Sweet Homemade Tomato Sauce

Don't tell my family, but several tasty spoonfuls of this sauce traveled from the blender to my tummy long before the dinner table was set.  For tonight's meal, we ate this sweet--and creamy?!--tomato sauce with chicken and rice.  Tomorrow, I'm thinking it will be delicious over ravioli or fish or meatloaf or even, if spiced up a bit, as a makeshift enchilada sauce.

Measurements are approximated, and feel free to make substitutions.  The onions and carrots really boosted the sweetness, and I believe the combination of the olive oil and blending accounted for the "creamy" quality that we found both delightful and a bit surprising.

Orange Vinaigrette Dressing

Orange juice
Vinegar (whichever kind you like)
Honey
Pepper
Olive Oil

Mix and taste as you add ingredients.

How to make (or "bake") a Baby Diaper Cake

Here's a different kind of recipe.  The crafty kind!  Diaper cakes seem very popular right now.  I've seen several sellers and online stores carrying them, and there are helpful how-to videos available on the web, too.

This recipe is intentionally pretty vague.  What I love about crafts is we have the freedom to choose any materials we like and then create something unique and personalized.

Spanish Rice My Way

Ingredients:

• 3 C broth
• Chorizo (remove the casing and roughly chop the meat)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, minced
• Olive oil, if needed
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 2 sprinkles of dried Italian seasoning
• 2 C long-grain rice
• 1 bunch spinach (washed, stem ends removed)
• 1 C cilantro, chopped

Directions:

1. Pour the broth into a saucepan, cover, and turn the heat to MED-HIGH.  We want the broth to simmer, but it'll take a little time to get there, so we'll work on the rice in the meantime.
2. In a Dutch oven over MED-HIGH heat, use a wooden spoon to break the meat into bits so it'll mix well into the rice. Stir often and let the meat cook/brown a bit.
3. The chorizo will have released some oil, but you can add some olive oil if you feel the need.
4. Add the onions and garlic to the Dutch oven.  Continue to stir often.
5. Check the saucepan--is the broth simmering? Add the tomatoes and Italian seasoning.  Adjust the heat to keep the tomato-broth mix simmering gently.
6. Back to the Dutch oven.  Are your onions cooked through?
7. Add the rice to the Dutch oven.  Keep stirring until the grains look translucent around the edges.
8. Add the tomato-broth mixture to the rice mixture.  Bring to a simmer, then turn the heat down to MED-LOW.  Cover and allow to simmer gently for 15 min.
9. Stir in spinach and cilantro.