You’ve probably seen those yellow delivery trucks that are essentially refrigerators on wheels. These vehicles carry Schwan’s Foods. What you may not know is that you can order these products online now to be delivered to your door, but not necessarily by yellow refrigerator truck.

Anyway, I have never tried anything that Schwan’s made but I have heard that their food is mighty tasty, something you can’t always say about frozen foods. So I wasn’t sure what to expect when I was pitched two new products from Schwan’s–mini meatball sandwiches and mini mozzarella bites–as the company tries to appeal to the football watching public. So I popped them in the oven (the meatball sandwiches require about twice the time so I put those in first) and ate them–you guessed it–on Sunday while watching football.

The mini meatball sandwiches are kind of like mini Hot Pockets, but with one difference (no offense to the folks who make the aforementioned pockets)–they taste really good. The crust is actually nice and flaky, despite being a frozen product, and still house a good amount of whole grains without being grainy tasting. The meatballs do not taste like mystery meat, and don’t even have a weird texture as some frozen meatballs do. The only thing I would have liked more of is the tomato sauce, but this can be easily rectified by nuking some spaghetti or pizza sauce and dipping the sandwiches.

In fact, you might want to nuke extra sauce to go along with the mozzarella bites. For some reason, I was expecting breaded cheese sticks, but these were more like tiny pillows of dough with mozzarella cheese inside. Just like the sandwiches, the crust was nice and flaky and these were nice little bites. These have no sauce–it’s basically dough and cheese, but still delicious and perfect dipping into warmed pizza sauce.

For you guys that have never made homemade spaghetti sauce, here is my version that is so easy, a monkey could do it. And it’s real. I’m not talking open a few jars easy. Go ahead, give it a try….it’s the weekend and it’s cold outside in most places……

Here is what you’ll need:

¼ cup olive oil
2 32 oz. Cans crushed tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
1 small onion
2-3 garlic cloves or 1-2 teaspoons jarred garlic
2 tsp. Sugar
2 tsp Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper
Fresh basil and parsley

You’ll need a giant pot, like a soup pot. Heat the oil over medium heat for a minute or two, and while that’s warming, peel the brown skin off the onion and throw it in the oil, whole. Push that around with a wooden spoon until it sizzles, and let it sizzle for a few minutes. If using garlic cloves, peel them and smash with the back of a large spoon or dull knife—but trust me, the jarred stuff is easier to use and just as good. Throw the garlic in the pot and let it brown, which takes about 30 seconds. Then add the crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and tomato paste. Stir until the paste thins out into the sauce.

Then add the sugar, Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper to taste. I like a lot of salt, a tablespoon or so, but that’s me. If you have high blood pressure, that’s not such a good idea. Then lower the heat, cover, and let that simmer for 2-3 hours. Just before serving it, chop a little fresh basil and fresh parsley and throw it in. That’s it.

Then just boil some spaghetti and you’ve just made homemade spaghetti sauce, just like Mom or Grandma used to. For an added touch, Purdue makes these really great, low-fat pre-cooked turkey meatballs. You can either warm them separately or throw them in the sauce for 10 minutes. Add a salad and maybe some store bought garlic bread or plain Italian bread and you’ve got a complete meal that will not only impress your wife, girlfriend or date, it should also impress yourself.