Well, tonight’s blog post is going to be a little dull because I could not find my camera… oops! But I had a busy night in the kitchen, so I wanted to write and report 🙂 But first a recap of the day…

This morning I had a doctor’s appointment. This was good for many reasons. First and foremost, I was able to SLEEP IN just a couple of hours this morning and it made a huge difference in my outlook for the day. When you normally get up at 5:45 or 6 o’clock in the morning, being able to sleep in until 8:15 is like a dream come true – at least for me!

At the doctor I learned that I have lost a few pounds, that I have great blood pressure… and then I learned that they were fresh out of the flu vaccine. 😦 Bummer… the search continues! I did not get out of the doctor’s office until after 10:30 this morning. I had not eaten a thing (blood work to see how low my cholesterol actually is!) so I snacked on a Nature Valley granola bar on my drive into work.

Not the best breakfast, but these bars do the trick when you do not have time or resources to work with!

For lunch I had a turkey wrap, and a few carrots which was pretty good.

When I got home I was inspired to make dinner… which was surprising since I have been a bit low energy this week. Last Friday I was at Tim and Nicole’s and Tim made us an amazing homemade tomato sauce with spaghetti. It was so wonderful – I decided to re-invent and make something similar for my mom tonight.

To start the sauce, measure out just a little less than 1/4 cup of EVOO into your pot. Warm the EVOO on medium high heat. Once the oil is warm, add four or five cloves of garlic that have been smashed and minced. Also add about a tablespoon of red pepper flakes. Once the garlic is almost browning, add 28 ounces of crushed and peeled tomatoes (low sodium – no salt added if you have it). Bring down the heat to medium. Add freshly ground pepper, fresh basil, and oregano to taste. Tim adds salt, and you can if you want to – but taste your sauce before you add salt, to see if you need any at all. Tonight I actually did not need to add salt to my sauce.

Cook your pasta (spaghetti works best for plating) as you normally would. When the pasta is nearly done, use tongs to pick up the pasta and shake off excess water… and then put the pasta directly into your sauce pot. Mix together the pasta and sauce. Serve on warmed plates, garnish with more fresh basil and freshly grated parmesan cheese. Fantastic! All of this only took about 30 minutes to put together, by the way. Very easy – and very good!

Tonight I have been making brownies to bring to work in the morning…. happy birthday Jane!

Hope you are all having a great day and ending the week on a positive note. I will be back this weekend. I am having Tim and Nicole over to my house on Saturday for dinner – it is about time. Cassoulet will be on the menu… I cannot wait to make it!

See you soon!