That's a Spicy Sauce

Don't you love winter tomatoes? Bright yellow and red cherry tomatoes against a dull, dead yard brings joy to the heart. Deciding what to cook with these cherished beauties takes days to decide. Testing out of the non ordinary dishes is scary. Fearful of failed recipe leads to safe boring dishes. Not wanting to be boring, I went crazy with Spicy Cherry Tomato Sauce.

Modifications Made:
One heaping teaspoon of red pepper flakes replaced jalapeno. Harissa, tomato paste, and cilantro were omitted. Seasonings were limited to Hungarian paprika and salt. Sun gold replaced cherry tomatoes.

Scaled for Likability: Great
Let me say it was a good thing there were gobs and gobs of butter potatoes to offset the heat of this sauce. And to think, only red pepper flakes were added. Not jalapenos and harissa. Then there was the sweet red onion, sweet red bell pepper, and sweet orange carrots to help, too. If there had not been all this sweet and starchy potatoes, the sauce would have been scratched as it was SO spicy.

Alas, there was and all worked out great. Besides, nothing says great like homegrown tomatoes. And I am NOT even a fresh tomato fan. All tomatoes have to be cooked and cooked small. That is what made this sauce so perfect, it was saucy not chunky. With less red pepper flakes and a dash more salt, this sauce would have been great placed over a pan seared fillet of fish or even made into a spaghetti sauce. It was very good. Just spicy.

Better Than Campbell's Old Fashion Vegetable Soup

Went to the store with the hopes of gathering fresh produce for soup. With more than 45 people in line for two packages of any meat product and the produce section containing only avocado, orange, and most randomly, strawberries, I settled upon canned soup. Well not canned soup since that section was still void of food, too. Instead soup made from canned goods as the canned vegetable section had been mostly restocked. Soups like this 15 Minute Vegetable Soup are ideal in dire food situations such as current times. Modifications Made: Plain petite diced tomatoes for flavored tomatoes, frozen carrots instead of canned, green beans and corn undrained, peas omitted (gross, nasty little pods), one can tomato sauce, two low sodium chicken and two pollo de tomate bouillon cubes, six cups water. Once onions were softened, carrots, juice of green beans and corn, sauce, bouillon cubes, water were added and allowed to simmer until carrots almost tender. Green beans and corn tossed in, heat t

So Sad Cake Brownies

Oh my word how does a space as small a pantry becomes so disorganized? And in such a short time, nonetheless? While reorganizing the four 2x4 pantry shelves yesterday a golden back of the box recipe was discovered. Milk Brownies. Replacing yogurt for milk or applesauce for oil, these are commonplace alternatives. Milk for water in a box brownie, this had to be tried. Stat. Modifications Made: Per the box, 1/3 cup milk replaced 1/3 water. Half cup of chopped walnuts were added along with two tablespoons of Hershey chocolate syrup. Because why not. Scaled for Likability: No, Thank You The milk was fine, the extra chocolate was fine. Walnuts could have been doubled. The problem was the brownies themselves. I accidently made cake brownies with two eggs instead of fudge brownies with just one brownie. So sad. These were given to the neighbor who prefers cake brownies. If the neighbor liked fudge brownies (they are the best kind) these would have gone to the chickens. They have no

Papas a La Mexicana (Ranchera)

It is a crying shame that there are six hens and not a egg in sight. What am I supposed to do with homemade ranchero sauce? Thankfully with a few quick searches of the internet a recipe from my hometown newspaper was discovered: Papas Ranchera . Not once in the thirty years I lived in my hometown did I ever eat at a local food joint serving papas rancheras. No time like the present to remedy this cultural dish. Because this recipe is hidden behind a paywall (grrr...) I have included it here for you: Servings: 4-6 Ingredients: 1 pound potatoes, diced 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2 large onion 1 1/2 medium tomatoes 3 jalapenos 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup juice from canned tomatoes Instructions: Fry potatoes in vegetable oil until lightly browned (about 4-6 minutes). Saute onions, tomatoes, jalapenos until soft. Add garlic powder and salt. Add tomato juice until vegetables are covered (may need to add water). Bring to a boil and then add potatoes. Cover and reduc

Eating Waffles

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