Homemade Meaty Pasta Sauce Recipe

Hey there! I hope you all had fabulous weekends. We spent our weekend sweating….because it’s freaking 80 DEGREES IN OCTOBER!!! 😦 I’m not happy about this at all. But the weather was beautiful despite it being way too hot for this time of year.

I have a new recipe for you tonight! It’s a homemade pasta sauce recipe for the lazy gal that has no idea when it comes to making homemade sauces and such. I thought this was going to turn out terrible, but luckily I was wrong and it was awesome for my first homemade sauce!

This sauce can be used for plain ole spaghetti or something fancier like lasagna! I chose to do the latter with my big batch of sauce. IMG_5255

Nick enjoyed this extra meaty and cheesy lasagna without me because, let’s be honest, my lactose intolerance is only getting worse! But let’s get back to the star of this lasagna…the sauce!

Homemade Meaty Pasta Sauce Recipe

IMG_5239Ingredients:

  • Parsley flakes (1 TB)
  • Honey (1 TB)
  • Parmesan cheese (1/2 cup)
  • Minced onions (1/4 cup)
  • Garlic salt (1 TB)
  • Onion powder (1 tsp)
  • Oregano (3/4 TB)
  • 52 oz. Strained tomatoes (or diced, crushed, etc) – Use all the juice!
  • 2 lbs extra lean ground beef or turkey

What to do:

Start by browning the meat and straining off any extra excess fat.

IMG_5243Next, add in your tomatoes and mix well. Keep the heat on low.IMG_5245Special thanks to the people at Pomi who sent me some awesome tomatoes to try out!

IMG_5240 IMG_5241 IMG_5242Pomi is known for their strained tomatoes that come direct from Italy. Check them out! My favorite thing about this product? The only ingredient on the package is Tomatoes. That’s it! Nothing artificial or weird!

Next you are ready to add in all the seasonings! Now, if you have basil on hand, add some. But, I’m a real person that doesn’t keep a ton of fancy stuff in my pantry so I didn’t have any basil, and my sauce still turned out great with the ingredients I listed above.

IMG_5246 IMG_5248Give your sauce a taste to make sure your seasonings are perfect. Now cover it let it simmer on low for about 20 minutes (or less if you don’t have time!)

And viola! Your sauce is ready and beautiful and homemade and everything you ever wanted it to be… 🙂IMG_5249YUM! All sarcasm aside, I made my sauce a little too salty, so I had to add water and a little extra honey. Then I had to let mine simmer a little longer to compensate for the extra water. But it still turned out! This is why we need to add spices slowly and taste test as we go to make it just right.

How do you use homemade pasta sauce? For lasagna? Manicotti? Let me know in the comments!!

 

Disclaimer: Pomi sent me samples to try out their product. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Summer Ramblings

Hey peeps!! It’s me, Christine. I’m alive. I’ve returned from the land of Busy & Lazy. I hope you are all having a great summer! Mine is going well!

So in a nut shell, let me catch you up on what I’ve been up to…

1. It’s hot, so running sucks. But I’ve still been logging the miles. I’ve been running a bit slower with the heat/humidity, and I’m okay with it. I still made it to 152 miles for July, though! Woot!

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2. I ran a 10K in July! And I got 4th in my age division! Yay! It was the Girls Just Wanna Run 10K here in Springfield, and I ran it just for fun.

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3. I’ve taught a gazillion Jazzercise classes! And it’s been great! I’m thankful to workout in the air conditioning on the crazy hot summer days. 🙂 The team-taught Fourth of July class was the best!

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4. We’ve been to STL a few times! Once for a family reunion and once for a wedding. Trips to Nick’s parents house make me happy – and not just because of the pool. HA!

0000084505-IMG_4429 0000084505-IMG_4609 0000084505-IMG_4614There’s my family! Can you spot me? We be cute. 🙂

5. I decided to do the Whole30 to help with my digestive/tummy issues! I finished my 30 days on July 29th, and I’m feeling 100% better. It’s been a struggle, but somehow I can’t bring myself to go back to eating like I did before! If you aren’t familiar with the Whole30, go check out their website. It’s an amazing program, and I just purchased their book It Starts With Food. I can’t wait to read it!

