Modified pasta sauce + ma po tofu

Yesterday, I made ma po tofu. My ingredients:

• Grind pork (80% lean; NEED to get a leaner pork next time)
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Soft tofu (cut in cubes)
• Chili garlic sauce (pre-made)

Most of the time for this dish was waiting for the grind pork to cook and dry out. I had to soak so many paper towels' worth of oil in order for this to happen. I also put lots of ginger to balance out the strong pork stench... meat is so gross sometimes.
After all the pork dried out, I added my garlic, then sauce, then tofu. The sauce was too salty for me to add any more.
Overall, super easy dish that came out tasting the same way that mom makes it back home. My only complaint is that there's no "ma la," or spiciness that ma po tofu is supposed to have. I need to get chili oil, or ma la seasoning, or something to make this in the future. However, considering that it's summertime, maybe it's not so bad that it's not spicy.

Today, I made linguini with modified sauce b/c I was craving pasta post-running. Ingredients:

• Barilla linguini (Parrotta's recommendation)
• Prego chunky garden - mushroom supreme & baby portobello (already bought by suitemate John)
• Grind pork (maybe 1/4 lb?)
• Garlic (5 cloves)
• Onions
• Jalapeno pepper (1/5)
• American white mushrooms (5)
• Sugar (tablespoon)
• Already cooked spinach & golden mushrooms (leftover)

I cooked the grind pork (same 80% lean one), then drained juices. Added garlic to the pork to help the flavor. Then added onions (which immediately sweetened up the pork stench).
Chopped up and added the rest of the ingredients in the order listed above. Spinach & golden mushrooms weren't chopped.
The sugar was an afterthought, after sampling the sauce. There were so many heavy, savory ingredients that I needed something to lighten up the sauce. I didn't have carrots left, so I just figured a bit of sugar would be fine. It didn't ruin the sauce, but looking back, I wish I didn't add it.

Sauce came out tasting okay; the fact that I used Prego sauce instead of standard tomato sauce meant that I was going to have lots of different flavors. Also, I wish I had fresh tomatoes, which would've helped lighten up the sauce and add more juice. My last complaint is that I couldn't taste the spice from the jalapeno. I guess I just need to be more bold with it, and add more. (considering doing that right now...)

Got lots more recipes from the mother by talking on the phone last night. Looking forward to making them! :D