Roasting Tomatoes

Three pans of roasted tomatoes ready to go in the oven

I recently froze spaghetti sauce with tomatoes from our garden. The recipe I used was fairly simple. (I will share that another time!) However, in an effort to get more flavor out of our tomatoes--and into some of Ray Baby's low carb fare--I began the sauce with roasted tomatoes rather than just chopped tomatoes.

Our kitchen literally smelled like Olive Gardens. And the final product of Chunky Marinara smelled amazing. I will be so thrilled to have those twelve quarts of it in the freezer this winter to use with Ray Baby's winter veggies!

Here is how I went about roasting those fifty tomatoes:

Tomatoes--I used 50 tomatoes

Garlic

Balsamic vinegar

Olive Oil

Sea Salt

Pepper

oregano

 

 

 

1. Clean and stem tomatoes.

2. Cut tomatoes in half and lay in foil pans in one layer (doesn’t matter which side is up).

3. Sprinkle each pan of tomatoes (approximately ten tomatoes) with 1 heaping teaspoon minced garlic.

4. Salt and pepper tomatoes generously.

5. Sprinkle each pan of tomatoes with 1/2 tsp of oregano.

6. Sprinkle each pan of tomatoes with 1 TBSP olive oil.

7. Sprinkle each pan of tomatoes with 1 TBSP balsamic vinegar

8. Roast in 400 degree oven for 30 mins convection and 40 mins regular---move pans halfway through.

Low Carb Fall Vegetables

Image from sonomatowns

As we head into fall, I am saddened that I won't be able to just walk out the back door and get Ray Baby's veggies everyday! I am still heading out there often and getting a tomato here and a green pepper there--I haven't given up completely. However, very soon that obscure tomato or tiny pepper will not even be there to pick. Sadness...

On the other hand, it is time to turn my attention to buying (and even harvesting in my "fall garden") and preparing fall vegetables.

Here is a list of what I will be looking for to use in cooking low carb this fall:


1. Beets---very low carb, deep purple means very nutritious


2. Broccoli--very low carb and my sons like this veggie steamed with cheese, so that is a win-win


3. Cauliflower--low carb--plus I will use it for cauliflower pizza crust and cauliflower rice--and I will stir fry it along with broccoli and zucchini for oriental dishes as well as just for sides

4. Eggplant--I have never cooked with eggplant, but it is relatively low carb, deep purple for all of that nutrition--and I have some recipes pinned to try it out!



5. Garlic--I didn't even know this was a fall vegetable, and I definitely use it year round. I know everybody loves fresh everything, but I couldn't live without my jar of minced garlic in oil that I can dip into and get those aromatics going (along with onions and peppers) as the beginning of tons and tons of low carb veggies and stir fries.

6. Green beans--I have my fifteen year old watching his favorite show on Netflix this afternoon and snapping tons of green beans! I can use them so many way--I love putting them in the crock pot with potatoes and ham or sausage for my kids--then pulling out a heaping serving of just the green beans for Ray Baby!



7. Kale--I have some winter kale seeds that I am planting this weekend! Anxious to see if they really grow in the cold weather that the package says they will grow in. Ray enjoyed the kale chips I made him for a snack a few weeks ago--but kale is pricey, so if I can get this winter kale to grow, I will be excited!

8. Zucchini---I have been harvesting and cooking zucchini all summer! I froze it three weeks: a. shredded for breads, muffins, etc. (anxious to try out my new almond flour and swerve sweetener!); b. cubed with yellow squash for casseroles and stir fries; c. sliced (also bagged with sliced yellow squash part of the time and sometimes by itself) also for stir fries, but Ray Baby likes the sliced zucchini just to steam in a little broth and season it (though he's not the best seasoner! lol).

I am also looking forward to using three "fall" herbs:

1. Basil
2. Rosemary
3. Thyme

Though my sons would have me using four of them--and they would have to sing it: "Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme"--they love to follow me through the kitchen when I am cooking, carrying those four spices in their hands and waving them in my face while singing "Scarborough Fair"! Kids--never a dull moment!

Who Is Hubby and How Am I Helping Him?

Hi! I'm Donna, fifty year old wife of thirty-two years to a man I usually, and quite lovingly, call Ray Baby. The second week of July 2013 Ray Baby set out to lose weight. He has lost weight before and gained it back. (Well, so have I, come to think of it!) But this time, it feels different. We have recently lost a dear friend to heart disease, and our parents are aging and pretty ill, and we just look at things differently now.

Ray and I celebrating our thirty-second anniversary this summer---outside of the church where we were married. (Yes, we are hopeless romantics!)

I lost forty pounds two years ago and have kept twenty-five of it off (making my total net loss/kept off for eight years to be fifty-five pounds--I lost thirty pounds several years ago when we began ballroom dancing (and kept that off!). While I want to lose the fifteen that I have gained--and then twenty or thirty more, I am lacking motivation right now.

So instead of losing more weight myself, I have poured myself into helping Ray Baby get to a healthier weight. And this blog is going to chronicle that journey!

I will back up and tell some of the progress he has already made, continue on with his journey/progress, share recipes and tips, and much more. 

Ray Baby--summer 2013--before he began losing weight at 320 pounds

Ray Baby is doing a low carb diet. I guess you would call it Atkins since he (1) tries to stay under forty grams of carbohydrates a day; (2) counts net carbs (grams of carbohydrates minus grams of fiber); and (3) doesn't count calories.

Every day I receive help, tips, recipes, and ideas from blogs, Facebook pages, etc., so now I want to pay it forward. As I have learned to cook, garden, shop, freeze, can, and prepare low carb, I want to help others learn to do the same.

So share my new page with others! And feel free to comment, ask questions, share recipes and ideas, etc. Losing weight is definitely a journey much better taken with others! ;)

Ray Baby summer 2013 before he had lost much