Simple Homemade Marinara Sauce with Garlic & Basil

Hello and happy fall!

If you read my blog you already know this—I’m Italian, and I love pasta. While I’ve been making my own homemade noodles for about a year, I’ve been hesitating on the sauce. Who wants that mess? You have to peel tomatoes and the juice splashes everywhere, etc. The list goes on. Or so I thought. Turns out I was wrong. Yes, it can be messy to make your own sauce, but it’s not that bad and it’s totally worth it. I never should have hesitated. I now LOVE making my own Simple Homemade Marinara Sauce with Garlic & Basil.

Not only is it way healthier to eat, but it makes your entire home smell amazing and it tastes so much better than that stuff from the jar. There is nothing better than the mix of fresh-snipped basil and ripe tomatoes with a splash of olive oil. There is a reason pasta marinara is a household staple, and it’s not just because it’s a cheap, quick fix. It’s really good, too. Pasta marinara is so simple, yet when you get a realllllly good noodle with an impeccable sauce, there’s just nothing better for a crisp, cool night!

My garden has been producing an overwhelming amount of tomatoes so my partner and I are hurrying to make sure none of our homegrown tomatoes go to waste. With a half dozen jars of salsa under our belt, we moved onto canning the following marinara sauce recipe.

Go ahead and give it a try. Let me know what you think!

Cheers and happy eating!

Jocelyn

* Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. As always, all opinions are my own!

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Recipe: Vegan Chocolate Chip Carrot Cake

Hello friends,

My dad loves carrot cake. Every few years for my parents birthdays  … Yes, you read that correctly—my parents were born on the same day two years apart! Anyway, every so often, I surprise them with a homemade carrot cake. This year, I started making the cake, got half way through the recipe, and realized I didn’t have any raisons! A carrot cake without raisons! Can you believe it? Well, it was much too late to head to the store. Or at least, I didn’t want to trek to the 24 hour Giant Eagle. So I started thinking about how to make a carrot cake with a twist. I looked around the cupboard and saw some chocolate chips, pecans and ginger powder. Voila! Why not make a vegan chocolate chip carrot cake?!

I have this saying—good food + good food = good food. It works with basic ingredients as well. The cake was perfectly moist, not too dense, and just sweet enough. It did not disappoint! Both my parents loved it! Why not give this recipe a try the next time you need an ‘inspired’ dessert?

Cheers and happy eating!

Jocelyn

* Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. As always, all opinions are my own!

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September Savings: Kite Hill, Sabra, Frontera, & More!

Hello everyone,

Happy September Savings! Ah, while many of my friends are mourning the loss of summer, I couldn’t be happier. This is simply my favorite time of year. The leaves will soon begin to change. We’ll get sweater weather. Plus, pumpkin spice everything! I know, I know. But fall means winter. I also love snow, and I’d much rather be cold than hot. Bring it on! I’m so excited to make tofu pot pies and baked squash. Yum.

Okay, so today I have a full September Savings Round Up packed with great coupons and deals, but I also want to talk about a “new” rewards app – Fetch Rewards. This app has actually been around for quite some time, but I didn’t learn about it until last week when I logged into my Mobisave app to scan a receipt and saw their new partnership.

Use my Fetch Rewards referral code – BU7GX – and it will earn you and me 1,500 points with your first completed receipt. That’s the equivalent of $1.50.

Fetch Rewards works similar to fan favorites like IbottaBerrycart, or CheckOut51. Fetch Rewards allows you to scan a receipt within the past 14 days, and it will automatically look for certain brands/ products that earn points. Plus, there are constantly special offers which earn you up to an extra 1,000 points just for one product. That’s essentially an extra $1.00 rebate. This is a great way to put a few extra dollars back in your pocket each month while expending minimal effort. The thing I love most is the variety of brands on the app. There is everything from Lays/ Tostitos chips to Boca brand faux meats!

Want more specifics? Fetch Rewards earns you points two ways: Participating brands get base points and bonus points. All brands listed on the “save” tab earn points per dollar amount. Additionally, you can receive bonus points if the price of the item is more than the target price listed.

How does this translate to cash back/ rewards? 3,000 points will earn you $3 at Amazon or Target. You might say 1,000 points per dollar is pretty steep, but you earn points rather quickly. If you purchase a bonus brand you can get loads of extra points. I recently purchased a bag of Lays chips for a Labor Day party and received 500 “brand” points and 25 points for the $2.50 cost of the bag of chips.

If you enter my referral code (BU7GX) and scan a receipt, we’ll each get 1,500 points. That equals $1.50 in rewards just for using my code! Why turn down free money?

The only catch is you must enter the referral code before you scan your first receipt. You can do that when you first sign up for Fetch Rewards or by clicking the “Me” button and entering the code prior to scanning the receipt. Once you scan and send your receipt and it’s accepted, the 1,500 points will automatically be applied to your account.

Fetch Rewards is available for both iOS and Android: http://www.fetchrewards.com/fetchrewards

What are you waiting for? Go download this app and be sure to checkout my full savings round up below! Cheers & happy shopping!

Jocelyn

PS – As always, in case you missed them, check out my top ways to save and other recent savings posts.

* Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. As always, all opinions are my own!


  Continue reading “September Savings: Kite Hill, Sabra, Frontera, & More!”