Easy Homemade Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce Recipe

Brown 1 lb. ground meat (I used deer) with 1 diced onion and salt and pepper.  While meat is cooking dump 3 pints of canned tomatoes (or 3 cans of diced or stewed tomatoes), 1 can of Italian tomato paste, and spoonful of minced garlic into crockpot.  Add meat and mix together.  Add parsley, oregano, basil, thyme, bay leaves, and red pepper flakes to taste.  Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8.  So easy and sooooo good!  Great Sunday recipe because it cooks while you're at church.  When you get home all you've got to do is cook some whole wheat spaghetti noodles!

This week's meals (Nov. 27-Dec. 2)

Sunday- Easy Crockpot Spaghetti
Monday- Garlicky Bean Enchiladas
Tuesday- Bible study
Wednesday- Youth at church
Thursday- leftover frozen chili (Christmas parade night)
Friday- homemade pizza
Saturday- Cheddar Chicken Pasta

Recipes for this week's meals

Sundried Tomato, Spinach, and Basil Frittata Recipe
4 eggs
1 tsp. onion powder
1 cup frozen spinach
1/3 cup sundried tomatoes, sliced
1 tbsp. dried basil
3 tbsp. milk
salt & pepper to taste
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/3 cup feta cheese

Heat olive oil in cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Add spinach and onion powder and cook until spinach is wilted.  Whisk together eggs, milk, basil, salt and pepper.  Pour egg mixture over spinach.  Scatter sundried tomatoes and feta cheese over egg mixture.  Bake in oven for about 15- 20 min. or until frittata rises a little and becomes light and fluffy.  Cut into wedges and serve warm!

Homemade Pizza
I use whatever toppings happen to be around the house at this point.  Tonight I used sundried tomato pesto and olive oil as my base.  Go light on the pesto because it is strong.  I then added sliced black olives, cut up artichoke hearts, sliced sundried tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and a little feta cheese.  It was very yummy!  I like mine sprinkled with crushed red pepper and served with a little ranch dressing.  Once you make the crust a couple times it will go a lot faster and you'll wonder why you ever needed to go to Dominoes. 
Here's how to make the homemade whole wheat crust.  If you don't like the dense, nutty flavor of whole wheat, you can use all unbleached white flour.
Whole Wheat Pizza Crust Recipe
Adapted from a Hodgson Mill recipe

1 package active dry yeast (I use rapid rise/instant in the jar which ends up being 1/4 tsp.)

1 cup warm (not hot) water

1 ½ cup whole wheat flour

1 ½ cup unbleached white flour

2 tsp. granulated sugar

½ tsp. salt

2 tbsp. olive oil

Put water in a large bowl and sprinkle the yeast over it.  Allow to rest for 5 minutes.  Stir in whole wheat flour, sugar, salt, olive oil and 1 cup of the unbleached flour.  Knead in remaining unbleached flour by hand and continue to knead for about 5 minutes (the dough will be smooth and elastic).

Coat the bowl with oil, place dough in the bowl and turn to coat thoroughly.  Cover the bowl with a towel and set it in a warm place and allow to rise for 15 minutes.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees while you’re waiting.

Lightly coat a large pizza pan (or two small) with olive oil.  Stretch pizza crust (I press it from the center outward) to fit pan and flute outer edges of dough to hold fillings.  Brush on some olive oil, then put on your sauce & toppings.  Bake until cheese is melted, about ten minutes.  Slice it up and serve it hot!

Stir-fry with Tofu and Veggies

1 diced onion

1 container organic firm or extra-firm tofu

1 bag frozen stir-fry veggies

1 tbsp. cooking oil (I use sunflower or coconut and sesame)

soy sauce to taste

1 tsp. fresh grated ginger (optional)

sprinkle of coconut (optional)

spices (cumin, curry, garlic powder, pepper, salt...basically whatever you think tastes good)

Heat oil in large skillet or wok.  Press water out of tofu and slice into strips.  Brown tofu in skillet.  While it's browning, add spices to taste.  Once tofu is seasoned and browned, add frozen veggies, ginger, and soy sauce.  Add more spices if needed.  Cook until veggies are tender, but not mushy.  Sprinkle coconut over top.  Serve over rice.

