Tomato-based pasta sauces...

A jar of spaghetti sauce typically runs $2 to $10, and they are loaded with unnecessary sodium and sugar and other additives! The equivalent amount of canned tomatoes is often under $1.  Suggestion: Make your own sauces from canned crushed tomatoes or fresh tomatoes — particularly in the summer, when they are plentiful, tasty, and cheap. Last summer our tomato plant didn’t give us an abundant amount, but wow, people at work were bringing in bags and bags from their gardens and I was the tomato whore!  Bob took those tomatoes and made tons of sauce that we froze for future use!  The easiest method is to put crushed tomatoes (canned or fresh) into a skillet, your favorite herbs, and if you want you can add whatever chopped vegetables you like in your sauce — peppers, onions, mushrooms, even carrots — and let simmer for an hour.  We keep ours pretty simple with garlic, basil and of course tomatoes!  We can always add more to it, depending on what we are using the sauce for, you can always adjust the flavors before serving. 

TRY: Spraying a cooking sheet with olive oil, cut up some tomatoes, give them a quick spritz of olive oil and roast for 20 to 30 minutes at 425˚F before making your sauce, it will give the sauce a nice roasted flavor! Delicioso!

Until Monday - keep thinking veggies and protein!