Homemade Pasta Sauce Recipe // You Never Have To Buy It In A Jar Again!

We had some new friends over last month, and that always makes me a little nervous. It's kind of stressful to think of what to make for dinner when you don't know your guests all that well. I usually stick with Taco Night, but we did that the last few times we've had people over and I wanted to mix things up at least a little. Spaghetti is typically a safe choice. It's also really easy to make a meal out of-just add a salad and garlic bread and you are done! 

So I went with pasta! During dinner, the husband said "Well, Kristen, I think this is the best sauce I've ever had!" His wife piped in with, "That's because he's used to Prego." I was almost embarrassed to tell them just how easy it is to make! 

That's why I want to share my recipe with you today. Who doesn't appreciate an easy, crowd pleasing meal that seems fancier than it actually is!? 

        

My Ikea dutch oven may have been the best purchase I've ever made!

[ Printer Friendly ]

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce Recipe

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 cloves minced garlic

1 small chopped yellow onion

1 small chopped green bell pepper (optional)

1 6 oz can tomato paste

1 15 oz can diced tomatoes & liquid

1 28 oz can crushed tomato

Dried oregano

Dried basil

Salt & pepper

Freshly torn rosemary

Freshly torn basil

Heat olive oil in large saucepan or dutch oven on medium low.

Add garlic, onion and option bell pepper. Simmer until fragrant and onions sweat. About 4 minutes.

Reduce heat to low. Stir in tomato paste. Then add diced tomatoes and the liquid from the can. Stir in crushed tomato.

Season with oregano, both kinds of basil, rosemary, salt and pepper to taste. Save some fresh basil for garnish.

Cover and simmer on low for at least 30 minutes, but all day if you’d like. Stirring occasionally.

Garnish with fresh basil and serve over the pasta of your choice. Feel free to add in cooked ground beef, meatballs or any vegetarian meat substitute. My suggestion is to add it in and allow to simmer at least another 20 minutes before serving.

 [ Printer Friendly ]

I absolutely love making this sauce on days when I'm going to be home all afternoon. There is just something so wonderful about having dinner simmering on the stove. It makes the whole house smell so good! The longer it simmers the better it tastes, but it still works just fine if you only have 30 minutes. 

Before going vegetarian, I added ground beef which was really good. Now we just eat it plain, but I have added vegetarian meatballs as well. 

Oh, and a note on the bell pepper! It really adds a lot of flavor, but I know some people don't like them or it upsets their stomach. Basically, I add one if I have one on hand, but it's still good without it. 

Leave a comment below if you stress out about what to make for guests! I'd love to know what your go-to recipe is for a crowd pleasing. Do you have a 'secret' recipe that is actually a lot easier than people think?! 

Pinterest - Twitter - Bloglovin - Blog Disclosure - More recipes here!

Homemade Pasta Sauce Recipe // You Never Have To Buy It In A Jar Again!

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

How I Hostess #WhileIWhiten {& A Giveaway!}

Thank you so much to Smile Brilliant for sending me a teeth whitening kit and for sponsoring the giveaway you can enter at the end of this post!

One of the things I have absolutely come to love is having people over for dinner! It might just be because I'm getting older, but going out to eat with people isn't as fun as it used to be. When you can have people over it's much more comfortable and you get to actually spend time with your friends. You have a chance to talk with more than just the person across from you, and you don't have to rush and say goodbye just because your bill came.

We try to have somebody over at least twice a month! Sometimes it's more often and sometimes it's less- it just depends on our schedule. I thought it would be fun to share a little bit of what I do before we have guests over! 

Since I'm a pro multi-tasker, I am going to be getting ready for our company while I whiten! I'm also a professional iced tea drinker, so my teeth have been crying out to be whitened for a long time now. And, whitening my teeth while I go about my regular day is the perfect fit. I love being productive and spending a little time on myself!

With this at-home whitening kit you can whiten from 45 minutes to 3 hours, so you have plenty of time to get chores done or get ready for the day while whitening. I've whitened while I studied, cleaned the house and while we watched Netflix. This time I'm going to straighten up the house, get dinner going hopefully have a little time to relax before our friends come over! 

It's probably still a little too hot here to be forcing our friends to sit outside, but after pressure washing the back porch and getting a brand new outdoor table I was dying to use it. The porch is fairly easy to set up for guests because it's always pretty much set up for guests. All I have to do is plug in the string lights, ice the beverages, and make sure all the dog hair is off the cushions! My new table was also begging to be set, so I dressed it up a little too. Oh yeah, and because #Florida I have to light the citronella candles!

If we are having people over for dinner, I really try to have most of the food prepared ahead of time. When they get here I want to be able to visit and relax and not be bustling around the kitchen while everybody else gets to have fun! Keeping the meal simple is a big part of that. Tonight we are having spaghetti with homemade sauce, garlic knots and salad. I can get the sauce going on the stove and have the salad pre made so that all I have to do is make the pasta and throw the bread in the oven. 

Since I'm currently obsessed with cheese platters, I had to put one of those together too! It's amazing how presentation is everything with these trays. You'd never know that all the cheese, hummus and crackers are store brand! It's a huge crowd pleaser with not all that much effort. 

And I have to vacuum and sweep the floors before anybody comes over. Even if I just did it yesterday! With three pugs, you gotta. By that time, it's been an hour and I can take my whitening trays out! I can't believe how white my teeth are getting. 

You're going to laugh, but I started doing all of this way before dinner time. It's because I always feel like I have a million things to do, but it never fails that I'm ready too early. There are worse things, because I end up having time to sit down and relax. Everything is done, and that's the whole point because now I can enjoy our friends and not be fussing over something! 

Anytime I sit down I end up with a pug on my lap! Winston was obviously my helper today. Meanwhile Delly and Bailey were the smart ones and were hanging out inside with the A/C. 

Photos by Black Tie Cinema!

I've been using my whitening kit for a little over two weeks - check out this before and after! I still have plenty of whitening gel in my box, so I'm excited to see how much brighter my smile will continue to get. 

Giveaway! Want to win a whitening kit of your own? I can't recommend Smile Brilliant enough! To enter the giveaway just head over here! You could win $139 credit to spend with on your new smile. The giveaway is open for 1 week, so make sure you enter right now! (Open to USA, UK, Australian and Canadian residents) 

If you want to go ahead and purchase your kit, make sure you use pugsandpearls10 for 10% off! 

Leave a comment below if you are an over preparer! Do you prefer going out with your friends, or having them over? What do you usually make for dinner guests? And I'd love to know if you entered the giveaway! 

Pinterest - Twitter - Bloglovin - Blog Disclosure

While Smile Brilliant provided me with a whitening kit to share my experience, I want to assure you that all opinions expressed in this post are honest and real! 

Tooth Whitening Gel

How I Hostess #WhileIWhiten {& A Giveaway!}

Tuesday, September 26, 2017