This Week's Meals (Nov. 13-20)

Sunday- White Cheddar Chicken Pasta (I switched things up a bit by using turkey breast that I had cut off a whole turkey I bought in my big monthly shopping trip and regular sharp cheddar cheese because I couldn't find white cheddar.  The cheese sauce made a lot and was actually pretty easy to prepare and turned out delicious!)
Monday- tortellini with spinach and cheese sauce
(used frozen spinach added to pasta while cooking and leftover cheese sauce from Sunday's meal)
Tuesday-Sundried Tomato, Spinach, and Basil Frittata (My husband loved this!) 
Wednesday- church
Thursday- Stir fry with Tofu and Veggies
Friday- Homemade Pizza

Saturday- Slow Cooker Cilantro-Lime Chicken (Once again, I'm substituting turkey because that's what I have! I also plan to use my own spices rather than taco seasoning- cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper)

Taking the plunge...minimizing my paper usage

For awhile I got funny looks from guests when my husband asked where the napkins were and I replied "we don't have any" and then when asked about paper towels, "we don't have those either".  I sort of played it off as forgetfulness at first but I guess secretly I wanted to find out if we could live without paper towels or napkins.  Sometimes I get a little kick out of seeing what things I can live without.  I know, I'm a little weird. 
Eventually I admitted that I wanted to quit buying those items and reduce the amount of waste we throw away and not spend money on something that would be dirtied up and thrown away.  I had a few cloth napkins so I started pulling those out for use with guests and when my husband and kids asked for them.  I think my mother-in-law felt sorry for me and brought over a bunch of really pretty cloth napkins for every season that she had made and quit using.  Now it's a pleasure to set my table with beautiful fall colored napkins complete with leaves, gourds, and pumpkins.  As for paper towels, it's all the same to wipe up messes with a dish towel although I do find myself having to wash them a lot more often.  But all in all, I haven't really missed paper towels or napkins. 
Now for the more sensitive paper issues...the ones less talked about.  Baby diapers, toilet paper, and dare I say it...feminine hygiene items. 
I bought a bunch of really nice, organic cloth, adjustable cloth baby diapers when my oldest daughter was born.  She was too little for them at first and later I did use them some, except for when they wouldn't fit in her cute little outfits.  Then she started daycare and I couldn't use them there, so I kinda got out of the habit.   When my youngest came along the busyness of having two and not having as much time off work with her kept me from using them a lot.  But, after potty training and still needing something for night time, I pulled out the cloth diapers and started using them again.  They're so easy, I don't know why I didn't use them more.  I have a water proof bag I throw them in and then when it gets full, I dump the bag inside out in my washing machine and throw the bag in for washing.  I sometimes wash them with towels (since we're dirtying up more of those now.)  You have to be careful what type of detergent you use because chlorine will break down the diapers, but my awesome natural, concentrated MelaPower detergent works amazingly well with them. 
Don't worry, we still use toilet paper and not the Sears catalog.  I feel old just saying that.  But, I started looking for recycled and chlorine free toilet paper.  Scott's Natural was a good option, but for value sake I started using Walgreen's Real Soft brand because you can get 12 rolls for $5 and it's whitened without chlorine although I don't think it's recycled. 
Now, for the big one.  Feminine hygiene.  Two months ago I switched from tampons and pads to a reusable Moon Cup made by GladRags.  I wish I had've known about these years ago.  It's amazing!  No more waste, hastle of running to the store because it's that time of the month, or icky down there feelings.  It's even safe for nighttime use.  I found it on http://www.amazon.com/ and read lots of reviews before deciding on mine.  I had thought about getting reusable, washable pads but you really don't need them.  I think my next purchase will be washable pantiliners. 

