a book for the rest of the evening.