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?

7 comments:

  1. 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

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  2. I love making my own sauces/soups. I have a great recipe for pesto if you ever want it!

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  3. It'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.

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  4. Looks 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!

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  5. Oh, 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 :)

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  6. I need to learn how to cook stat! Jealous of your skills and recipes from Mom!

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  7. By 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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Every comment makes me smile, so keep 'em coming!

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