Easy tomato sauce

When you’re “frugal” like me, you don’t like to waste food.  So when I realized I had some tomatoes, onions and bell peppers on hand, that needed to be used up, I decided to make pasta sauce.  This is my first ever homemade pasta sauce recipe and let me just say, I nailed it!  Enjoy this one!

Homemade Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

o   2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

o   1 small onion, chopped

o   1 green bell pepper, chopped

o   3 cloves of garlic, minced

o   ¼ cup white wine (I used Riesling)

o   salt to taste

o   8 ripe roma tomatoes, quartered

o   1 teaspoon dried basil

o   1 tablespoon butter

 

Directions

1.    Heat EVOO in medium saucepan and add onion and bell pepper.  Cook for about 5 minutes.

2.   Add garlic, cook for another 3 minutes.  Add white wine, cook to reduce by half the liquid  (a few more minutes).

3.   Add tomatoes, basil and salt, cook for 40 minutes over low-medium bubble.

4.   Use immersion blender or food processor to pulse into sauce of desired consistency.  Add butter, melt and salt to taste.

5.   Serve on pasta, enjoy!

Overall

This is exactly the flavor I was looking for and who knew pasta sauce was so easy?!  This is a great, easy recipe.

Frugality

The onion was probably about $.50, the bell pepper was $.33, and the garlic was $.44 all from Sprouts.  The tomatoes were $1.26 from my produce basket, the butter and wine were on hand.  The total for this sauce comes out to $2.53 and much better than a jar of your usual go-to pasta sauce.

Look Forward To

I still have a broccoli, a cauliflower, some red and green bell peppers, a head of iceburg lettuce, 12 plums and 6 nectarines…

This dish is one of my all-time favorite ways to eat cauliflower.  This recipe has been in my family long before me and I was lucky to have it passed down to me.  The end result is a fresh tasting, light, sauce-less pasta dish that serves as a main course in my home.

Cauliflower Spaghetti

Ingredients

• 1 head of cauliflower, cleaned and cut into florets
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• ½ pound spaghetti noodles
• Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Place cleaned, florets of cauliflower in medium bowl, add 2 tablespoons of water.  Seal with  plastic wrap and microwave for 6 minutes, or until desired consistency.  Strain and set aside.
2. Prepare pasta according to package directions, strain and set aside.  Reserve ¼ cup of starchy water.
3. Heat olive oil in large frying pan.  Add onion and cook until soft (I like mine on the browner side), add garlic, parsley and salt and pepper to taste.  Add starchy water to deglaze pan and add moisture.
4. Add cauliflower and pasta to onion mixture.  Stir well to combine.  Serve with parmesan cheese on top.

Overall

This is not the first or last time I will make this recipe.  As always, it was mouth-watering.  The more you cook the onions, the sweeter they become so don’t worry if they are a little brown.  If you have fresh parsley, throw it in, it adds depth to the dish.  This is a great, cheap recipe to prepare with very few ingredients.  It serves at least 3 people and makes for a great meal. 

Frugality

The cauliflower cost me about $1.65 through my food co-op (www.bountifulbaskets.org).  The pasta was $1 at Fresh and Easy.  Everything else I had on hand.  This makes a huge dinner with leftovers for $2.65.  This is a dish you really can’t beat.

Look Forward To

I still have a broccoli, a bunch of spinach, and a pound of celery to get creative with.  You should really look forward to what tonight’s leftovers will make tomorrow night….Delectable!

vegetarian chili

My first recipe is adapted from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/vegetarian-chili/detail.aspx.  I love to use allrecipes.com because there are so many reviews on each recipe that make great suggestions to make the dish even better.  All the reviews for this recipe were positive and it has a 4 1/2 star rating.  Here's my new, improved version:

Ingredients

• 1 (12 ounce) package frozen burger-style crumbles (I used Boca brand)
• 2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 (15 ounce) cans dark red kidney beans, drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can light red kidney beans, drained
• 1 can of sweet corn (drained)
• 2 yellow or red bell peppers, chopped
• 1 (29 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 sweet onions, chopped
• 3 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 

Directions 

• In a large pot heat extra virgin olive oil over medium heat, add onion and bell peppers.  Cook about 10 minutes stirring often.
•  In a large pot, combine black beans, kidney beans, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
• Bring to a simmer and cover. Let the chili simmer for at least 1 hour before serving.   The longer it cooks, the better it tastes.  15 minutes before serving, add ground crumbles (if you add them sooner, they get too chewy).
• Serve alone or with shredded cheese and crackers.

Overall
This was my first time cooking with the Boca veggie crumbles so I was a little apprehensive.  I thought it was a good chili that's even better the next day.  When I make it again, I will maybe throw in some sliced Italian zucchini for more veggie goodness.  I forgot to add the salt and pepper and when added, it tasted much better.  

Frugality
I went on a shopping trip to Fry's prior to cooking this meal.  The Boca crumbles were on sale for $2.99, the cans of beans and corn were all Kroger brand and cost about $0.70 (6 cans), the onions were about $1.50 (though you could go cheaper and get yellow onions and it would taste pretty good still), the diced tomato and tomato sauce was about $3 and the spices and olive oil I had on hand.  The grand total for this big pot of chili is less than $12.  Delicious!  

Look Forward To.... 
September is National Honey Month and a friend of mine is hosting a "Honey" party.  Each of the guests are bringing a honey infused recipe...not sure what mine will be yet.  (As of now I'm leaning toward a lemon honey cookie recipe I found.)

I just pre-ordered my produce basket from http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/.  Its a food coop that brings me a great variety  of delicious local produce from around my area for $15 a basket.  I'm excited to see what I get this week and try out some new recipes.