Posted in Around the House

Today is my heart's (mo chroi) birthday.  In celebration of the event, we are heading to the lake until Sunday, where there is no cell phone reception, no internet connection, and shaky-to-no television reception.  Truly a paradise on earth.  I will be back to my bloggy self on Monday next.  Have a lovely week's end!!

Photo title: "Happy Birthday, Gaff-Rigged Ketch."  Image courtesy of allposters.com.

Posted in Around the House

The following conversation took place between a mother, a father, and a 14 year old son upon the son being summoned twice before responding:

Dad:  Why didn't you answer your mother the first time she called you?

Son:  I'm sorry, I didn't hear her!

Dad:  Why, were you playing your video games or reading?

Son:  Both.

Mom:  Both?

Son:  Yeah, I was reading when it wasn't my turn on the video game.

Mom:  Your turn?  Son, you were the only one upstairs!

Son:  I know, but while it's the computer's turn, I read my book.

This is an actual story taken from a real-life experience of this author.  The people in this scenario were portrayed by the real-life participants in the previous conversation.  If you have, or will have, a 14 year old young man, be afraid.  Be very afraid.

Posted in Tightwad Tuesdays

Hello, Readers, and welcome back to Tightwad Tuesday with Canadagirl.  If you would like to join us with a tightwaddy tip, please do go visit our lovely hostess Mary to sign up.

My Tightwad Tip for today is a recipe (gasp!) that is sure to taste far superior to anything you could purchase pre-made, be much healthier for you, is extremely easy on your pocketbook, and is very therapeutic and relaxing to make.  Sounds like an ad for Mister-Uncle-Joe-Bob's-Magical-Elixir, now doesn't it?  Nope, nothing so fancy.  What we're going to be making today is homemade wheat bread.  Yum-yummmm!!

Homemade Bread is a true homemaking art form that shows a level of patience on the part of the homemaker, as well as perseverance to get it right, and love for her family.  Homemade bread is not something you just 'do,' it takes a little time to get comfortable with the process and acquire the knowledge of a few tips that work better than others.  The one consistent thing I've found from breadmaker to breadmaker is that there is no 'right' way, and there is no 'same' way of making bread.  I make it differently from my mother (a master breadmaker), who makes it differently from Robyn, who makes it differently from her mother, and so on and so forth.  I have been attempting to master the art of the basic loaf for quite some time now, and so you can imagine my complete shock and awe when my mom called me asking for the recipe of the bread that I had made and sent with my boys for sandwiches when they went with her one day.  She said she'd never seen wheat bread so moist and risen before, so asked Jigger for a piece to try it.  She loved it, and wanted to come over so that I could show her how to make it.  I have arrived as a breadmaker.  Ladies, it doesn't get any better than that.

So, in light of this wonderful bread recipe, I thought I would share my recipe with you.  I call it mine, even though I found the original recipe over at Alyssa's place sometime last year.  It was originally titled 'Wisteria's Everyday Bread,' but since I've tweaked it, we'll just call it Everyday Wheat Bread.  If you've never baked bread before, I have tried to walk you through this completely.  If you have, use your own method and have fun! 

Everyday Wheat Bread

3 teaspoons of yeast

2 cups warm water

3 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon salt

4 heaping teaspoons Vital Wheat Gluten

3 tablespoons melted butter

2 ½ - 3 ½ cups unbleached flour

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

Assemble your ingredients:

First, we're going to 'proof' our yeast.  (Disclaimer:  there are other terms for some of the things I'll be going over, but this is simply my vernacular based upon what I've been taught.)  Proofing the yeast is simply a test to see if your yeast is good or bad.  I use my KitchenAid mixer for the initial mixing of my bread, but I have done it by hand before.  There is really no difference in the output, it just depends on your preference. 

No matter, into whichever bowl you're using to mix your bread place your hottest tapwater.  This is going to pre-heat your bowl.  I find I get better results when I do this.  Let it sit for a couple of minutes (I do this before I assemble my ingredients, so while it's pre-heating I get everything out I need to, melt the butter, etc.).  After a couple of minutes, dump that water and replace it with the two cups of warm water.  Now, for those of you who have never made bread before, the water needs to be warm enough to activate the yeast, but not so warm as to kill it.  This means that the water should be a little uncomfortable to the touch.  Add your yeast to your two cups, and let it sit for 5-10 minutes.  I find in the summer that the whole process is sped up, so when I give you my time estimates, it's a safe bet the the shorter times are for summer and the longer for winter (at least in *my* experience).

