A Great Meal for a Great Day

Today has been a fabulous day! I found my keys that I lost about 2 weeks ago. I thought I threw them away, but they ended up in one of my sneakers! I planned to get new keys made today, so it was excellent timing. My car also passed inspection today. It didn't pass inspection on the first try last year, so I'm glad the repairs held. I also got all the errands I planned for today finished.

I planned an Italian meal for tonight that included a homemade roasted garlic bread recipe I found a while ago and was wanting to try. I love school vacations because I have more time to relax, get things done, and cook good food. I think my boyfriend likes school vacations because he gets to eat better food all week long! To go with the garlic bread, I made a chicken parmigiana dinner with a homemade tomato sauce.

The dinner turned out fabulously! We both ate loads and wished there was more to eat. The bread recipe makes two loaves, so I'm trying to freeze some for another day. We'll see how they turn out. I'll definitely love to make these both again.

I was surprised at how easy both of these recipes were to make. They both sound complex, but really weren't difficult at all. The most difficult part of the chicken parm recipe was the heating of the oil and the most difficult part of the bread recipe was the rolling. I think I'm becoming a big fan of homemade breads. The ones I've done so far are really quite easy and since I keep most of the ingredients at home anyway, it's really more convenient, and much more tasty, to just make it myself.

The recipes for the bread and chicken parm are a little long, so I'm just posting the links. I made up the sauce today and am posting that recipe here.

Roasted Garlic Bread


























Authentic Chicken Parmesan


Garlic and Herb Tomato Sauce

2-28oz. cans tomato sauce
2-28oz. cans diced tomatoes
2-6oz. cans tomato paste
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ bay leaves
1 tsp rosemary
1 tbsp parsley
1 tbsp basil

1. Put all ingredients in crock pot and simmer on low for 6+ hours.
   
2. Remove bay leaves. Blend with immersion blender if less chunky consistency is desired.

Tomayto, Tomato, Pahsta, Pawsta...

However you choose to pronounce it, we had homemade tomato sauce with ziti and italian style ground beef for dinner/tea tonight. I meant to make this Wednesday, but forgot to get up early enough to chop everything and put it in the crock pot. I got home early enough, I could have made it when I got home, but I really wanted to use my crock pot, which took longer than the two hours I had. So...I made it Thursday.

I've been making homemade tomato sauce a lot lately. It saves money and I can suit it to our tastes. I have been using powders instead of the real thing because it cooks faster, but since I was doing the crock pot, I wanted to do the fresh ingredients! My boyfriend said he really noticed a difference and it had a much fresher, more vibrant taste.

Pasta Sauce (in a 5 qt. slow cooker)

1 part diced tomatoes to 2 parts tomato sauce (I can't remember the can size I used, but it pretty well filled my crock pot)
1 can of tomato paste
I medium white onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced (we love garlic flavour)
1 bay leaf


I didn't have these fresh, so during the last two hours of cooking I added:
2-3 tablespoons parsley flakes
2-3 tablespoons Italian seasoning

Put ingredients in crock pot and cook on low for approximately 10 hours. This made a lot of sauce and we put the extra in a container to freeze and use later.

Garlic Bread:
1 Italian loaf of bread
butter
garlic salt (I have the kind with parsley)

1. Slice the bread in one inch sections.
2. Leave the bottom crust intact, don't slice all the way through.
3. Butter each side of the slices.
4. Sprinkle garlic salt to taste on each side of the slices.
5. Wrap in aluminum foil and heat in 350°F oven until butter is melted and crust is crispy.

Italian Style Ground Beef:
http://www.recipezaar.com/218857

I hadn't made pasta in a while and both Lee and I are pasta lovers! We didn't realize how much we missed it until tonight!