Day 6: Meal Planning Struggles

I'm in the second last week of classes before my teaching practicum starts, and I've definitely been spending long hours at the university as a result. As someone who has been a fan of single serving packaged meals, or would have simply gotten something to eat on campus for long days, I'm definitely having a hard time meal planning. On top of that, my fast home cooked meals are also out of the question since my frozen vegetables and sauces tend to be packaged in plastic and canned.

I'll be honest here, but I was pretty devastated to find out canned foods have a lining of plastic on the inside as well.  I went into this challenge thinking I could quickly whip up some recipes with canned food. But nope, according to Environmental Working Group, canned foods have been found to contain BPA in them from the liner. Beverages seem to contain the least amount of BPA, and canned pasta and soups contain the highest levels. 

Things seemed gloomy, but then the research began! I came across a few tomato pasta sauce recipes I could make from scratch. Some called for boiling tomatoes and then peeling them. Others called for 6 to 8 hours of cooking. And then there is this hilariously awkward video on "How to Make Good Ass Tomato Sauce From Scratch in 15 Minutes." I read them over and got the general gist and decided to see what I could come up with on my own. 

Andddddd, ta-da!

It wasn't too bad! I could definitely improve on the recipe and try to make it with more care when I don't have a bunch of assignments due. I don't have the exact measurements for the recipe, but here are the ingredients:

- olive oil

- garlic (I just threw in a whole clove; I love garlic)

- LOTS of roma tomatoes (I think I had about 15 to 20)

- green peppers

- mushrooms

- basil

- sage

- brown sugar

- Italian herb mixture

- rosemary

- pepper

- salt

- cayenne pepper

- water

You can buy all the herbs and spices from the bulk barn. I am lucky that I took my parents glass and metal spice rack since they never used it.

1) Cook onions and garlic in olive oil
2) Chop tomatoes and a little bit of water. If tomato peels bug you, I would boil them, peel, and then add them to the mixture.
3) Add the rest of the vegetables and spices
4) Stir! It will take a while for everything to break down. I think I cooked mine for about an hour.
5) Boil some pasta and chow down!

I was so hungry that I forgot to take a picture before I started eating. So you get this mush-mash instead. I have tons of left overs that I can eat later on in the week or freeze.