Mr. Kerrie's Homemade Spaghetti Sauce Recipe!!!!!

So you think you're ready to make spaghetti sauce, huh? In case you missed it, here's the post where I shared how I process tomatoes so they'll be all frozen and ready to make sauce when you are ready.

Before I give you the recipe, let me show you the process of making the sauce. First, make sure your commercial freezer door was somehow gets left open just a smidge so your frozen processed tomatoes will be almost perfectly thawed for you when you are ready. Seriously, though, thaw the frozen tomatoes that you already have processed (skinned, cored, quartered). Below is my hubs dumping out the tomatoes (unspackled walls in the background; I'll get around to it; get off my back already!). Note the big stockpot, even though the recipe I give you will be for if you just use a one-gallon bag of tomatoes. He probably quadrupled his recipe for each batch.

Your tomatoes will be gorgeous in the pot and ready to make sauce for you to enjoy. Tomatoes are all about making you happy.

Here's my man chopping up herbs from our herb pots on our deck. You have my permission to use store-bought. Just don't come raid my herb pots ... or try to steal my man who can cook.

Thickening on the stove, a ninety-seven 2-day process.

1 gallon processed tomatoes (16 cups, 4 quarts)
1 T rosemary, fresh, chopped
1 small red onion chopped
1/2 bunch parsley, chopped
1 bulb fresh garlic, chopped  (or if you are like me, just use 1 T minced from a jar)
1/4 cup chopped basil
1 T fresh oregano, chopped
1 T dried and chopped thyme
3 bay leaves
1 T dry marjoram
1 T salt to taste

Start all of the above boiling in a stock pot.

Reduce heat to a simmer. It will take hours for this to reduce and thicken ... 4 hours or more with you stirring every 10 minutes.

If you get annoyed by this lengthy process, toss in some tomato paste to desired thickness whenever you are ready to throw in the towel. [! Don't really put a towel into the sauce, please!!!!!]

Once it's as thick as you want it and tastes how you like it (might need more salt, a little sugar, more garlic if you love it a lot), keep it hot then either eat it up yum or CAN IT. No, I am not telling you to personally can it, like to shut up. I am saying get out your canning jars and lids and screw-tops and your big boiler thingie and go to town. This is the part where I get off because I'm not the canning expert in my family.

Thankful Thursday with Linky!: Tbox To-Go Tampon Holder

I like to involve my husband in the review process whenever I can, especially when feminine products are involved. Right about now you should be thinking something along the lines of, "Her poor father, the dad to an only child and a girl at that." or "Her poor husband." while shaking your head. P.S. Don't look at my unspackled walls. I am not proud of my brand of lazy.

How do you store your tampons in your diaper bag or purse or backpack? Do you just toss them in and the wrapper comes apart and the tampon gets all dirty and then you throw it away? Do you just stuff them in your bag and then can't find one when you need one? Do they fall out at a bad time? Does your kid get one out in the middle of church and wave it around before you can stop him?

The Tbox To-Go tampon holder is genius, and I wish it had been around when I was a teenager. Heck, it's cool for me now, and I'm 41 years old. Not only do you not have to worry about any of the above, but it also has a pill box attached to the end for you to put your Advil in! The Tbox holds up to 3 tampons, and they are protected. And nobody can see what's in there. And your kids can't get it open very easily. Trust me, I did the quality control test at my house.

The Tbox comes in three different colors and can be purchased here for only $14.99 (free shipping on two or more). They can be found here on Facebook.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Link up your reviews/giveaways here!

Keeping Kids Busy/Homeschool Science/Art/Geology

There are many FREE ways to keep kids occupied, but why not go to Michael's and blow a bunch of money on, say, a lip balm making kit or on a paleontologist kit? Then why not hit a garage sale and buy a bunch of cheap Easter egg kits and color Easter eggs in August? And then why not just call it art and science and geology?

Tackle-It Tuesday: Kid Shoes

Every Tuesday, I tackle a different project around my home that's been bugging all of us!

I have a very nice problem: too many kid shoes. We receive shoes from all over the place. We have shoes for Sam that his brothers gently wore. We have shoes from older boys for our older boys. We have shoes from older girls for our girls. Sometimes we find we don't have a particular size and have to go buy a cheap pair. I can't remember what happened in Wyoming but I do remember having to stop at Target in Salt Lake City to buy new shoes for Eva. We accumulate shoes around here. Not me, but the kids. Definitely not me. I wish!

So the only thing I've been putting off longer than SPACKLING (yes, I will get around to it ... probably when the weather is colder. Then you will be sick of spackling and sanding and painting pictures, mark my words.

Packaways Rockin' Storage Solution Review

I swear the blogging/reviewing universe is looking out for me because I keep getting these totally useful and absolutely wonderful things to review! Packaways Multipurpose Storage Boxes are no exception.

Here's my daughter modeling the product for you, readers. We'd just been to the pool, so that would explain the swimsuit!

Here are the reasons why I love these boxes:

1. They are colorful (more colorful than clear plastic bins, that's fo sho!)
2. You don't have to keep track of the dang lid (stuff gets lost around here, SHOCKER!)
3. They set up fast and easy and anybody could do it, even a kid
4. They have white panels on the sides so you can write on them what's inside the box
5. They stack easily
6. They come in different sizes
7. They are sturdy
8. They store FLAT when you're not using them so you I don't have to listen to your my husband gripe about having too much stuff and where will we put it all and on and on (hint: you store stuff INSIDE the boxes and keep it wherever you want and if you don't need the box right now you store it nice and flat, say, under a bed or in a closet or behind the fridge!)
9. They make good fort boxes for the kids
10. They make great moving boxes
11. They store old baby clothes so I can't actually SEE them, thereby making me want another baby
12. They are made in America (not that there's anything wrong with other countries, dear readers from other countries, but I happen to live in America and like to support American-made stuff when I can)

Here they are on Facebook (you gotta LIKE them!), and here's a little ditty on YouTube.


I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.