Sunday, July 10, 2011
Local Groceries & Homemade Sauce
In our quest for fresh and local eats, the boyfriend and I went to check out Kimberton Whole Foods on Thursday. This was not one of the huge chain Whole Foods stores, it was a tiny grocery store where the cashier said "yeah, I didn't recognize you guys" when we told her it was our first trip. The store had a variety of local produce, bulk grain and granola bins, various organic foods, a beauty and health section, and a little cafe. We spent a good bit of time wandering around the store checking out all it had to offer.
We left with avocados, green peppers, onions, mushrooms, peaches, a giant bag of spinach, a package of chicken, pasta, some Chobani, granola bars, and some french vanilla granola from a bulk bin. It felt good to support a small local business and the local farmers.
Later that night we put on some tunes and Dave cleaned the house while I whipped up my first homemade tomato sauce. It was a total "you know I how know we're old" kinda night! I was planning to make some chicken parm for our Friday night dinner guests, Sarah and Chris, and I decided that some jar of store bought sauce just wasn't going to cut it. I asked my mom for her recipe and I now know where I get my lack of recipe details from.
I put in about 1/3 of an onion. And I may or may not have forgot my 3rd can of tomato paste when I went grocery shopping. To adjust for my absent mindedness, I only put in 2 cans of water and only used half of the third can of crushed tomatoes. I used the spices in the recipe and also added some additional spices that I found in the counter like Italian Seasoning, a Garden Blend Mix, and Onion Powder. I have no idea how much of each spice I put in because I kept adding a little at at time, tasting it, making Dave taste it, and then adding a swirl of something else. You can always put more in, but you can't take it out!
The sauce came out great! And I made a lot of it, I had plenty for our dinner, some for the freezer, and some to use this week. I will definitely be making this again!
Have you ever made homemade sauce? What's your fave pasta sauce?
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I guess I've been "old" for 3 years now...hahaha. Peter and I make homemade sauce all the time. Instead of using sauce from a can, we use roma tomatoes from our garden and puree them. We also add a little grated cheese to the mix. We've also made vodka sauce. If you want, I would be happy to give you our recipe. It's his Aunt Roz's with our little twist on it. -Kimber
ReplyDeleteI love making my own sauces/soups. I have a great recipe for pesto if you ever want it!
ReplyDeleteIt's becoming more and more obvious how much I need a food processor haha. Yes to both of you... I love vodka sauce and pesto! I may never buy Prego again haha.
ReplyDeleteLooks great :) Jenn made homemade pesto with basil I got from a garden I'm helping at this Summer in Pottstown (where the kids I'm watching go to school) and it's AMAZING. Check out our blog for the recipe!
ReplyDeleteOh, and Tupperware's Quick Chef is a great tool for chopping fast (and getting a little workout, without using energy you have to pay for). See http://order.tupperware.com/pls/htprod_www/tup_show_item.show_item_detail?fv_item_category_code=10004&fv_item_number=P10051365000 - I love it :)
ReplyDeleteI need to learn how to cook stat! Jealous of your skills and recipes from Mom!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I find that adding either a little lemon zest or juice really helps brighten up a sauce. Try it! Yummmmmyy....-Kimber
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