I’ve noticed that lot’s of visitors arrive at this post via Google Search. If you like what you see here, please leave me a comment so I know it was helpful.
This week’s post will earn you the “Homemaker of the Year” award from your family!
Last week, a good friend offered me some heirloom tomatoes from her grandfather’s garden. I came home with a 1/2 bushel of juicy, ripe tomatoes. What to do with all these garden goodies? Make spaghetti sauce of course! I’m going to share my “recipe” for sauce, and some tips you’ll need along the way. (tips are in red, in case you’re skimming)
Warning: You may not want to make this, because I guarantee you will never enjoy commercial tomato sauce as much, ever!
1. First, peel the tomatoes. Have you ever tried to peel tomatoes? Yeah, me too. So here’s what you do:
- Boil some water in a large pot, like a dutch oven or a soup pot.
- Put the tomatoes in and blanch for about 3 minutes, or until you see little splits in the skin.
- Take them out with a slotted spoon, and put in a colander in the sink.
- Rinse with cool water, and let sit till they’re cool enough to handle
- Peel away! The skins should come right off.
2. Chop the peeled tomatoes, put them into the large pot, and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat, simmer for about 30 minutes, until the tomatoes are liquid-ish. You may have to mash them a little with a potato-masher.
4. Add all other ingredients. I am not a precise measurer when I cook, especially Italian food. So you may have to experiment a little to get the taste you want. If you want exact amounts, look up a recipe in a cook book, but here’s mine:
- This is for about 1/2 bushel of tomatoes
- 4-5 cans of tomato paste, depending on the thickness you like
- 1 onion, lightly sauted
- 3 green peppers, lightly sauted
- lots of garlic (the jars of oil-packed garlic is fine if you don’t want to chop it. I hate chopping garlic!)
- Italian seasonings to taste (oregano, basil, thyme, etc)
- about 1/2 cup sugar
- salt and pepper
Here’s a tip for getting all the tomato paste out of the can: open both sides of the can with a regular can opener, then push one lid through to the other side. The lid scrapes the sides as you go! This also works for cream soup and cranberry jelly.
5. Let simmer for another 30-45 minutes, until the flavors combine well. Keep tasting, you’ll know!
6. Can the sauce in a water bath or pressure cooker. Don’t have a canner? Freeze it in plastic containers or bags. When you’re canning, if you need a wide-mouthed funnel, cut the top off of a milk jug or juice bottle.
Enjoy! You will not regret the extra time it takes to make this sauce!
Are organic or vine tomatoes too expensive in your store? Check out your local farmers market or produce stand. Many times, they will give you a discount if you buy a 1/2 or whole bushel. I watch my local produce stand for when they are about to go bad, and then ask if I can have the whole box at a discount.
If you read my post last week on Harris Teeter and the Grocery Game, I must brag tell you that today, I got $172.57 worth of groceries for $83.81
Ooooo – this one is worthy of the print button : ) Thanks for sharing!
I’m going to print this out, too! I’m planning on learning how to can next year, and I’d love to try this!
Great tip on the tomato paste, too. Simple, yet I never thought of getting it out that way!
A recipe I use adds 3-4 carrots for more bulk and nutrition. The kids never know and you really can’t taste the carrots at all. Thank you for the great recipe. You have a great day!
Before kids I used to only make homemade spaghetti sauce and we never used the jarred stuff. Now that’s all we use because I never have time to make it from scratch anymore and the few times I’ve tried, nobody would eat it. Sigh…
Thanks for sharing you recipe! 🙂
Go you on the big grocery savings!!
I like your style, Kathleen! Sneak those veggies in!
Mmmmm…I make my own sauce, but with canned tomato sauce. I’ll have to give this a try.
Very nice web site…I love Christian
influence…it’s MY kind of web.
Thanks…..cjatkins
[…] You might also enjoy: Homemade Tomato Sauce […]
[…] Safe Side Children’s Video Organizing Toys Homemade Tomato Sauce + A Few Tips Harris Teeter and The Grocery Game The Nightly […]
[…] Organizing Toys […]
[…] a Spending Communication PolicyReal Life Cleaning Tips (humor)The Safe Side Children’s VideoOrganizing ToysHomemade Tomato Sauce + A Few TipsHarris Teeter and The Grocery GameThe Nightly Routine Follow […]
[…] Organizing Toys […]
[…] You might also enjoy: Homemade Tomato Sauce […]
[…] Organizing Toys […]
[…] other WFMW posts:Organizing ToysHomemade Tomato SauceSave Half on GroceriesNightly Routine Follow RealLifeSarah on […]
[…] October, 2007 Picking Up the Pieces What Really Matters What I Learned From My Toddler Reclaiming Autumn How is Carving a Pumpkin Like Being a Christian (The most popular post of all time!) Pumpkin Maple Pie with Fresh Pumpkin September, 2007 Mothers and Daughters Blog Carnival A Mother, Found and Filled Works For Me – Harris Teeter and the Grocery Game She Chose Life Works For Me – Homemade Tomato Sauce […]
[…] try my Homemade Tomato Sauce with fresh […]
came upon your site by google search… very helpful. Hoping to try out this tomato sauce. Thank you!
PS- Love the reference to the Prov. 31 wife 🙂
[…] Got more tomatoes? Make and can homemade spaghetti sauce. […]
Never too old to learn something new. Adding the tomato paste is the answer to why my homemade tomato sauce was always TOO THIN. Love your ingredients combo. Got a big box of tomaoes waiting for me.
[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The poster sent us ‘0 which is not a hashcash value.
[…] my herb garden, fresh garlic, Italian sausage and mini-meatballs. You can also make and preserve my Homemade Tomato Sauce in late summer if you’d like – it is heavenly! I haven’t gotten my act together […]