Okay, how you know the proofing is working and the yeast is active is that after a few minutes your yeast will begin 'exploding' to the surface, thereby gathering up together and looking something like this:

Now you add the honey, gluten, salt, butter, 1½ cups whole wheat flour, ½ cup of the unbleached flour, and mix on low using the dough hook for 30 seconds, scraping constantly.  (It's important to note that flour should be scooped up by a common teaspoon and placed in the measuring cup, otherwise your flour is compacted and affects the outcome of any recipe.)  Turn the mixer up to medium-high for two full minutes, scraping occasionally.  Now your dough looks like this:

Add two cups of unbleached flour and stir by hand.

It will begin to pull away at the sides and become stiffer; this is all good.  It will look something like this:

Now you're going to turn it out onto your kneading surface.  I use a marble pastry board my dear mother gave me for my birthday this year.  Put ½ cup of flour on your board, and turn your dough out onto it.

Sprinkle some flour onto the top, rub some flour over your hands, and begin kneading your dough.

For you beginners, kneading is done by pushing/pulling the dough , and folding it in on itself repeatedly.  Don't be wimpy about it, put some muscle into it.  Ü  Consider this your workout for the morning.  While I'm kneading, I pray and have a nice chat with God; here's your therapy part.  It's so relaxing.

This will take anywhere from 5-10 minutes (not a seasonal time; it just takes what it takes).  You will find yourself lightly sprinkling your kneading surface and dough often with more flour; don't add too much, though.  Just use what is needed, and no more.

Your kneading will be done when your dough is smooth and elastic.

To rise, set it in a prepared bowl with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in it.  Rub the olive oil up the sides of the bowl, effectively coating the entire bowl.  Place your dough 'top' side down to coat with olive oil, and then flip it over.

Cover with a towel, and let rise. 

Here, at practically sea level, it takes anywhere from ½ an hour (summer) to an hour and a half (winter).  It is risen when it is at least double in size.  Your altitude does indeed affect everything, so pay attention to what works for you so that you can better improve and/or duplicate your results the next time.

As an aside here, I place a plate under my bowl because when my oven is not in use I let my dough rise on the back burner of my stove top.  I learned the hard way that sometimes your dough forces the oil out of the bowl and onto the burner, thereby creating a lovely smoke-and-smell mess when you use that burner for the first time.

Okay.  Now you are going to punch your dough down.

You will do this a few times.

Turn your dough out onto your clean kneading surface (because your dough is oiled, it is not necessary to sprinkle more flour on said surface).

Cut your dough in half.

Roll each half into a loaf shape, making sure to seal the seams you acquire, and place each half into a pre-greased pan.  I don't personally use a rolling pin for this step; I simply use my hands.  Cover with a towel and set to rise for the second and final time.

This will take anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour and a half.  When your dough has at least doubled in size, preheat your oven to 365 degrees.

Let bake for 30 minutes, then take your beautiful loaves out of the oven.

Remove them from their pans, set them on a rack (the one pictured here was made for me by my dad), and rub some butter straight from the fridge on top of them. 

You have now made homemade wheat bread, and if your clan can wait for the bread to cool a bit to make the slicing easier, go for it!  Mine sometimes can't, because my boys are all addicted to hot bread with butter fresh from the oven.  Enjoy your delicious bread, and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.  I will find you an answer if I don't know, even if I have to call my mom.  Ü

Posted in Anti-Procrastination Challenges

Today is the beginning of a new meme from the lovely Canadagirl, Mary.  This one is different from the others, however, in that it challenges and encourages you to tackle projects you'd rather pass with your eyes squeezed shut.  Today is our first Anti-Procrastination Challenge.  This challenge was born out of the support, encouragement, and plain old nagging Mary and I gave each other in previous projects, and we feel that everyone should feel that love.  (grin)

To participate, choose a project that you have been avoiding like the plague, snap a before picture, write a little bit about it, post your photo, set a time limit, then head over to Mary's to be held accountable.  Yes, posting a photo of it is absolutely necessary.  Otherwise, that mortification that is 90% of your motivation is absent.  Trust me, you are not alone.  For proof of that, may I present my project, our garage:

As you can see, it needs a *liiiiittle* bit of work (blush).  Hubby and I are motivated now, thanks entirely to Mary, and we will have this done by September 2nd, which is two Tuesdays from now.  Come you-know-what or high water.  If you don't see my post two weeks from today, then the garage won.  Call the proper authorities.

