The Sauce That Changed My Life

I have a confession to make. Up until about 4 months ago, I had never made my own spaghetti sauce. It's true. Me and Prego go way back. For some reason I had always thought that good spaghetti sauce meant a lot of chopping, dicing and simmering a bunch of ingredients that I would have to go out and specifically buy. Plus, in my book, spaghetti dinner is an easy "go to" dinner. You know, the kind that takes about 10 minutes preparation, because you are too lazy or too late to make anything else.

That all changed when I came across this recipe from a recently purchased cookbook called "Basic Italian Tomato Sauce." It had a total of 4 ingredients, all of which I always have on hand and it consisted of a total of 2 steps.

I gave it a try and I will tell you right now, me and Prego are no longer an item. We have broken up for good and I will never go back.

Really, it is that good and that easy to make. And while it simmers, your house will smell like you are cooking something that took hours to make. So here is the recipe if you would like to make your break from Mr. Prego. He's a phony.

Basic Italian Tomato Sauce

1 1/2 T. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/8 t. crushed red pepper flakes
1 28oz. can tomatoes, pulsed in a blender
1/2 t. coarse salt
1 sprig of fresh basil (optional) I have never used this yet
1 T. unsalted butter (optional)


1.Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat. Swirl around the olive oil to coat the pan. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Stir constantly for 30 seconds, just long enough to release the garlic's fragrance and transform it slightly from its raw state. Don't cook it to golden.

2.Raise the heat to high and stir in the tomatoes and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. In the last 5 minutes of cooking add the basil sprig, if using. Remove the basil before serving and swirl in the butter, if using.

OK now there has to be a downside right? Let me tell you the only thing. It definitely needs to simmer, just so it isn't runny.

That's it. Now go try it. I promise it's a keeper.

Hawaii in 5 collages

Last April I went on a Hawaiian cruise with my mother-in-law and 5 sister-in-laws. While we were there we went to the Polynesian cultural Center. It was such a great place! The thought occurred to me while I was there, that I would love to go back and take my boys. I didn't really think we would be there so soon.

Fast forward 5 months, back in September. My friend found some amazingly cheap airline tickets to Hawaii. Never seen before cheap. After talking about it, Scott and I decided that if we are going to take them, now would be the time.

Here are the highlights.




+Sand races. I found this great little house right on the beach. Lots of sand and very few waves. It was perfect.

And yes, I do feed Taylor. I just don't know where it goes. In fact, during this trip, he ordered a medium pizza and ate every single piece, save one. He even grabbed some of his brother's fries while he was at it.





+A trip to the temple and the Polynesian Center. And I was right. They absolutely loved it.

Here they are sporting some tattoos.





+Viewing wildlife. We saw a giant turtle and 2 monk seals sunning themselves on the beach. We also went down to Hanauma Bay and snorkeled. Both Taylor and Bennett thought it was great. Owen had fun snorkeling on the shoreline and digging deep holes in the sand.




+Have I mentioned the sand? They spent hours building sandcastles outside our rental. In the evenings the tide would come all the way to the steps that lead up to the house. They were trying to build some kind of fort that would last through the night.
In fact a few of the boys ended up with chafing in undesirable places from being wet and sandy for days in a row. I'm positive we will find sand in our house for weeks.






+Swimming with sharks. Here is the only picture I took of Taylor and Scott in a cage with sharks swimming around them. I spent the time trying desperately not to throw up in the boat. My motions sickness kicked in big time.

+Eating pupu. My boys love talking, laughing and joking about bodily functions. Every last one of them. In fact it seems like they talk about that more than anything else. We thought it was appropriate for our last meal to have the name "pu" in it. They thought that was hilarious. The food was great too!

I have heard from a mom of 6 boys that poo jokes and such tend to peak at 12 years of age. I hope so.

+Now this was the highlight of the trip. Owen is my energetic child. He never wears down. Never. But we did it! After 5 days of running in the water he fell asleep waiting for dinner.

The boys were asking when we can go back before we even got home. I told them that if they could find airline prices for what I paid, we will go back.

My Pantry

Although I usually keep my pantry fairly orgainzed I have been wanting to add some upgrades for quite some time. I have been working on it this past month and now it is finished.

Here is one before picture I happened to snap with my iphone. I stopped bringing cans up from the basement when I decided I was going to work on the space.



And a picture while I was working on it. I thought a lot about where I wanted stuff, measured and then put sticky notes to mark what was going where.





My pantry has 2 different shelf depths. One side is 15 inches and the other is 23 inches. The deeper one has been difficult to fill clear to the back with "stuff." Cans tend to fall over or you just end up not using the entire depth. I don't like wasting space.

The corners have also been a problem. Nothing ever fits in them and you wind up not using them well.

And the finished product.





I have been eyeing these can rotators for about a year and I finally bit the bullet and bought them. A local guy makes them and the good news is that the 2 sizes he makes are the same depths as both my shelves. They are not pretty, but they get the job done. I am very happy with them!

I found some 15" lazy susans at IKEA to store my vinegars, oils etc. (top, left)





Rectangular baskets to store chips, pasta etc. that are as deep as my 23" shelves.

I also had my handy, dandy husband make me some very large lazy susans to put in the corners. I love them! They are perfect.

Plus he added some extra support in the corner so I can load them up without worrying about the shelves sagging.






The shelf right above the top basket I left empty. Well in the picture it shows it full of stuff, but that stuff is only there temporarily. That space is designated for cereal and anything else that needs a home.

I am very please with how it turned out and how much food I can fit in this space!

Here's to organizing!

Football at our House

The tickets for the upcoming game. Row and seat assignments included.


The ticket table with the ticket takers.


A sign above the door indicating the right portal.


Arrows to guide you to your seat.


All seats are numbered.


Michelle and Barrett sitting in their correct seat.


Everybody in their seat waiting for the game to begin. Cushions, pillows and pipes have been placed in front of the spectators for their protection.


Even Mr. Bear gets his own seat.


Let the game begin!

Since when is a Light Saber considered an office supply?

You know, things like this no longer surprise me one bit. In fact, it seems perfectly normal to have a light saber right next to my rubber bands.