Last weekend, I had both my family and Paul's family over for Finley's dedication. We all went to church together then came back to our house for lunch. I wanted to have a hearty meal but I wanted it to be ready when we got back from church, so I knew I would use a crock pot. I kept brainstorming for what to serve but all I could think of were BBQ Pork sandwiches (which are kind of cliche) and a big roast (which I'm afraid of buying big cuts of beef, I'm scared). So I was at a loss.
After a week or two of brainstorming, I came up with an idea. I would have a pasta bar! I had marinara and bolognese sauce cooking in my crockpots while we were at church then when we got home, I quickly boiled some spaghetti, bowtie and cheese ravioli.
I got the original recipe for the marinara from food.com and didn't really make any nutritional alterations. I couldn't find my head of garlic (weird, I know) so I resorted to garlic powder.
Crockpot Marinara Sauce
2 (28 oz) cans Italian-style crushed tomatoes
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
1 large onion, chopped
2 tsp garlic powder (or 8 cloves of garlic)
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp Splenda
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Mix all ingredients in a 3.5-6 qt crock pot.
Cover and cook on low 8 to 10 hours or high 4 to 5 hours.
Serve over pasta.
Makes 12 servings, per serving provides:
73 calories
1.6 g fat
14.4 g carbohydrate
3.4 g fiber
3.0 g protein
That looks REALLY good!! A Pasta bar is such a fun idea too! You are brilliant. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat Idea! I think we ended up going out to eat or ordering in after my son's dedication...I was too stressed. I don't like cooking. This sounds easy and yummy though.
ReplyDeleteI really, really like the idea of a pasta bar! That is something I've never done but you have inspired me. I've got a little event coming up later this month and think I just now decided what I will do. Thank you so much!
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