Posted in Tightwad Tuesdays

Hello, and welcome back to Tightwad Tuesday with Canadagirl!  If you have a frugal idea you would like to share, we would love to read it!  Please do go visit our wonderful hostess Mary to get started.

Because I am a firm believer in saving money, and because I also firmly believe that the biggest place you can save money is in the category of grocery shopping, AND because I was recently told that you can *not* eat healthy foods inexpensively (this means you, Linda), today's tip is about healthy grocery shopping - *inexpensively.*

We have a family of four (but Piper really should count as three people, because that's how much food he eats), and we eat three meals a day (plus snacks), seven days a week out of our home.  If we are out of the home for the day (Mondays) for lessons or whatever, we pack a cooler and take our meals with us.  (I have had to really crack down on the eating out [I am terrible about it if I let myself be], as it's quite easy to rack up a tab of over $100 a week just in dining out!  So, if you are on a strict budget, eating out should absolutely be the very first thing you cut.)  Our family of four's grocery budget is $125 a week, with lean weeks getting cut to $100.  I should clarify here that our grocery budget includes laundry detergent, toothpaste, toilet tissue, soaps, and all the additional personal items that are necessary in the running of a well-stocked home.  So, actual food purchases range between $80-$110 each week.  And we eat a healthy, varied menu each week.  Let me show you how.

First, the most important thing to understand is that eating healthy while inexpensively is not a passive pastime.  There are no prepared and/or processed foods in my pantry.  I cook from scratch, and while that sounds intimidating to those of you inexperienced in the kitchen, it's really not.

Secondly, the most important thing to know and follow through with after you understand and accept the first thing, is that cooking from scratch is not possible unless you have a well-stocked pantry.  A well-stocked pantry is the difference between flowing effortlessly through your cooking, and running out to the store several times for an item or two at a time (waste of fuel and time).  One way is enjoyable and the other so miserable you throw up your hands in defeat and come back to tell me that you gave it a good try, but it doesn't work for you.  Nonsense.  It works for anyone and everyone who wants it to work and makes it work for them.

Everyone's pantry should have most of the same basics, but once you begin cooking you will discover some things that are essential to you, thereby making our pantries unique little windows into our homes.  For instance, Robyn always keeps evaporated canned milk in her pantry, while I can't tell you the last time I had a can in mine.  It's been a life-saver for her, but for me simply means holiday baking.  Meanwhile, in my pantry you will always find a couple of odd-ball spices that Robyn says she never has, because they are essential to my cooking success.  Pantries are as individual as the cook who stocks them, and can be a great way to get an insight into their owners (if you're allowed to peak, that is Ü).  Here are a couple of photos of my pantry with my basics-I-can't-do-without:

It was important to me to have all of my dry goods and bulk items in glass jars (not to mention aesthetically pleasing), so I began purchasing them one or two at a time each grocery trip.  Before I knew it, I was set.  I also wanted to have all of my spices in glass jars, so I used half-pint canning jars to accomplish this, as you can see in the next picture:

It is my humble opinion that where we live must be pretty as well as functional, or else we will not use or maintain it.  I have made my pantry accessible as well as pleasing to the eye, because I spend so much of my time in my kitchen. 

A timesaver and moneysaver tip is to always, always, always buy in bulk those items you find are staples for your pantry.  This does not mean running right out to Sam's or Costco.  No, this actually means grabbing those local grocery store fliers that you receive weekly and poring through each of them to see if anything you want is at an exceptional sale price that week.  Here are a few examples of 'cheap' foods I have purchased within the past few weeks:  Kellogg's cereals, 10 for $10 (I refuse to pay more than $1 for any box of cereal, so this deal combined with coupons was great for stocking up, however, we don't usually have cereal in the house the rest of the year - only summer, because it's too hot to cook every morning); Brown and Serve sausages (these are necessary as I always make hubby a hot breakfast to go, every morning) 10 for $10; organic milk from a local provider, 40% off (I buy at least four and freeze them - always lasts us until the next sale); canned petite diced tomatoes (staple), 20 for $10.  I am getting too low on canned beans, and am anxiously scouring the weekly ads looking for a good sale.  These were deals that I could purchase in spite of the healthy chunk it took out of my grocery budget because my pantry was so well stocked from previous weeks' deals that I didn't need any of my staples.  Buy in bulk on sale at your local grocery store, and you will be set.  Also, in case of an emergency or illness, if you had to skip a week at the grocery store, chances are the only thing you'd miss would be the fresh produce, which can be purchased in one 20 minute trip.

