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have not been influenced by promotional
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I've touched on the subject of convenience foods here a few times lately. I do think to some extent they serve a purpose, but not for every meal. However, one of my guilty convenience purchases that I tend to always buy is pasta sauce. As much as everyone tells me you can't beat homemade when it comes to pasta sauce, I still reach for a ready made jar when I do my grocery runs. But, we've been traveling a lot lately, and since I'm trying to get my money's worth from renting an Airbnb over a hotel each week, I've been making most of our meals from scratch this month. We eat some type of pasta weekly without fail, so I thought that I'd try my hand at making a homemade sauce to go with our noodles this week. I found this Versatile Tomato Sauce on Golden Blossom Honey and thought it sounded like an easy and tasty recipe to try out.
To my delight, it turned out this was an easy and tasty recipe! Not to mention, much healthier than jarred pasta sauce from the grocery store. The nice thing about this, or any recipe really, is you can adjust ingredients as needed. 2 garlic cloves that this one asks for is a nice start, but I added in several more to suit my tastes. While I left the rest of the recipe as written, I do think the addition of sauteed mushrooms would be amazing, or ground beef if you don't want to keep the sauce vegetarian. We don't normally celebrate Valentine's Day in our house, but we do like to make a special meal for the occasion. This versatile tomato sauce is perfect not only for a weeknight dinner, but for a romantic one for the day of love, too.
Ingredients
1 Tablespoon olive oil1 cup diced white onion
1/4 cup carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1/4 cup celery, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups ripe tomatoes, or 1 (28 oz) can Italian tomatoes with juice, chopped
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon oregano
1 Tablespoon basil
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup red wine (optional)
1 Tablespoon GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY
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What are some foods you always make from scratch over store bought?
You made such lovely photos, lovely decor!
ReplyDeleteI don't eat tomato sauces much as they don't go well with my belly, so I generally try to avoid tomato dishes and paprika ones too. I do sometimes make stuffed peppers in simple tomato sauce but we don't have peppers over winter in our shops. I made tomato pasta roasted in the oven yesterday for lunch, actually. I do not eat pasta often since I cook in the morning and pasta ain't nice when staying for long, I only put nuddles in my soups.
Yes, pasta tastes best right after cooking. I never eat at Italian restaurants because it just doesn’t reheat well and I end up throwing away the leftovers.
DeleteI love stuffed peppers. I’d be so bummed if we didn’t have access to peppers year round. Reds and yellows are my favorite, but we’ll eat the green ones on occasion too.
Hopefully you are enjoying your travels. Good to realize when something is almost as easy as store bought, and yeah always healthier. Day of love though....blah.
ReplyDeleteTravels are fantastic. Everyone at home complaining about the cold and snow while I’m sitting on the beach lol
DeleteI do love my homemade sauce, but I don’t always make it because it’s time consuming. I try to make most things from scratch to control the sugar and sodium contents. Granola and waffles are on regular rotation.
ReplyDeleteI find myself making more and more from scratch these days. I’d love to have enough land to start growing my own food too. My best friend is getting into homesteading and I want to do that too. Farmers are already warning of a food shortage. We, as a whole, need to get back to gardening and food preservation.
DeleteYou're right, that is a nice meal for Valentine's Day. Since I've generously (or crazily) offered to give all big holidays and school breaks to the ex (even that's not how it's written in the divorce), we now have to celebrate the little holidays so we will be doing Valentine's Day UP this year. My teen has no clue, lol. I had to figure out a way to still have holidays with my boy. :) This recipe is a great idea, and yes to homemade everything!
ReplyDeleteYou’re too kind to step back, but sometimes it is easier than dealing with the bitching from the other parent. Watched my best friend go through that last year dealing with custody arrangements after moving to another state. I hope you and little man have a fantastic Valentine’s Day! I’m sure you’ll make it just as memorable as those bigger holidays.
DeleteI volunteered the days. Dad's got some catching up to do, and the teen enjoys dad time. I did it for the babes, not the ex. ;) Also, I can't believe I wrote that on your blog, lol. I crack myself up. My grandma would tell me not to air my dirty laundry, lolol :)
DeleteThe only reason I don't avoid jarred pasta sauce is because I can't cook to save my life. I know you don't have that problem :)
ReplyDeleteI’m sure you can cook, Blue! If not, get the new Mrs. to teach you.
Deletewait, Blue has a new Mrs. I've missed a lot... :) Congrats, Blue!
DeleteHi Theresa. I must've gained at least ten pounds since she started cooking for me and, occasionally, with me. She knows how to cook, all right. It's just that I'm a terrible student haha.
DeleteHello Rosey. Thank you :) She was the love on my life when I was a teenager... from 1984-1990.... then she disappeared (my bad) and now she's back. What are the odds?
The one thing that was great about 2022.
DeleteThat sounds really good. I've made my own pasta sauce back when I ate pasta.
ReplyDeleteThere are probably some good low carb pasta options you could try these days.
DeleteGracias por la receta. Te mando un beso.
ReplyDeleteYou’re welcome!
DeleteI rarely make from scratch
ReplyDelete