Thursday, September 15, 2011

Middle of the Week Recipes!

I can't believe we have already made it past Thursday! 1 more day and then FREEDOM! It feels so good to say that! Hope you are ready to make plans for the weekend!

Sorry I have been M.I.A. this week. We have been busy busy busy with our cooking adventure. We made our own tomato sauce, starting with homemade stewed tomatoes:

Homemade Stewed Tomatoes

  • 5 pounds tomatoes


  1. Place tomatoes in boiling water long enough for the skin to crack.
  2. Remove from boiling water and place them in an ice bath.
  3. Peel skin from tomatoes, squeeze out seeds
  4. Puree in blender and set aside
  5. Cut in half (Makes about 2 24-ounce cans worth)

Homemade Tomato Sauce
  • 1 onion
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • Fresh Oregano & Basil
  • 3 Stalks of Celery, Chopped
  • 1 tbsp of Sugar
  • 1 cup of red wine
  • Salt, Pepper & Crushed Red Pepper


  1. In a pot, saute diced onion, garlic and olive oil
  2. Add chopped celery
  3. Add fresh parsley, oregano and basil, salt and pepper, crushed red pepper
  4. Add half of fresh stewed tomatoes (about 24-ounces)
  5. Puree, and simmer for 2 hours.
Which we used to make:

We used the other half of our stewed tomatoes for this recipe:


Next time I might try frying the eggplant. Baking is definitely more healthy, but I think frying it might give it an extra oomph!


This recipe rocks, and you can totally make it completely vegetarian. Definitely makes great leftovers!


What are your plans this weekend? We will be celebrating Hubby's Birthday with homemade Chile Rellenos. I am super excited! Now to plan what to wear....

Put on your Party Dress




12 comments:

Janette said...

OH MY WORD JESS! I love how this post has some of my favorite things...Food and clothes! Greatttt combo! You know, I've always wanted to know how to make tomato sauce.... YUMMMM-O!


Janette the Jongleur

Claire said...

i've never made stewed tomatoes before, mainly because it's so easy to buy them in a can. did it taste significantly better?

i love eggplant parm. it's so delicious. one of my favorites. i especially love it in a sandwich!!!

spinning-threads.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

loove these recipes! so excited to try some for fall. and i love your blog! will definitely be stopping by again in the future :)


anna
http://www.embracethesunshine.blogspot.com

amy (fearless homemaker) said...

happy birthday to your husband this weekend! i love the party outfit, especially because the girly dress is toughened up by the jacket. cute!

Punctuation Mark said...

happy birthday to the Mr!!! have a great weekend!

Louise said...

Yuuum this post has made me so hungry! the chicken florentine looks so good xx

Unknown said...

Jess,

Thank you so much for your sweet note!
I'm so happy that you came on over via Lynn's blog.
I love this post and that recipe for homemade sauce, so yummy...
I can smell the good cooking that was going on! Your home must
have been one tasty place to be :)

Looking forward to reading more at avant-garde-living!

xo Emily

Some Korean Website Highjacker said...

happy weekend Jess! these all look so delish and perfect for leftovers all the rest of next week too. happy birthday to your handsome one!!! the outfit idea is smashing! ♥

emily said...

Those recipes look tasty! And loving your party outfit!

natasha {schue love} said...

Definitely want to try the eggplant Parmesan!

Breeanna @ a brilliant melody said...

Lovely outfit for the hubby's birthday! I love Chile Rellenos, but i've never tried to make them.

punkychewster said...

ooh la la the zucchini chilli sounds divine. beer and chicken broth? hell yeah! i shall bookmark it and try it soon. thanks for your help on childhood games. i always played jacks but called them by a different name!