Homemade Speghetti Sauce Over Speghetti Squash

Sunny is starting to love the gym daycare,  so much that when I pick her up, she runs and hides from me. She doesn't want to leave. For the past 2.5 months she has been going there, I have had to carry her to the car screaming because she refuses to walk. It's not an easy task. 

I know she's hungry and wants lunch. Since she only nurses at night before bed, which is only going to keep happening for another month, cross my fingers, she is hungry for real food much more.

I know her blood sugars are low and that is the cause of her mis -behavior. She needs food high in protein mixed with a carb, to sustain her blood sugars longer, but the problem is, she doesn't eat meat, except for mickey chicken nuggets and she can't eat dairy to much, or she gets diarrhea. 

I have tried beans, egg and avocado. She doesn't like those. She is a real picky eater. Her dad and I are starting to get strict when it comes to dinner time though.  She eats what we eat. If she refuses, she gets no substitutions. We will throw in some healthy sides such as tomatoes or cucumber to get her eating rhythm going.

Last night as we ate this speghetti squash with sauce, she refused and screamed for something else. I didnt serve hers with basil and made it look kid friendly.

We ignored it. Then I thought of something brilliant.  She loves Mickey Mouse and will eat anything he does. So I told her that Mickey loves squash with sauce.  Then her dad started singing the Mickey clubhouse song. She took a few bites after that. Whatever works, right?

We finally are harvesting some nice red tomatoes and we have a basil plant that is growing huge. I knew speghetti sauce would be the perfect way to incorporate these crops into.  Homemade Speghetti sauce with fresh garden tomatoes gently pureed so there is still that grear texture if tomato.  Add some ground beef or turkey, basil and Parmassan cheese, you have a complete healthy meal. It's very hearty which is always a positive in my book.

I am starting to get more serious about being more resourceful. Growing my own fruit and veggies in season, doing more food storage and learning how to can, baking more bread instead of buying, grinding our own wheat, continuing our compost collection outside, staying strong on the cloth diapering (no quitting this time) and getting her potty trained,  fast!   I have a tendency to be lazy or exhausted,  whatever you wanna call it. I hope I don't fall through the cracks, which I admit is in my history.

I want Sunny to grow up and carry on those traits. We must start teaching her now. However, cloth diapering is her own personal choice someday, if she chooses to do so.

Look at this sauce. Are you ready?

Homemade Speghetti Sauce

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped

• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 pound fresh tomatoes that have already been boiled for about 2 minutes and skins removed.
• 1/2 tablespoon dried basil
• 1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 2 T. butter
• 1 T. brown sugar

Optional: Add a half pound ground meat of choice. 

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DIRECTIONS

1. In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat until hot and rippling. Add the onion and garlic and saute, stirring very frequently, until the onion is soft and translucent, about 3-4 minutes.  Add the tomatoes, basil, oregano and bay leaves and simmer, covered, on low heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally to make sure the sauce isn’t sticking to the bottom of the pot, until slightly thickened and the vegetables are completely tender. Stir in the brown sugar. Taste the sauce. Add salt and pepper as needed. Add the butter and stir to combine.
2. Remove the bay leaves. In a blender or food processor, puree the sauce for about 3 seconds. You want it to be lumpy, not completely smooth like a pizza sauce would be. The sauce can be frozen once it is cooled.

Serve over noodles or in our case, speghetti or butternut squash.

Recipe source: Melskitchencafe. Com and recipegreat.com