An Official Stand Against Ragweed -- And a Recipe

When Ty and I originally started to consider wedding dates, I thought October would be perfect. The weather would be cooler, leaves would be falling, it would be magical because fall is my favorite. But I must have been experiencing a major brain hemorrhage to ever consider October.

For some reason, as fall rolls around and I pull out my sweatpants and start researching pumpkin recipes, this deep nostalgia emerges within me, and I completely repress the memory that October's step-cousin Ragweed kicks my butt each year.

Yesterday, my butt was kicked.

I went to the doctor, had some stuff sprayed up my nose to open my sinuses, got a shot of celestone to boost my body into recovery mode, filled two prescriptions of Nasonex and Augmentin and passed out on the couch for the rest of the day.

Then, I felt I should do something productive for my husband, so I made roast spaghetti out of our leftovers. I don't really consider this cooking since the roast was made earlier this week, but it's a great way to create something new from your leftovers or even a great dish to make from scratch. And perfect for a sick day considering I only had to muster the strength to break apart the roast and stir it with some spaghetti sauce. The roast gives the sauce a nice, rich flavor that you typically don't get from ground beef. This would even be good piled onto a piece of buttery Texas toast.

Roast Spaghetti
from the kitchen of Lauren Smith

• Cook your roast however you prefer. Lauren and I each slow cook ours in the crock pot with a little bit of water and two packets of onion soup mix, which makes it super tender and easy to tear apart.
• Once the roast is cooked, combine with a large jar of spaghetti sauce (pick out whatever sauce you prefer).
• Pour in a cup to a cup and a half of the broth from the crock pot to give the sauce a rich flavor.
• Let it simmer for about 30 to 45 minutes and serve over pasta. Penne is preferred, but whatever's in your pantry will suffice.

This recipe freezes really well, and is easy to prepare when you're sick but still want to feel useful!