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| Staple ingredients that I usually have at all time so I don't have to plan ahead. |
This is my first time doing the Whole 30 and let me tell you, what a learning curve! I've always considered myself a label-reader but this nutrition reset really heightens one's awareness. Take marinara sauce for example, who knew that food companies added heaps of sugar to each jar? I typically look for marinara sauce with the lowest sugar grams but on Whole 30 you cannot have ANY trace of sugar in the ingredient list. Tomatoes have naturally occurring sugar so marinara will naturally have some but who knew how many companies ADDED sugar, and a LOT, to their sauces? What an eye opener! Is it any wonder why Diabetes is on the rise?
If you're a regular Aldi shopper like me, they have a great, compliant marinara in their Organics line. The label says Organic Marinara. There is zero sugar in the ingredients and it's a pretty good sauce. I've been buying it for years but our local Aldi is under construction and has been out of it so I just decided to start making my own. We eat marinara at least once a week. This recipe is easy but I'll be honest, not as convenient as twisting a lid off a ready made jar. However, there is nothing as tasty as homemade. Making your own marinara will require a blender or food processor, both of which I have though I prefer my processor for this sauce.
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| Does anyone else wear these? If you have sensitive eyes to onions, these are a must! |
I'm not even kidding you right now, I NEVER cut an onion without suiting up in my goggles! My mom gave these to me back in 1999 when I complained about tearing all of my eye makeup off. Only a makeup maven mom would understand my dire circumstances, I mean, I spend a lot of time on my mascara. But I digress.....
Chop up a small yellow onion and 3-4 cloves of garlic. I buy elephant garlic so I only need one clove. Heat up a tablespoon of olive oil and sauté your onion for 2 minutes. Add salt prior so that your onions get nice and sweaty! Stir constantly, no one likes burnt onion in their marinara. Next add the garlic and sauté with the onion for one minute only. Then transfer to blender or processor.
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| add salt to onion before sautéing for a good sweat |
Open your big ol' can of tomatoes (check ingredients for zero sugar) and dump right into processor. Then add your can of tomato paste.
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| I like a lot of seasoning. |
Into that add a big splash of balsamic vinegar, 1&1/2 TBSP of olive oil, and 1 TBSP of Italian Seasoning (more or less depending on your taste preference)
After that I pulse to a chunky consistency, I don't like liquidy sauce, but it's your sauce so you choose the texture.
If you want plain marinara then transfer to a pot and heat it up stirring constantly but if you are going all carnivore then hang tight....
MEAT!!!!!
I will either do an organic grass fed beef from Aldi OR if I'm feeling crazy I'll add ground pork Italian sausage or ground lamb. You could do any ground meat really. Venison anyone?
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| Look at that steamy steam! |
Once the meat is browned I'll add my marinara and heat it all up!
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| Larpin' good! Does anyone say larpin any longer? Is that an old mid-west word? |
Because I'm on Whole 30 and because I rarely, if ever, eat real gluten pasta, I usually opt to make spaghetti squash or ZOODLES!!!! Who likes Zoodles? My family doesn't so thats more for me!
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| Aren't they pretty???? |
I researched a lot of Spiralizers but went with this little handheld one so it would take up less space and it was only $14.99!
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| Fits in the palm of my hand, and I have small hands. |
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| Doesn't take long at all to spiral up these babies! |
I bring water to a boil, add a steamer basket and steam my Zoodles with the lid on for only 2 minutes. I like them al dente, not mushy. Today I was lazy so with last nights' leftovers I microwaved them for 45 seconds and they came out perfectly and no pot to wash. Hmmmm, might be my preferred method.
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| Voila! Eat em up, yum yum! |
And there you have it, an easy, tasty, compliant Whole 30 meal that I was actually eating long before I ever did Whole 30.
I hope you like my Michelle's Whole 30 Marinara Sauce. I love it and it's customizable. You can add and subtract. When Whole 30 is over it's wonderful with Parmesan Reggiano grated on top. You can also add a teaspoon of sugar to the sauce as sugar is used to balance the acidity of tomatoes. But only a teaspoon, let's not get silly.
If you try it, let me know. Please share this recipe with others and subscribe to my blog at the top of my page if you haven't already. You can also follow me over on my Facebook page, Michelle Spieler Fit by 50.
Thank you for your time and I hope this was A Good Fit.
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