Today was a nice slow day. I rested and washed up some dishes and tidied up the house a bit. I like days like this. It is soothing and just feels gentle and calm. I spent some time working on the scarf I am knitting for myself. Each day I think it is cold outside, and the next day is even colder! There are a few warm days sprinkled in but it is persistently cold and to deny winter is on it's way is only being foolish. I decided I needed to put aside a few projects for others and work on my scarf so I am also warm :) I look forward to using it when it is finished.
When it was dinner time I sauteed some onions and minced garlic and made a meat free sauce for spaghetti. I have been trying to cook several meat free meals each week. Slowly I am adding recipes to do this. In time I will have a good variety and would like to eat less meats. Meats are becoming even more expensive and I would like to eat from our garden next year as much as possible and reduce the amount I am going to the supermarket. We live in a rural area and it costs not only in gas, but wear and tear on our vehicles to drive back and forth all the time. In past months I have greatly reduced the amount that I go to town and have enjoyed this. I like being home and enjoy doing things here. I do enjoy gathering with my friends for quilting and an occasional breakfast, but I feel tired and disconnected from what I would like to be doing at home when I go too much. In short, I am a home body :)
I am really looking forward to a productive garden so I am able to can my own sauce instead of using store bought. I remember my mom using sauce that she canned from the garden when I was little. I hope I am not being too optimistic. My dh asked if I was aware how many tomatoes sauce used? Hmmm, this is a good question to think about. He wants to make sure if I am planning on making our own sauce, enough for all of next year, that I plant plan for enough tomatoes. I need to do some research I believe! :) Either way, it is goals like this that make me excited to have a productive garden. :)
I am really looking forward to a productive garden so I am able to can my own sauce instead of using store bought. I remember my mom using sauce that she canned from the garden when I was little. I hope I am not being too optimistic. My dh asked if I was aware how many tomatoes sauce used? Hmmm, this is a good question to think about. He wants to make sure if I am planning on making our own sauce, enough for all of next year, that I plant plan for enough tomatoes. I need to do some research I believe! :) Either way, it is goals like this that make me excited to have a productive garden. :)
5 comments:
Don't you hate it when you write a nice long comment and then something happens and poof its gone. I am sure it was my fault. Oh well, I;ll try again.
How nice to enjoy a quiet day! I am a homebody, too, and I love just puttering around the house working on this and that. That scarf is going to be lovely! Variegated yarn has such a fancy effect!
As to the sauce I think this is a wonderful DIY/Gardening goal. All the nicer because you can remember it from your mother! I like stuff like that. Of course, I am also biased because making all my own tomato sauce was a goal of mine as well. We've made it for the last three years, but this year was the first where we didn't run out before the tomatoes were ready in the garden again. I was over the moon happy about it. Its hard to say how many you should plant as there are so many variables such as how often you need tomato sauce and how many are at your table, but if I could make one suggestion it would be to plant some Paste tomatoes for sauce. They are so much firmer and have less water content and since you boil off most of the water when cook it down into sauce it saves lots of time. We grow a local variety just called Earliest Paste which we got from the Fisher Seed Store in Belgrade, MT. I know others who like Amish Paste, but I never got my seeds for that one in the ground this year. Do keep us posted!
Have a great day!
Thank you so very much for your suggestions. I will look for paste seeds this winter for spring. Congratulations on your sauce accomplishment that is such a joy to achieve something so important to us! Thank you for your comment, sorry you had to write it twice but to me it was worth it :)
I have been trying to eat less meat too. It has become way too expensive. Last week we purchased a whole cut up goat from our local butcher. They roam wild here and are considered a pest, but still the price was expensive, way more than I thought we would pay! I think we will be looking to source them another way other than the butchers next time. It is very nice meat though...
I hope that when our veggies are ready to pick, I can come up with some lovely recipes from the garden. I already make stir fry using some of our veggies and tofu instead of chicken. Hopefully our tomatoes will produce well this year so I can have a go at making sauces etc...
x
I hesitate to make this comment for fear of looking like a self-promoter...but I will because I hope it might be helpful to you and Tania. Please know self-promotion is not my goal... I just want to help others as they start to enjoy meatless meals.
If you're looking for tasty, satisfying meals I have a list of recipes on my blog which are all meatless which you might enjoy. For the most part they are all pretty "normal" meals which are agreeable to meat-eaters...you know, not wheatgrass and raw almond pate or something crazy like that.
So, take it or leave it as you will, but here is the list: http://bld-in-mt.blogspot.com/p/recipe-links.html
I hope it helps. Have a great day!
BLD in MT you do not sounds like a self promoter, you come across as helpful and I appreciate your offering of recipe idea's. It is often times hard to find delicious meat free recipe's when you are accustomed to eating meat. Thank you for sharing with us all. :)
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