If you are a struggling homemaker and would like help in figuring out what your pantry should include, please feel free to ask me or any woman how to figure out what should be your basic staples.  I've not yet met a woman who didn't like talking about how she runs her home.  Just be sure you're asking women who actually run their homes and cook, (grin).

So, my Tightwad Tuesday tip of the day is to have a fully stocked, essential-to-you pantry ready to go, filled with items you only purchase on sale, so that you can cook from scratch and eat healthier.  Let me take a rabbit trail here to emphasize that here eating healthier does *not* mean tofu, bizarre drinks, or $15/ounce 'essential-to-the-recipe' ingredients.  Oh no.  Here eating healthy means cutting out the processed, prepared foods, incorporating homemade foods made with fresh, quality ingredients, and making sure you're loading up on your requirement of fresh fruits and vegetables each day.  As time passes, I'll be writing more about this subject, so if you're still uncertain, please do ask or stay tuned.  Now, go inventory your pantry and be on the lookout for those great deals!

Posted in Around the House

Beans, Peas and Lentils courtesy of www.allposters.com

In the interest of expanding our bean exposure, I am begging you lovely ladies out there (I don't think I have any male readers, but if I do, please do consider yourself properly begged) for bean entreés.  I'm looking for tasty, main dish bean recipes that use canned beans (or dry, with a good tutorial!).  They do not have to be crock-pot recipes, but wouldn't it be lovely if they were?

All recipes you take the time to so generously send me (whether by leaving them in the comments section, privately emailing me, or personal messaging me through HSB) will be re-typed and added to this blog under the Recipe category for everyone else to use as well.  Of course your name will appear on the recipe - credit where credit is due!!  Ü

I will go into more detail soon on our ever-changing nutrition habits, but for now am piteously begging for your 'receipts.'  Thank you in advance! 

Posted in Show and Tell Friday

Wow, it's Friday again!  That means it's Show &Tell with Canadagirl!  If you have something you'd like to show and tell us about, please visit our lovely hostess Mary for more information.

For the past month or so, I've been working on a Family Home Companion binder.  I was asked to show it when it was done, and while I will be continually adding to it and updating it, it is finished enough for sharing purposes.

A Family Home Companion is to be a mother's helper, helping to remind us of events, keep track of important documents, and inspiring us every day to stay connected to God, our families, and our true selves.  Because I want to use this every day, and because I won't use it if I don't think it's pretty, I went to the store and purchased some lovely papers.  Here is the cover: 

The quote on the cover reads:  "Time is the most valuable thing one can spend."  ~Theoprastus

When you open it up, I have placed a small pencil bag in the front, which holds a pencil, a pen, some paper clips, stickers, and some 3M flags and post-its.

Each section, of which there are currently six (I plan to add my daily planner to it soon - I'm ordering the next one three-hole punched instead of spiral-bound), has its own lovely cover page.  Here they are:

In order, these sections are titled:  Homekeeping, Faith, Education, Health, other, and Contacts.  When you open the Homekeeping section, you see:

Next, I put my most updated schedules.  Some of you know that I have been working on these this week.  I finally finished them, and they are our new school-time schedules.  I say school-time, not strictly school, because they are how our days will (ideally) run once school is back in session.  I will begin my schedule bright and early Monday morning to help get me back into the swing of things before school actually begins.  There is so much more I say about these schedules, but the focus is on the binder today (sigh, lol!).  The schedule on the left also has a twin that will be posted on the refrigerator for the whole family to use.  The one on the right is just for me.  Whether each day actually runs like this is not the point; the point is that at any given point in a day I know what I should be doing, thereby doing away with wasted time and aimlessness (theoretically, lol!).

In the spirit of not wasting time and streamlining our housekeeping duties, I have chosen to have a Focus Room, or Rooms, as the case may be, each day.  This breaks my homekeeping chores down into manageable bits, while allowing me much more freedom to accomplish other things during my days.

