W30D5

I'm currently watching the end of the movie The Croods right now. And man, am I a sucker for happy endings. I'm telling you, there were tears, laughter, and shouting at the TV - all within the last ten minutes. I clearly get too emotionally invested in movies... and books... and really any story. What can I say? I've got an active imagination that lets me become fully engrossed in a character's life. Hence my long history of late-night bouts of reading. I just can't put the book down. Anyways, I'm getting off track. The Croods is a movie about a caveman family which must venture out of its comfort zone and experience new things when their cave is destroyed by an earthquake. It's cute and fun. I enjoyed watching the Croods run around chasing their prey and chucking rocks at each other. Give it a go if you've got some free time. I turned it on so that I had something to watch while I used my rowing machine in my room. I find I can keep myself going longer if I have something to keep myself entertained. When I'm on the water, its the changing (though familiar) scenery; at home, it's movies.

Well now that I've jumped from movies to books to exercise, let's cover food. Here's another pasta sauce that I made to go along with yesterday's meatballs.

Fresh Basil and Mushroom Pasta Sauce

1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes

1 1/2 cup grape tomatoes

1/2 cup packed fresh basil, chiffonade cut

1 small yellow onion, chopped

3 large cloves garlic

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1/2 tsp dried basil

1 tsp paprika

1 1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp ground pepper

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp parsley

1 tbls olive oil

1. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a medium saucepan.

2. Once hot (a few drops of water will sizzle), add the onions, garlic, and half of the fresh basil. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. (Just a little note that I like my onions to be really thoroughly cooked, meaning that they tend to be extremely soft in whatever it is I'm cooking.)

3. Add in the remaining ingredients and reduce heat to medium-low (level 2 or 3 on electric stoves). Let simmer for 1 hour (you could reduce this cook time, but I think it tastes better if you let the flavors meld).

I layered the spaghetti squash, pasta sauce, and meatballs in my Mason jar that made splitting it up into two lunches during work super easy.