So really, the plunge wasn't so bad and I'm pretty proud of myself for becoming a little less wasteful and a little more self-sufficient. 

This week's meals (Nov. 6-12)

My inspiration for this weeks meals?  A Prevention magazine (Nov. 2011) that my husband picked up for me at Walmart along with a Whole Foods menu planner from http://www.onceamonthmom.com/.  These things allowed me to plan out 15 meals to cover the whole month of November.  I was able to plan ahead, find deals, and use coupons.  Plus I know exactly what I'll be cooking, so no excuses for eating out! :)
Sunday- Pasta and Cheese Layer Bake
               What you need:
                jar tomato sauce (or make your own)
                box of rotini pasta
                cottage cheese
                1 cup parmesan cheese
                1/2 cup mozarella cheese
                2 cloves garlic chopped (or 2 small spoonfuls of minced garlic)

                dried basil (about 2 tsp.)

               Cook rotini pasta.  Meanwhile mix  a cup of cottage cheese with about a 1/2 cup of parmesan 

               cheese, dried basil, and 2 cloves garlic.  Cover the bottom of a medium casserole dish

               with tomato sauce, then add a layer of pasta, layer of cottage cheese mixture, and then start over  
               ending with tomato sauce.  Top it off with mozarella and parmesan cheese.  Cover with aluminum

               foil and bake at 350  for about 30 minutes.  Remove foil and bake an additional 10-15 min.

Monday- mother-in-law cooked :)

Tuesday- Turkey, Sweet Potato, and Cranberry Stew

Wednesday- youth night

Thursday- leftover Crockpot Chili

Friday-Pumpkin Black Bean Tamale Pie

Saturday- Butternut Squash Soup

Preserving Tomatoes

Granddaddy Jerry had an abundance of late tomatoes this year so I decided to do some preserving.  I canned about 4 quarts of tomatoes, froze another 4, and made 3 pints of green and red tomato relish, and another 3 pints of salsa.  For those of you who have never canned, it's not difficult, but can be a little time consuming.  It helps to have an extra set of hands and I had my mother-in-law to help me with my first batch.  I didn't have any fancy canning equipment and ended up water bathing the jars in my large stock pot with a steamer basket on the bottom to keep them from touching the bottom of the pot.  It helps to have something to remove the jars from the boiling hot water and I improvised with some salad tongs. 
Canning Tomatoes
1.  get water boiling in a large pot
2.  fill your sink with ice water
3.  dunk a few tomatoes at a time in the boiling water for a few seconds
4.  transfer the hot tomatoes to the ice water
5.  peel off the skin and core and quarter tomatoes
6.  place them in another pot to cook
7.  wash and boil jars
8.  heat new lids in a small sauce pan
9.  put boiling hot tomatoes in clean jars
10.  quickly place on lid and ring
11.  some may seal on their own as you will hear a "pop" and not be able to press down the top of the lid, but it's safest to put the jars of tomatoes in a hot water bath (boiling water) for 15 min. to insure a good seal

For the salsa and relish I did the same thing except followed a recipe that included other ingredients. 
Green and Red Tomato Relish
1/2 dish pan peeled tomatoes (I only peeled the red ones and used about half red, half green)
2 onions
2 cayenne peppers
2 jalapeno peppers

3 cloves garlic

bunch of cliantro

2 bell peppers

1/8 cup salt

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cup vinegar

ball of pickling spices (I tied up some in a bag made of cheese cloth)

cook until thick

Salsa
1/2 dish pan peeled red tomatoes

2 onions

2 cayenne peppers
2 jalapeno peppers
3 cloves garlic
bunch of cilantro
2 bell peppers
1/8 cup salt
1/2 cup vinegar

 cook until thick

Freezing tomatoes is much simpler as you simply peel the tomatoes using the flash boil method above and then core, quarter, and place in freezer quart bags.  I let them cool, label them, and place in freezer.  Both frozen and canned tomatoes are excellent for spaghetti sauce, chili, and soup but there's nothing quite like popping open a jar of canned tomatoes.