Marinara sauce

Marinara sauce, spaghetti sauce, pasta sauce… what ever you want to call it frustrated me…  I think I went through every brand at the store and found only one that I actually enjoyed eating… only it was $5.50 a jar… and to feed the herd I have it makes dinner over $13.00… and to keep costs down I try and have dinner for 6 under $7.00… that’s not per serving that’s the whole meal… that’s a lot of beans.. a lot of pasta… and potatoes. So it was the cheap stuff… Aldi’s has a nice Marinara sauce but it is lacking in so many ways that after I doctor it up with spices and what not I might as well have made it from scratch…

So that is what I have been doing… Gone is the too sweet jar of sauce… gone is the off taste that you have to mask with ½ cup of garlic… gone is the instant dinner.

The longer you cook this the better it tastes… I try and give myself at least 3 hours of simmering time so the flavors can blend together  while I get the house in order in the evening…

I always keep a few bulbs of garlic and tomato puree around

I usually use a whole onion and a whole bulb of garlic .. adjust to your taste… if you have some dice up some zucchini and/or summer squash at this point and sauté along with the onions and garlic.

Onions sizzling away

Add the garlic

Add your tomato puree (2- 28 oz cans)

Then add 4 cups of water

Tablespoon of oregano

Tablespoon of basil, two teaspoon of salt and one tablespoon of salt

Let simmer for at least 3 hours stirring once in a while

Print Recipe

Recipe:

2- 28 ounce cans of tomato puree

One onion chopped

One bulb of garlic minced

3 tablespoons of oil

4 cups of water

One tablespoon of oregano

One tablespoon of sugar

One tablespoon of basil

2 teaspoons of salt

Sauté over med-high onions and garlic till onions are translucent, add tomato puree and water, add spices and stir well… lower heat to low and simmer for 3 hours stirring periodically.

Peanut butter chocolate chip oatmeal cookies...

Whew.... that's a mouthful to say... and OoOOooOOooO these are a mouthful of goodness....

"Oh look….. she is posting another cookie recipe…"

Yay……..

Oh but this is a good cookie.. I almost didn’t share the recipe because I wanted something to be piggish about but realized that I needed to pass this around…

I have one of those cheapo ice cream scoops.. I end up using it for everything.. pancakes, muffin or cupcake batter and now cookies… I measured mine and it is about 3 and ¼ tablespoons to the top.. and to make a large cookie you need about 3 tablespoons of dough… or if your one of “those” people and have cookie scoops then use your largest one.

Gather the ingredients… the first time I made this recipe I used quick oats… it worked if that is all you have.

Cream your butters, sugars and vanilla together

Add your egg

Add your flour mixture... the salt, flour and baking soda.

Add the oats

Add the chocolate chips..

Oven at 350 F on a ungreased pan scoop out dough… three tablespoons … if not using a ice cream scoop roll them out so they stay round for you…

Do NOT!!! Crowd.. these suckers spread out and we want the edges to look pretty

Bake for about 10 to 14 minutes.. only till they are golden brown.. they won’t be done, we’re gonna leave them to finish cooking on the pan…

After about 15 minutes when they have completely cooled transfer to plate or airtight container…

This recipe only makes a dozen or a bakers dozen depending on how generous you measured. Perfect for a hostess gift. 

Print Recipe

Peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
½ cup rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

3. On medium speed, cream together the butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat to combine. On low speed, gradually add the flour until just combined. Stir in the oats, and then the chocolate chips.

4. Use a large cookie scoop (3 tablespoons) and drop dough onto prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden. Cool completely on the baking sheet and then store in an airtight container at room temperature.

More random thoughts from the housewife

I felt like I started off November running from this side of town to the next…  I keep hearing things about Thanksgiving and wonder why they are talking about it soooo early.  Christmas shopping? That’s months away!! Mind you Thanksgiving for us growing up was canning turkeys because they were on sale and Christmas was not something we did… it becomes quite a shock several times a week for me when I realize that this is November and Christmas is next month…  then I forget about it and go back to my hunt for dust bunnies only to repeat the cycle when I come up for air.

 School this year is a joy… we started off like a old truck in September (start,stop,start,stop,chug,chug,chug) to run out of gas last month… Once all fall projects are completed we are back to the grindstone… but that’s not to say we are still not learning. I am embracing more and more “unschooling”  and armed with a pencil and notebook a outing to the grocery store can be a full day of school… Math: why we can’t buy that cool looking toy and get milk, History: last week we poked our sister with our grubby toes and she screamed and caused the whole back seat to erupt into a boiling fight… lets do it again. Science: The law of gravity and cans of green beans…   sarcasm aside each day has something to teach you… and as a parent it is our job to teach them how to spot life’s teaching lessons.

I’ve learned how to control my tongue better…. And to keep from shoving my foot in my mouth.

Coming to the conclusion that my opinions are just that… mine..  not very many ppl have the same outlook on childbirth, child raising, child correction, fashion, and conduct of a woman…. I don’t need to push mine on others… it makes me mad when they do that to me why would I think they would feel any better when I do the same??? 

The house became quieter yesterday…. My oldest is on a adventure to W.Va. staying with his Memaw for several weeks…

He better not come home any taller.

So far I have only three and half rooms left to fall clean… there is nothing like the feeling of throwing out bags and bags of “trash”. I love clutter as much as the next hoarder but sometimes my clutter has to make sense….  And a cabinet that is overflowing with baking pans and I only use half and after a trek to dig through the pots and pans to find that cheesecake/cake pan you tend to want to fling something… so I have left the kitchen for one of the last hurdles to get over.

And while the Jr. hoarder is away I can tackle his closet that is filled with toys and clothes that he refuses to throw away…..

With Thanksgiving less than three days away I am sure there will be many more trips across town and many more explosions in the back seat.

I feel like I have been hiding from blogging by washing dishes and attacking the laundry... I get these bright idea's of blogging at least 4 times a week... and then life happens and no time to sit down for more than ten minutes or the brain power to try and make my posts semi intelligent. 

But I am gonna do better!!!