After these schedules come a few pages of natural home cleaners (we went 'green' in our cleaning about three years ago, and so make all of our own cleaning agents.  It's fun, economical, and so much safer for all who dwell in or visit our home.  Here is just one page of those cleaners:

Sorry it's so blurry!  Anyway, after the cleaners come specific instructions on cleaning each room.  I have two bedroom sheets, so I can hand one to each boy before he begins his own room.  As a sidebar here:  it is so much easier for children to keep their rooms clean if they have been severely de-cluttered first.  Then they are not overwhelmed and find the chore fully reasonable to complete.  This is a lesson we have learned the hard way with Jigger.  His room is undergoing a complete de-cluttering right now; by the time school starts back up I hope to have it finished.  Such a great way to begin the school year - with a clean, de-cluttered home!  (Still working on the garage, too, Mary!)

Okay, in the interest of time, I'm going to quickly run through the rest of the binder.  In my Faith section, I have sheets for prayer requests, various prayers, a speech by the Pope printed out for later reading, Feast Day sheets to be posted on the refrigerator on the proper day, and a section labelled 'A Mother's Inspiration' where I have put quotes, stories, and bible verses on mothering and being a wife that I find inspirational and uplifting.  This is a great place to spend some time with a cup of tea on those days when you find yourself frustrated and overwhelmed.  Also in this section I have a calendar I picked up at church at the beginning of the year that has all the Holy Days of Obligation and Feast Days listed, as well as other important dates.  Rounding out my Faith section is a printout of the Traditional Liturgical Calendar.

In my Education section, I have the member directory for the local Catholic Home Educating group we belong to, School Schedules for the boys, a course of study section, and a plastic binder folder that holds some home educating catalogs and other assorted items.  I don't keep the bulk of my planning things in here because I have a separate education binder that I use (two, actually, one past and one present, but that's for another day :).

Under Health, I have a sheet that I created for each person in the family that lists dates and pertinent information for each appointment for that person for optical, dental, and medical visits.  I then have an emergency first aid chart, a guide for babysitters (more for my oldest son to reference at this point), and another pocket folder with medical forms in it.  I then have copies or originals of any paperwork we've had to submit to insurance.

The Other section is a bit tricky right now, as I'm filing everything else under this title, but as I collect enough for an entire section, or as the information warrants its own folder, then it will be moved.  I've simply put things in here that I don't want to lose, or that I will be doing something else with shortly.  Among these are:  geneaology papers, a personal calendar with extended birthdays/anniversaries on it, Santa's list from Jigger last year (awww...), gift basket ideas, gift ideas for upcoming events, and future plans hubby and I are discussing.  There is a separate sub-section in the Other category that houses all of the pet-related information and paperwork we need for the mutt.  Rabies certificate, licensing information, etc.

Finally we come to Contacts.  This is where I am slowly transferring my new (permanent) address book to.  Oh, and I have another pocket folder that holds our take-out menus.  Very handy!

So, that is my Family Home Companion as it stands right now.  I got most of my inspiration from the Starry Sky Ranch blog.  That link will take you directly to her home management binder series.  She has printouts and many, many helpful items for you to begin your own Family Home Companion.  I would encourage you to build one of your own, and then develop a habit of using it.  Our tools are only as good as we are consistent.  Take control of your life for the final time; I'm going to!  Who's with me?

Posted in Show and Tell Friday

It's once again time for Show & Tell with Canadagirl.  If you would like to participate, please do go visit our lovely hostess Mary to join in on the fun.  Ü

After much thought and deliberation (my life is soooooo boring right now, lol!), I have finally decided what to post on today.  Today I'm going to encourage all of you who have not already done so to check out:

For those of you unfamiliar with Paperback Swap, it is a medium in which you can swap all books (not just paperbacks) for the price of postage.  You mail books that others have requested from you for the cost of postage, and then you may order books from others and they pay for the cost of postage.  It is such an incredibly easy and inexpensive way to build up your library.  Since we home educate with classics, this is a great way to get those books for our needs.

To make sure that I get the 'Show' part in, here are our books that are awaiting new homes:

If you do decide to participate and would like to give me the credit for referring you, just email me privately and I'll give you my email address for the referral.  Thank you!  Ü

Posted in Educational Pursuits

It's that time of year again when home educating mothers both dread their job and delight in it.  For while there's nothing better than planning your next school year, there's nothing worse at times than planning your next school year.  Looking through each carefully selected tome, counting chapters, making notes to yourself that you hope you'll remember to look at, and trying to fit everything in while all the while having a relaxed schooling atmosphere so that you can be "That Mom."  You know, "That Mom" - the one that actually follows her schedule, doing every experiment and hands-on activity, having her children smile their way through their lessons, beginning each day on time and with a meal cooked from scratch, ending her lessons with enough time to spend on her sewing before starting dinner and completing her day with baths for the children amidst laughter, love, and bedtime stories.

