Sunday, September 6, 2009

Laid Back Sunday

The weather was perfect again today for a nice, relaxing day spent mostly outside. I started it all off with a bowl of Zucchini Bread oats; 100_6040

  • 1 cup water
  • 1/3 cup PC 5 Grain cereal
  • cinnamon, nutmeg
  • raisins
  • 1/2 cup grated zucchini
  • cinnamon honey
  • walnuts

100_6039

I had a wee bit of zucchini leftover from the muffins and figured this would be the perfect way to use it up. This meal was stellar! :D

We spent some QT with the baby horses out at the farm seeing as the day was so nice. Lacey was the first to come running! 100_6050

She’s totally giving the camera the stink eye here! She also got some love and attention from my hubby; 100_6053 100_6052

Spent some time checking out Turbo’s tail which she has had a major interest in since day one! 100_6056

She is such a little love bug! And here’s one of Daisy kicking it in the clover; 100_6064

Such a diva!

We got home at 2pm and I grabbed a quick lunch so as not to ruin my dinner. A blueberry Chobani (which was da bomb) and a sunrise apple. 100_6067

The apple was only so-so. The flavour was good, but it was a soft apple and I prefer my apple to be crisp and crunchy. A little later on I ate two Cracker Jack flavoured rice cakes; 100_6068

These used to be a pantry staple, but I got out of buying them for some reason. They caught my eye while doing groceries yesterday so I grabbed a pack. I forgot how good they were!

I spent a good chunk of the afternoon out on the deck with my book. I also made a big pot of marinara sauce. Takes a bit of time to get in the pot, but it’s 100% worth the effort. Here’s my Homemade Marinara Sauce recipe for you all to try out.

  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 onions, diced
  • 3-4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
  • 3lbs Roma tomatoes, roughly chopped
  • tsp each salt and pepper
  • tbsp each dried basil and oregano
  • a 6oz can of tomato paste
  1. Heat olive oil in a large pot
  2. add onions and cook about 5 minutes
  3. stir in chopped garlic
  4. add tomatoes and stir well
  5. next goes all the spices and the full can of tomato paste
  6. let simmer on the stove top for at least 3 hrs, stirring occasionally. It will thicken considerably.
  7. allow to cool before dividing into whatever portion sizes you like

100_6075

I made up 3 large containers for the freezer. I will use this as is over noodles, rice or any cooked grain, as pizza sauce, mixed with ground meat, combined with a few cups of stock for a chunky tomato soup. It’s very versatile. Let me know if you give it a try!

I used some to make a flatout pizza for my dinner. I guess I put a good 3 heaping tbsp on then added broccoli, mushrooms, black olives and feta cheese; 100_6070

There’s also some parm cheese sprinkled on there. Mega good! Then I ate a zucchini nut muffin; 100_6071

After dinner we went to my parents place for a visit. I had a nice mug of tea and 2 of these most awesome chocolate chip cookies; 100_6076

Currently, I’m working my way through a ginger gold apple dipped in PB2. Sorry, no pic! I’m gonna go see if there’s anything good on the tube. So glad tomorrow’s a day off work! YAY!

Bye for now!!

12 comments:

  1. I loveeee all the animals! I would totally be out there visiting every day. The blueberry chobs is awesome! I've never tried making my own marinara- maybe I'll give it a try! Josh doesn't like ANY tomato chunks so I'd have to puree the tomatoes! Enjoy your night

    ReplyDelete
  2. The zucchini bread oats sound good! What a great idea! I'll have to make them...

    Have a good week! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cute horsies! That flatout pizza looks incredible :) I love all of the healthy veggies you added--I'm writing down your combination of pizza toppings right now!

    ReplyDelete
  4. awee such cute photos! your animals are adorable:)

    thanks for the recipe :) will definatly try it with some eggplant, i think! yum!

    ReplyDelete
  5. That's odd that your sunrise apple wasn't crisp. All the ones I've had here are. I do not like apples that aren't crisp either, so I can understand the disappointment.

    ReplyDelete
  6. All I see is a Boston!!! What a cutie pie :)

    Your marinara and that flat out pizza look fantastic! I hope you enjoy your day off!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Looks like you had a wonderful Sunday! I think that's how all Sunday's should be :-)

    That sauce looks soo good. Homemade sauce is always 100x better than storebought even though it takes a bit more effort than just opening a jar ha!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Lacey is such a cutie! I love the idea of putting shredded zucchini in oats, I have got to try that! Your marinara sauce sounds incredible, and it looks amazing on your flatbread pizza! Happy Labor Day!

    ReplyDelete
  9. zucchini bread oat sounds delish~ so creative!
    it seems that you had a very animal sunday, so beautiful and relaxing! :)
    oh... that homemade marinara looks fantastic, I want to taste it!!! :D

    ReplyDelete
  10. aww those baby horses are so adorable! What a great way to spend a sunny day

    ReplyDelete
  11. Looks like a wonderful Sunday! Relaxed and fun! Oh my... The sauce looks soooo perfect!! Definitely putting it on my "to try" list! Thanks!! :)

    you would LOVE the wii game... It's loads of fun! Google EA Active on YouTube, I'm sure there's a gazillion videos on it. It's for more than one player too, so you & dh could play together! Fun stuff!! :)

    ReplyDelete

I'd love to hear from you!! Please leave a comment!