Quick and Easy Crockpot Tomato Sauce Recipe

It's that time of the year...when all of the tomatoes are ready to be used at once! Not mine mind you, they kicked the bucket weeks ago after presenting me with one measly quart. But my uncle has a particularly green thumb, and he was kind enough to share his bounty! 

I needed a quick, easy way to preserve this years tomatoes because I reallllly don't feel like canning right now. (I can't believe I just said that.) Freezing whole tomatoes is a super fast option, but they consume SO much precious freezer space! Cooking the tomatoes down first is a little more work, but I think the amount of freezer space it saves you is well worth the (minimal) extra effort.

A couple of years ago I made tomato sauce the "right" way. (Also with tomatoes from my uncle. Aka, the tomato fairy.) After that, I decided tomato sauce was best purchased. Ahem. Cooking down the tomatoes, running them through the food mill, cooking the sauce down for HOURS....and that's before you've even canned it. Ain't no body got time for that! Well, I'm sure someone does. Just not me!

That got me to thinking...what if I put my Crockpot to work? I use it for applesauce and apple butter, why not tomatoes? A few weeks back I made a small batch of sauce in my Crockpot for dinner so I decided to give it a try on a larger scale. It worked beautifully! I've made two batches so far and plan to make a third batch tomorrow. It takes about ten minutes of prep time and ten minutes to finish up and freeze the sauce. That's my kind of preserving! 

So without further ado here's my super easy "recipe":

12-ish tomatoes, washed, cored and cut up (enough to fill a 4qt Crockpot 3/4's of the way full)

1 - 6oz can of tomato paste

2 tsps salt

2 tsps sugar

2 tsps basil

2 tsps oregano

Place tomatoes in crock pot and add all of the other ingredients. Prop lid open with a wooden spoon so steam can escape. Cook on high for 6-8 hours. Blend (carefully!!) with an immersion blender and place in freezer containers. Allow to cool and freeze. 

A few notes:

1. Yes, you leave the skin on the tomatoes. After the tomatoes cook down the skins will disappear when you blend the sauce. 

2. This is not a seed free sauce. They don't bother us in the least and when you consider how much time it saves by leaving them in the sauce, they might not bother you either!

3. If you use glass containers to freeze in be SURE you leave headspace! I always leave at least 2" and only use wide mouth jars. 

4. You could make this without any seasoning if you prefer plain tomato sauce. I like it seasoned and ready to go right out of the freezer. 

So far each batch has yielded about 9 cups of sauce. I love having this (almost) ready made meal in the freezer for nights when I'm busy or don't feel like cooking. It is perfect for spaghetti, lasagna, or just about any Italian meal that needs a great sauce! 

How is your late summer preserving going? Do you have any tips or tricks for speeding up the process? 

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Need or Want?

This month I decided to embark on a "no spend" month. It just happened to be November which adds to the charm (I think), "No Spend November". Now it's not as if I am a spend thrift, just the opposite actually. I am tight. Quite tight. We have a budget, we stick to the budget. We pack lunches, we rent movies, we stay home. If a corner can be cut, I'm cutting it. But somehow, we always end up at the end of the month with a bunch of little purchases that really add up. For me its the unassuming $1 clearance purchases I make while picking up necessities. For my husband it's the beverage or snack that he spends $2 on during his work day. At the end of the month I am beating my head on the kitchen table lamenting, "We spent $120 on WHAT?!?".

Some of you may be laughing, $120 may seem trivial. But think about that $120. Spend that same amount every month for a year and you come to the grand sum of $1,440. Wow. Laugh if you want but that is a considerable chunk of change. I would much rather put that amount towards our future home or retirement then literally flush it down the toilet. This is where my glorious plan of a no spend month came in. 

We just need to STOP. For one month. And think, really think before we swipe that credit card (We use a cc in order to cash in on the rewards. Never have we carried a balance, I'd sell small organs before I carried a balance on a cc.). So what are we spending our money on this month? The basics. And I mean really basic. No eating out, no pointless trips to the bookstore, no meandering through thrift stores. Obviously we are paying our bills, putting gas in the car and eating (at home). I am "shopping" in our freezer and pantry and getting really creative! The only food items I've purchased so far are a few fresh vegetables, milk and creamer. (And before you say creamer isn't a necessity let me set you straight...yes.it.is. End of story.)

So that brings us to last night when I shook the rest of the severely rationed granola over my evening yogurt. Sigh. Granola certainly does not fall under the "necessity" column. And at $3 a box it certainly isn't frugal. I've been *meaning* to start making it for some time. I know it's easy, I know it's cheap...and yet somehow I just never got around to it. No more. Today, I made granola! 

I started by looking at various recipes and drawing inspiration. Things I didn't want in my granola; chocolate chips, peanut butter, vast amounts of sweetner and/or raisins. After that I'm pretty darn flexible. Feel free to substitute any nuts you may prefer. I just used what I had on hand. 

Granola 

Yield: 2 1/2 quarts

6 cups old fashioned oatmeal

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

1 cup unsweetened coconut (sulphur free is best)

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Stir together in large bowl. 

1/2 to 1 cup agave (I used 1/2 cup, might increase the amount in future batches)

Add agave and stir to coat. Spread mixture on large cookie sheet and bake at 350* for 30 mins stirring frequently. (I stirred about every 8-10 mins for the first 20 mins and then every 5 mins for the remainder). Continue baking past the initial 30 mins if you do not feel it is browned enough. Just watch it closely so you don't burn it. 

Remove from oven and add 1 cup of your favorite dried fruit. I used cranberries because raisins and I a not friends. (Unless they are plump and juicy in a hot bowl of oatmeal. Then we're best friend.) 

Cool completely and store in an airtight container. I used quart sized mason jars. Great for display! 

I hope you give homemade granola a try, even if this is not your recipe of choice, and let me know how it goes! I would also love to hear from others who have taken the plunge and cut spending for a month! Happy baking and saving!