Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Remember those tomatoes I mentioned in my previous post?  This is what has become of most of them ...

If you get close enough, you might even be able to smell it because it smells better than it looks.  Just be careful not to leave a nose print on your screen.  I used a basic recipe I found HERE to give it a try.  I figure if I don't like it, I can tweak it to my preferences when I make some more.  Although I am tomatoed out right now.   (I had a cut on my arm that I remembered every time the juice form the tomatoes ran into it.)  I do most of my new recipes that way.  I follow the recipe the first time, and tweak it the following times until I like it.  Of course, that is if I tasted potential in it.  That is why I stick to higher rated recipes with plenty of comments when googling recipes.

Back to my sauce since that is why you are reading this post, right?  What is simmering is a double batch - 35 cups of chopped tomatoes plus garlic and seasonings. The above picture is misleading how much sauce this is.  That pot is my largest stock pot - like 3-meals-for-my-crew-and-leftovers-sized stock pot.  Some sauce will be for dinner tonight.  The rest I will freeze for later meals. 

Dinner tonight
Spaghetti
Tossed Salad (with fresh cherry tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden)
French Bread
Garlic Butter

Mmmmm ... 5:30 cannot get here soon enough.  Bon Appetit!

Southwest Salad

This an easy salad that comes together in 15 minutes. It is what I like to call a dump recipe. You just dump everything in a bowl. Okay, you might need to mix it a bit. Technicalities.

The recipe calls for red onion. I didn't have any in my house. I had plenty of yellow onion so I used that. It made for a stron flavor. Next time I will use red onion. It is a healthy recipe and quite colorful which makes a pretty setting for the table.


Southwest Salad
Preparation time: 15 mins
Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients
1 cup Whole Kernel Corn, drained
1 cup Red Bell Peppers, chopped
1 cup Green Bell Peppers, chopped
1/4 cup Red Onion, chopped
1 cup Reduced Fat Mild Cheddar Cheese, shredded

Directions
Toss together all ingredients and serve.

Shrimp Toss

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound spaghetti

1 pound uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined

6 - 8 tablespoons butter

2 garlic cloves, minced

8 ounces mushrooms, sliced

5 tablespoons sour cream

1 cup Parmesan or Romano cheese, grated

Salt and Pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Saute mushrooms, garlic and shrimp in butter 5-8 minutes until shrimp are pink. Stir in sour cream and cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix until blended and pour over hot pasta.

Soda Bread

This bread is yummy. My family didn't save me any either when I made it last night. I had a get-together at a friend's house I had to leave for before dinner so it is a good thing I had some yummy treats there.

I use the generic diet lemon-lime soda to make mine, buying a 2 liter and using the leftovers to make a 7-up Pound Cake. The crunchy outside is the best part of the bread in my opinion. It is also a bread Eric can eat although he preferred the chili I paired it with for dinner last night.


Soda Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour
3-3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons white sugar
12-ounces lemon-lime soda

In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients. Add soda and continue to mix, first using a wooden spoon then your hands. The batter wil be sticky. Pour into a greased 9x5-inch loaf pan.

Bake at 350 degrees 50 to 60 minutes. The top will be crunchy, and the insides soft.