Homemade Easter Treats

It's been a few days since my last post, but oh my, it's amazing how busy the past week has been!  The week before Easter is always a busy time for us, but it's also always very special and meaningful...lots of wonderful church services and family time. 

It was so fun to put together Liam's first Easter basket.  I found many reasons not to do it this year (he won't know if I don't, he doesn't really need anything, I shouldn't spend any money, blah blah blah) but I couldn't resist.  It really was fun, and I was able to do it very inexpensively.  I found a couple of great online tutorials, which I used to make a couple cute little toys which cost (together) less than $5 to make.  Then Rob picked out Liam's first Hot Wheels car (a Dolorean, of course!), I added a cute pair of baby sunglasses, a sippy cup to try out in a couple months, an illustrated Bible, and a little duckie to a basket I got half-price at JoAnn Fabrics.  Here's the links to the homemade toys:
Crinkle-bots

Amish Puzzle Ball

And of course, here's our handsome man with his basket and goodies, and also with mommy and daddy:

Hope you all had a blessed Easter! 

Homemade Marinara Sauce

One way to easily cut grocery costs is to make more things homemade.  I realize many people are much busier than I am, but I promise that any recipe I share on this blog is: a) easy, b) cost-effective, and c) worth whatever time it takes.  This is now one of my favorite things to make homemade which I used to buy in the grocery store.  It's cheap (less than 5 bucks to make), tastes better than the jarred kind, and is very versatile.  Also, it makes a lot (around 10 cups, give or take)...which makes it even more cost-effective.  I set aside some to use right away and freeze the rest in 1 or 2 cup portions.

Homemade Marinara Sauce  (adapted from an old Cooking Light magazine)

3 Tablespoons olive oil
2-3 medium yellow onions, chopped
1 Tablespoon sugar
3 Tablespoons minced garlic (I usually use 5-6 cloves, or 1 1/2 Tablespoons garlic powder)
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons basil
1 1/2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 cups chicken broth or equivalent amount of hot water/bouillon
3 28-oz cans crushed tomatoes

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add onion, cook 4 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add sugar and herbs, cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Stir in vinegar and cook 30 seconds.  Add broth and tomatoes, bring to a simmer.  Cook over low heat for 55 minutes (you should only see a couple bubbles rising to the top every couple seconds) or until sauce thickens, stirring occasionally.  If freezing, let cool completely before ladling into plastic bags or freezer containers.


And that's it!  About 10 minutes of hands-on time, and from what I've seen a 28-oz jar of pasta sauce is at least $1.50, usually more.  The most expensive ingredient here is the tomatoes (a dollar a can where I shop) and so for a little over 3 bucks you can make over 2 times as much sauce as you'd buy in a jar.  I use this for everything-pasta sauce, pizza sauce (can be thickened with a little tomato paste), meat sauce (just add browned meat), dipping sauce for breadsticks, etc.  You can adjust the seasonings to fit your taste, of course, and you could add more veggies or meat.  The original recipe also included fennel seed, which is not really my thing. 

Enjoy!