Well, "That Mom" doesn't live in my house, but I do try each year to do a little more, be a little more.  Because without a fresh slate each year, you can get caught up in stinkin' thinkin' that just never ends.  It's like the New Year, when suddenly everything is fresh again, and the possibilities are endless on what you can achieve.

So, to get back to lesson planning, yesterday I began (drop your voice and draw out the word began, and think dunh-dunh-duuuuuuunh).  Due in part because you *have* to begin sometime, but due mostly to the fact that Mary accepted my challenge to spend just one hour doing something that we both have apparently become quite good at avoiding.

Rabbit trail:  So yesterday about 9-9.30ish a.m., I challenged Mary to one hour of planning.  After I did that, I got sidetracked what with four boys in the house needing breakfast, no less than 10 phone calls, four unexpected visitors at the door (can you tell we're on school break?  I can!), laundry, cleaning the kitchen, etc.  By the time we were down to three boys and I had a chance to check back on my cbox, it was around 2.45 p.m.  Imagine my surprise to see that Mary had indeed picked up the gauntlet of challenge, and had in fact already begun her hour!  I was on the phone with Robyn at the time, who was laughing her bum off at me, and practically hung up on her in my bid to get my bum in gear. :End of Rabbit Trail

Mary amended the challenge to add that we had to post about what we had accomplished, thus explaining this long and winded post (like I need a reason - have you been reading me for any length of time?).  So, without further ado (you're welcome), here are the results and conclusions of my hour yesterday:

I sketched out Jigger's week and began Piper's schedule as well.  I like having an overview, however sketchy, of what their weeks will look like before I begin breaking down their books into lessons.  I use the 3M Flags for their subjects, so that I can move things around without too much hassle.  Here is Jigger's week:

Here is the beginning of Piper's:

At this point I got a little overwhelmed with Piper's schedule, so I shelved it and moved on to breaking down Jigger's books by weeks.  I only have most of his catechism done, and will post the picture of that when it's finalized.  I'm realizing that I have a *LOT* of planning to do before school begins in about a month, and so expect that most of my time, free or otherwise, will be spent in this pursuit.  Expect regular updates, because this keeps me accountable.  Who knows, maybe I'll talk Mary into a Thursday posting challenge where we update our planning progress for the previous week.  What do you think, Mary?  Ü

Well, that's it.  I will be planning ad nauseum for awhile, now that I have assessed the mountain in front of me, and expect to feel all kinds of good when I'm finished.  This is the year that I-am-prepared!!  Who's with me?

Welcome back to Tightwad Tuesday with Canadagirl!  If you have a frugal tip to share with us, please do go visit Mary for more information on how to participate.  We'd love to have you!

If you are a frequent visitor to my blog on Tightwad Tuesdays, then you know that I'm a bit obsessed with making food staples that you would ordinarily purchase pre-packaged and processed from the store.  Since I haven't run through all my recipes and tips yet, get ready for another one:  Homemade Red Sauce.  Homemade Red Sauce is a delicious, economical, and versatile item to have in your freezer or to make up fresh in about 30 minutes.  You can use it as pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, in your soup bases, or as a dip for your Italian/bread dishes.  This recipe makes enough for me to freeze in two portions, and each portion provides either one pasta meal for 4-6 people, or enough sauce for two homemade pizzas (one cookie-sheet size, and the other a round stone size).   I *love* having this is the freezer, and hope you enjoy it as well!

Homemade Red Sauce

one medium to large onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, pressed

3 tablespoons olive oil

3-14 ounce cans diced tomatoes

1-6 ounce can tomato paste

3 teaspoons sugar

3 teaspoons dried oregano

3 bay leaves

salt and pepper

In a dutch-oven size pan, sauté the onion and garlic gently in olive oil for 5 minutes, until softened but not browned.  Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, oregano, bay leaves, and salt and pepper to taste.  Stir well.

Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer gently for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has become quite thick.  Remove the bay leaves and adjust the seasoning to taste.

This goes wonderfully on top of French Bread Pizza.  Try it sometime!  Ü