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6. My sorority sister, Lindsay, is getting married! So we had a bridal shower for her last Saturday! And we are going to Vegas for the Bachelorette party on the 15th. Any tips/advice?! This will be my first Vegas experience.

0000084505-IMG_4650 0000084505-IMG_4664 0000084505-IMG_4676 0000084505-IMG_4652This cake was the first sugar that I’ve had since being done with my Whole30. The sugar high was insane, but I went back to the Whole30 diet the next day and have avoided any tummy problems!

7. I’ve been hanging with Nick and Mac a lot because I love those guys. When I’m not busy running/working/Jazzercising, you can find me at home with these two!

20140604-154806-56886896.jpg 0000084505-IMG_4396LOVE!

Anyways, that’s all I have for now. 🙂  My summer in a nutshell. I will definitely be back to share tales of my Whole30.

Have any of you ever completed the Whole30? If so, I would love to hear about it and your life after the Whole30! For me, I’m still in the honeymoon phase. I don’t hate eating clean yet, and I feel like I can be flexible with it since I’m past the 30 days. Like at that bridal shower last weekend? I totally didn’t even feel guilty eating that cake. And it was fantastic.

Hope you are having a great Wednesday!

Happy National Running Day!!

Hey there! It’s been a while… But I thought today was the perfect time to pop back in to talk about one of my favorite things: running!

If you haven’t already heard, it’s National Running Day!! And for this avid runner, it’s kinda fun to think of it as a ‘real’ holiday event though it’s not! So in celebration, I got up to do a nice 7-miler before work today.

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It was hot and I was grumpy the whole time. The temps only got down to 74 degrees over night, so I was completely exhausted and drenched in sweat when I arrived home. But I was thankful to have it done!

So my celebration of this holiday left me stinky, sweaty, and miserable… Why do I like running again?? I guess it’s hard to explain unless you’re a runner. But the runners high you get when you cross the finish line is unbelievable. Here’s a quick recap of my 6 big spring races this year.

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First up was the Frostbite half marathon in STL. My first half marathon! Rocked it and finished in 1:56. 🙂

Number 2 was the Little Rock Marathon. Crazy whirlwind of a weekend. But I finished despite all odds in 4:13.

Number 3 is the Go! STL marathon. A much better full marathon experience with a fun weekend at Nick’s parents house. Finished in 4:03. Woot!

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Number 4 was the Go Girl Springfield half marathon. Easy course around my own city with a 1:54 finish.

Number 5 was the Divas Half Marathon in Branson. Woah, those were some crazy hills!! Thought I might die but we made it. 1:59, slowest half marathon time but it was the toughest course by far.

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And last was the Go Girl Columbia half marathon. I haven’t done a recap on this race yet because, well, I have mixed emotions about it. I finished in 1:57. Not my best, not my worst. The course was tough and partially on gravel trails which I was not prepared for! I had a lot of negative thoughts about this race for a couple different reasons so I’ve been hesitant to do a big vent-fest on the blog about it. I think I need one more week to cool down, and then we can chat. :). Haha! Just know that everything really did go OK. Long story short, I think I’ve become a bit of a race diva after my short racing season this spring!

Along with all these big races, I also ran a 10k and a 15k – both local races. Just for fun!! For a girl that could barely do the 1-mile run in PE class in high school, I’m pretty darn proud of myself. Now I just have to figure out what to do with all the ginormous race medals laying around my bedroom. 🙂

Now what am I gonna do with my time this summer while I’m not training?! Well I’ll just keep running when I can. And I’ll focus on Jazzercise a bit more – we just got new routines!! Speaking of, one of my fav students hit 100 classes last night for 2014 so far!

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Aren’t we attractive after 2 hours of class?! Haha Lora’s an awesome student and I’m thankful to have her in my classes each evening.

And I’m also just going to relax and enjoy my summer with Nick and Mac. I’ve been a busy racing lady, so I’m ready for a little down time at home with my fav guys.

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Love love love! Side note – Mac went swimming over Memorial Day and didn’t like it much…. Haha!

Allrighty guys. I hope you’re enjoying your day. Get out there and celebrate the day with a run! Let my finisher picture from Colmbia Go Girl inspire you. 🙂

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