Cooking Day

Yes, I am still alive, I am just being extremely lazy when it comes to blogging.  We haven't been doing anything exciting and I just haven't felt like writing about the weather, errands, classes, my painting, etc..

This morning we went and renewed our registration and plates for the car.  We didn't have to pay the one fee this year for whatever governmental reason so it was much cheaper.  We did have to trade in our plates for new ones again for some governmental decision.  The person we asked about it, just shrugged his shoulders when I asked why.  I know there was something in the news about getting new plates this year; but I was busy that day and didn't read the article so I don't know the reason.  My fault for not reading it.  Anyway it is done for another year.

On the way home I noticed a truck on the street selling tomatoes at 8 pesos a kilo, they have been very high priced lately and I have been wanting to make more spaghetti sauce to freeze, so I have been waiting for them to go down in price.
I bought 5 kilos, about 11 pounds.
I dropped Roy off at home and went for groceries, saw a friend at the store and visited for awhile with her and her husband which was nice.
Once I got home I started preparing the veggies for the sauce.  I cheated and used the grating blade in my food processor for the onion, celery and carrots.  Chopped up all but 3 or 4 of the tomatoes, mushrooms and a bunch of garlic.  Started cooking the veggies and tomatoes and threw it all together with some tomato juice, tomato sauce, and spices and let it simmer and cook down.   Todays sauce was meatless, other times I put ground beef into it or meatballs; but I already have some in the freezer like that.  The only boxed/canned products I use are the tomato juice and sauce.  This way I control what goes into what we eat and I can pronounce every ingredient in what we are eating.  A big plus in my mind, along with better taste of course.
 Naturally, we had spaghetti and garlic toast for lunch.  No photo as we ate it before I thought of it.
It is all cooked now and has cooled down enough to package for the freezer.  For us this is our "fast food" when I want something easy to prepare on a lazy day.  I try to keep this and homemade pork and beans  in the freezer for days that I just don't feel like cooking.
Final result 26 cups of sauce.

Chopping tomatoes.  They are so pretty.  I just love the colours of fresh veggies.

Veggies cooking and more tomatoes waiting to be chopped.

One batch cooked and ready to use.

Another batch cooking.

Mangos And Tomatoes

I just realised that I haven't posted any updates on the tomato plants. I have been eating them for awhile now and they are so good. Really enjoying them.

The mangos are also in full bloom right now and the bugs are super busy pollinating them. Too bad they don't have much of a fragrance; but it looks like there should be a good crop of them this year.





This morning we are off to meet a fellow blogger from northern British Columbia, Canada . I am sure it will be interesting to hear how they are enjoying the warm weather and views in San Carlos. They are only staying for a month, makes me shiver just to think of going back to the cold there after being here for that long.

Fresh Tomatoes

Awhile back I planted some cherry tomatoes, I wasn't sure if they would grow as the seeds were over a year old; but they did. In a few days we will be eating fresh, organic, tomatoes in our salads. I can't wait.

Tomatoes, Anyone?

Tomatoes, Anyone?

I had just returned from spanish class this afternoon, when I heard a loudspeaker blaring. Now, this is not an unusual thing around here, as there are trucks that drive by selling everything from veggies and ice cream to a couple last week selling mattresses and bed frames. Some of the tapes are quite muffled and you have to listen closely to understand what they have for you. This time I made out that they had tomatoes, "tomatoes, tomatoes, diez pesos por bolsa", 10 pesos (around $1.00) for a bag. Either he was really muffled or I just wasn't listening closely enough; but as I handed over my 10 pesos I happened to hear the rest of the tape. Diez pesos for tres kilos, oh uh I had just handed over my whooping great sum of $1.00 for 3 kilos of tomatoes, (almost 10 lbs.). As the young fellow and I walked around to the back of the truck and he handed me this big bag, I could see work in my future. Oh well, I laughed to myself, I guess I will find something to do with them. Roy thought it was pretty funny when I came back in with my big bag of tomatoes and he started making noises about a pot of fresh tomato soup. Figure this out, I had just bought 3 kilos of tomatoes for $1.00; but in the store 1 regular sized can of Campbells tomato soup costs somewhere around $1.45. Someone is making money. So, guess what I will be doing with part of my day tomorrow? They look nice and should be tasty. I wonder how many tomatoes you would get for $1.00 in Canada right now? Certainly not 10 pounds.

We have had a beautiful full moon the last couple of nights, so I tried to get a photo tonight. This is the result. Much better in real life, when you can see the shadow of the mountain in the moonlight; but this is what I captured.