Made from Scratch Tomato Sauce

Happy November!!

For many people, i'm sure the month of November is all about FOOD, which is true for me, too. Growing my own food, cooking from scratch and trying new recipes are all things i love to do. One things i have found from living this kind of lifestyle is that food is all about self-sufficiency, and it's not hard at all! Making & especially growing your own food is one of the healthiest things you can do for your body & your family. When you make your own food, you know exactly what's going into it, you can add as many fruits & vegetables as you want (i'd hope it's more rather than less) & it's easier to control portion sizes. Being healthy & eating right helps you to look & feel fabulous, something clothes & accessories can only do for so long.

This past year i have had the privilege of having my very own garden, making jam, salsa & tomato sauce from scratch, canning & freezing. i know most people think canning is only something grandmas do (or did) but really, it's fun & beneficial. But i'll have more on those things later. This entry is all about tomatoes!!

In our garden this year we had 4 roma tomato plants which were more than sufficient for my husband & i. In fact, we had to give away a bunch of them, & also took several dozen to my mother-in-law's to make some batches of salsa. i don't have canning supplies at my own home, or an appropriate stove (gas is best), so i am left with the option to freeze all of my leftover food, which works well enough. Freezing is relatively easy & all you need is the space & some containers, like freezer bags or plastic containers.

One of my favorite things to do with tomatoes is to make tomato sauce from scratch, which may seem daunting but really, it's easy if you have the time to cook it (4 hours, no that does not include hovering over a pan for 4 hours, just 30 minutes of prep & 4 hours for it to simmer on the stovetop) & affordable. While jarred grocery store tomato sauce is also inexpensive, it doesn't nearly have as many veggies & instead it does have all those preservatives & god knows what in the ingredient list. Plus you won't have the satisfaction of pouring this delicious nutritious sauce over your steaming hot whole wheat pasta & enjoying it with some garlic bread & merlot. It also freezes well so you can make double & save some for later.

After searching for a good sauce that used plenty of vegetables, i made this recipe up one night when i was bored.

So let's make some sauce!

You will need:

Blender or food processor

Large pot

8-10 fresh tomatoes

1 carrot

1 bell pepper

1 onion

3 garlic cloves

1/3 cup red wine (choose your favorite)

1 small bunch fresh basil, about 1/3 cup chopped

1 teaspoon fresh thyme

1 teaspoon fresh oregano (you can use dried for any of the herbs, of course, just cut the amount in half or so)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

salt & pepper to taste

1. Blanch the tomatoes to remove the skins. Find out how to blanch tomatoes here.

1.Chop those tomatoes! Small enough to easily puree in a blender or food processor.

2.Chop up the veggies & toss them in the pot with the butter & olive oil, stir to coat & cook for about 5 minutes.

3. Add the pureed tomatoes & seasoning, stir well.

4. Bring the pot to a boil & then turn it down to a simmer, cover it, & let it simmer for 2-2.5 hours.

5. After the 2 hours, check the consistency & taste your sauce! If it seems bland or needs a little kick, don't be afraid to add more seasoning. i often add seasoning throughout the cooking process.

6. Bring it back to a boil & let it simmer again for at least another hour. If you still want it thicker, you can simmer it for a half hour or so with the lid off to cook it down a bit.

7. This process by itself creates a chunky sauce. i like to let it cool & then put it back in my blender & puree until relatively smooth. This hides all the veggie chunks!

I find this recipe makes a good amount of sauce if you're having a spaghetti meal for 6 people. But if you're stuck with leftovers, i like to freeze my sauce. Let it cool as much as possible & pour it into either freezer bags or freezer safe plastic or glass containers. To thaw, i take the sauce out of the freezer & thaw it in the fridge the day before using it, & then heat it on the stove just like jarred sauce. The smell of homemade tomato sauce in the middle of winter might just warm you up a bit. Not to mention it's a great way to use up the fresh tomatoes when the store has a sale or when your garden is overflowing with them, like mine was in the summer.

This sauce can be combined with many things to create a different flavor. Stir in mushrooms & ground beef & you have a rich & meaty sauce. Add cumin, chili powder & cayenne pepper to make enchilada sauce. Add extra basil to make your own pizza sauce. It's versatile & healthy!

Happy cooking!

Made from Scratch Cookies

Obviously, I was bored last night. So i wrote this:

I am still becoming adjusted to my having only one job. I know how weird that sounds but I’m serious. & while there are many things that I could be doing on my free evening—such as reorganizing my sewing room, eek—I decided to try my hand at making cookies. Now I know, I’ve made dozens of cookies before but I’ve only made a few kinds, the standards, sugar, choc chip & oatmeal. I am trying a new recipe tonight.

For those who don’t know, I pretty much live on allrecipes.com. when I first started cooking I went to a few different websites for ideas & they were ok. What I like best about this site are the reviews/ star ratings & the wealth of info provided. There is a search feature, tons of articles, a personal recipe box and plenty of other options which I haven’t even explored yet. Basically members submit their own recipes & then others can try it & rate it. I typically search for recipes sorting with their rating, because then I know that chances are, the top rated recipes will be the best. & in my several years of using it, it turns out to be true. Not to mention people can make comments & offer custom versions & make adjustments which are very helpful. I often read through a few of the comments to see what others had to say, just to get a feel of what other people tried.

So aside from me living & dying by this site, I am making ‘Jumbo Breakfast Cookies.’ While another member pointed out, I don’t think any cookie could replace breakfast in any case, but it is still nice to have a cookie that is sweet but still has some good stuff for you as well. I remind my readers , including my husband ; ) , that cookies are desserts, not snacks & should be eaten sparingly, regardless of how many oats or whatever is in them, because they’re still loaded with sugar & fat. Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, onto baking!

I changed the recipe a bit, because I didn’t have much cereal. I used Post Toasties (my husband's favorite, we always have these in the house. They’re like Cheerios only slightly sweetened with brown sugar), and used one less cup. In its place I used an extra cup of rolled oats. I didn’t have raisins so I used chocolate chips instead.

I made the cookies a bit smaller just so I’d have more, & as I type the first batch is cooling & the second batch is in the oven.

Edit: My husband & i each had 1 1/2 cookie last night, they are amazing! So many different textures but still soft & chewy. Delicious! Give them a try.