Something Fun
Sissy was
crying the other day. This alone is not noteworthy,
as it happens numerous times a day. This
time it was due to Bubba telling her she doesn’t know how to cook. I had to tell her there was no need to cry,
she doesn’t know how to cook! Then I
thought about it… Why doesn’t she know
how to cook? The answer is that I have
not taught her. Sure I let her measure
and mix things, but I have not taken the time to really teach her what we are
doing. Well, that’s it, I decided to
teach her to cook!
If you know
me well, you are laughing. I don’t even
know how to prepare what I am cooking most times, how will I teach a seven year
old? We are goin to start with something
basic that every person should know how to cook. This meal also happens to be Sissy’s
favorite… Spaghetti! Yes we will be cheating a bit here and
there. We are not making our own
noodles, and we will be using seasoned canned tomatoes. We all have to start somewhere, and this is
where we shall begin. I am going to
share this experience with all of you including the recipe we use, the mistakes
we make, and what I am learning as a mom in the process… I hope you all enjoy
Homemade
Spaghetti Sauce
Ingredients:
- 3-4 cans of Crushed Tomatoes
(either regular or with basil, oregano and garlic) 28 oz. sized cans < The Niemi’s used the canned Italian
tomatoes as well as diced tomato with sweet onion
- 4 cloves of garlic (pressed or
chopped finely)
- A bunch of dried basil (probably
3-5 Tbsp)
- A bunch of black pepper (probably
1-2 tsp)
- 1 Tbsp of sugar (optional – if you
want the sauce a little sweeter)
< The Niemi family used brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/3 cup of grated Parmesan or
Romano cheese
- Minced Green Peppers (optional) < The Niemi family used red, yellow,
and orange mini peppers
Directions:
- Heat the olive oil in a 5+ qt. pot
over medium heat, and add the chopped or pressed garlic.
- Heat for one to two minutes,
making sure not to burn the garlic, then add all the crushed tomatoes,
black pepper, basil and sugar. Stirring often, bring to a low boil.
- Reduce heat to low and simmer for
2-3 hours stirring often.
- For the first half of the simmer
time, do so with the pot uncovered, then cover.
- Add the cheese, stir in and simmer
for an additional 5 minutes or so.
- Pretty easy, and inexpensive too.
- This will make the equivalent to 4-5
jars of sauce, and the cost is probably about half (and it tastes way
better).
This recipe was printed from I am THAT Lady: http://www.iamthatlady.com
URL to recipe: http://www.iamthatlady.com/frugal-pasta-sauce-recipe-using-hunts-crushed-tomatoes/
Ok, so the
first thing I had to do was decide if we were going to actually stick to this
recipe, or wing it like I usually do… I
really wanted to have this meal Monday night, but when I decided on this recipe
it was midnight on Sunday night. I
discovered two things, I was out of garlic, and had not bought enough cans of
tomatoes to make this big of a batch. In
the mindset of teaching my daughter lots of mini lessons, I decided number one
would be patience. We would make this
meal later in the week. She would help
me make the sauce one night, and the next day we would put it all together into
a meal.
Bonus: Making the full recipe will leave food to be
frozen for future weeks and teach her about planning family meals! Yaya!!
