Frugal Friday: Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

We had company for dinner this evening. There's a young couple that attends our church. She's the worship leader; he volunteers with the technology on Sunday mornings and in the preschool classroom. They're a cute couple and someone that we really wanted to get to know better. So when I needed to connect with her about worship at the women's retreat, my husband and I thought this would be a great opportunity to have them over to dinner.

I wanted to make something special, something we don't usually have. But it also had to be cheap. Company meals still have to fit into the grocery budget. So this is what I was left with: lots of produce in the refrigerator and lots of tomatoes in the garden. What to make? Vegetarian Lasagne.

Spaghetti sauce was running low, but tomatoes weren't. So scary as it was, I tried my hand at making my own sauce. And you know what, it was VERY EASY. Here's what I did:

1. A few days ago, I boiled some tomatoes just till I could peel them. Drained them and dumped them into cold water in the sink so I could get the stem and peel.

2. Blended them. You could use just the juice, but I took the seeds as well.

I put mine in the fridge for a few days 'cause I wasn't ready for it yet, but you could just jump to the next step.

3. Saute some onions and bell peppers on low. Saute some garlic as well.

4. Add your tomatoes and turn heat to low. Allow to cook down till it thickens, about 2 hrs.

5. As your tomatoes cook, season with salt and pepper as well.

This was so good. And so easy. My own word of warning, start with several tomatoes. It will cook down quite a bit.

But it was so easy and so good. With such simple ingredients, this sauce had a lot of flavor. I tried to avoid using salt, but the sauce did need it.

So try something new with all those tomatoes ripening right now. You just might surprise yourself.

For more Frugal Friday ideas, check out Life as Mom.