Easy Homemade Tomato Sauce

Sometimes it can be hard to find pre-made tomato sauce without there being sugar or other questionable ingredients in it. The good news is that it is actually pretty easy to make yourself. Everyone should try homemade at least once.

Ingredients

• Few springs of fresh rosemary, minced

• Few springs of fresh thyme, minced

• 3 cloves of garlic, minced

• 1 onion, diced

• 1 bunch of fresh basil, chopped

• 1 jar of crushed tomatoes

• 1 jar of whole peeled tomatoes

• 1 tsp. smoked paprika

• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes

• olive oil

• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Heat pan over medium high heat.

Add olive oil to the pan.

Add diced onion and stir. Sautee until translucent.

Add rosemary, thyme, and garlic. Stir and then add smoked paprika and red pepper flakes.

Saute for about a minute and then add in your jars of tomato and chopped basil. 

Salt and pepper to taste.

Let simmer on low heat covered for about 15 minutes.

Adjust seasoning to taste and enjoy! 

Bean-less Chili

I am not from Texas, I just prefer not to fart as much. Hence— bean-less chili. I have however, substituted the beans for butternut squash because it is fall and winter squash is all the rage right now. Gives you a bit of the creamy texture you get from beans without having to blame it on the dog later. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 butternut squash, diced

• 2 lbs grass fed ground beef

• 1 onion, diced

• 3 carrots, diced

• 3 stalks of celery, diced

• 2 Anaheim peppers, seeds removed, diced.

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 2 Tbs. Tomato paste

• 1 Tbs. ground Cumin

• 2 tsp. oregano

• 2 tsp. smoked paprika

• 1/3 cup chili powder

• 2 cans or jars of tomato sauce

• 1/2 cup beef broth

• salt to taste

• pepper to taste

• cilantro for garnish

Procedure

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

1. Peel and dice butternut squash, toss with oil, salt, pepper, and place in oven for about 25 minutes or until tender.

2. Sauté ground beef in a large pot over medium-high heat

3. add in onion, celery, carrots, peppers, and garlic. Stir.

4. Add the rest of the spices to the mixture and season with salt and pepper.

5. Add in tomato paste and sauté with the rest of the ingredients.

6. Stir in tomato sauce, and beef broth. ( You can add more or less depending on how thick you want your chili. ) Season to taste with salt and pepper and stir in the roasted butternut squash. Serve garnished with fresh chopped cilantro.

Butternut Squash Soup

It is hot as balls outside and it is definitely not soup season but fall will be here before we know it. Maybe you will be up for trying a new recipe by the time fall comes around. This recipe is a little different than your average butternut recipe so here ya go. The formatting on the ingredients list is weird. I don’t know what happened but just ignore the extra spaces.

Ingredients

1 sweet onion, diced
2 apples peeled, diced
2 tbs coconut oil
2 small butternut squash, roasted
2 cans reduced fat coconut milk
2 tbs candied ginger, pulsed fine in food processor

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp. curry powder
1 tbs chopped sage
salt
pepper

Directions

Preheat Oven to 375 degrees F.
Cut squash in half lengthwise, clean out seeds and place on sheet pan skin side up. Roast for about 30-45 minutes until fork tender. When it is cool enough peel off the skin from the squash or scoop out with a spoon.

Sauté apples and onions in coconut oil until tender. Add the sage, nutmeg, curry powder, and squash. Sautee for a minute breaking up the squash as much as possible.
Pulse two tablespoons of candied ginger in food processor and add to the pot.
Add coconut milk and blend with a hand blender until smooth.

Add in the chicken stock and continue to blend. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

For a no bullshit recipe, this one actually contains a fair amount of ingredients. Don’t let it intimidate you though I promise you it is still easy and worth the overwhelming list of ingredients. I used to joke that Mexican food wasn’t authentic unless it gave you diarrhea. I still kind of stand by that… but as long as you cook that chicken right, you can spare yourself the symptoms of authenticity.

INGREDIENTS

For the Chicken
2 Boneless skinless chicken breasts smoked paprika
Cumin
Chili powder


For The Soup

1 Yellow onion, diced
1 Jalapeño, seeded and diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups diced red/yellow/green bell pepper 1 TBL tomato paste
Juice from one lime
1 TBL Oregano
1 TBL Cumin
2 TBL Chili Powder
2 Cups of Corn
1 Quart of Chicken Stock
2 14.5oz cans of fire roasted tomatoes
1/2 bunch of cilantro
Tortilla chips

Avocado
Cojita cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 365 degrees F.
Season both sides of chicken evenly with salt, smoked paprika, chili powder, and cumin.
Sear on both sides and finish in the oven until it reaches an internal temperature of 365 degrees F. Or about 15 minutes. Set aside.

Sauté onions, bell pepper and garlic until soft. Add in the tomato paste, cumin, oregano, and chili powder. Sauté for 1 minute.
Add the fire roasted tomatoes, and then the chicken stock.
Add in the corn, chicken, and Cilantro

Season to taste 


Garnish with tortilla chips, avocado and cojita cheese.