Recipe: Fresh Homemade Tomato Sauce

Now that I am a stay-at-home mom, I have made a commitment to myself and my family to remove some of the processed and convenience foods we eat. Most of our meals are homemade, but I wanted to make them with healthier ingredients. Getting a picky family on board can be a challenge in itself, so I wanted to get them as excited for eating it as I was preparing it. I have already gotten Brandon to eat homemade chicken nuggets (I make a huge batch and freeze) and "real" mac and cheese (elbows and grated cheddar jack cheese). He now asks for these instead of the pre-made kind. 

I always had dreams of having my own garden and growing the fruits and veggies my family enjoyed. I wanted to grow tomatoes and can them for the long winter months. Someday, I may be able to do that, but in an apartment setting, it's pretty difficult. So for now, I will have to settle for fruits and veggies from my local farmers market. 

Italians love their pasta and gravy and my family is no exception. At least one meal a week, usually Sunday, consists of pasta and gravy, yes, it's gravy. With tummy troubles in the family, I was inspired to make this meal lighter so we could all enjoy it and not feel awful after. 

My husband and son loved it! I paired it with some veggie pasta. It was boxed pasta, but one step at a time. Lol.

What You'll Need:

Extra virgin olive oil

3-4 garlic cloves

1 small onion

3 beef steak tomatoes

5-6 basil leaves

Salt and pepper

Oregano

Sauté garlic in extra virgin olive oil until fragrant

Add chopped onion and sauté until onions are soft

Grate tomatoes

I grate them until it becomes too difficult and I chop the rest.

Add spices and basil leaves. Simmer.

Add to your favorite pasta. 

I use veggie pasta to sneak in a few extra servings of veggies. 

Shhhh...

Throwback Thursday - June 12, 2014

Dad's 57th birthday dinner at Benihana

Although this picture isn't too much of a throwback, it only dates back to October 2013, it has become a picture that I hold very close to my heart.

Dad discovered Benihana many many years ago when he was working in Detroit, Michigan. Every year for his birthday, the only thing he wanted was to have dinner at Benihana and we all looked forward to it every year; the food was good and we had a great time together. And each year we took another family photo. We would joke how each year the family grew and soon, we would take up more than one table.

This is the last family photo we ever took. And ironically, we came to realize that it is the only photo of our entire family; all 4 grandsons included. In this photo, my sister-in-law was pregnant with their second child, and this was taken 2 weeks before we found out we were pregnant with our second. So, it is the only photo we will ever have of the entire family.

Looking at these pictures is sometimes hard. We were all so happy, we were all together. We were all smiling. But I am happy that we were able to capture these memories to look back on and remember the wonderful times that we have had and how wonderful of a man my dad was.

I miss him every minute of every day, but I know that he will always be here to watch over us, protect us and guide us, just like he always did. In like, he did everything he did for us and I know he will do that in death as well.