"too lazy to go to the store" tomato sauce

My mom's garden has infinity tomatoes right now so I've been trying to use them up! I made gallons of chili and some salads and stuff and then I thought: pasta sauce?! So I looked up some recipes online and they all called for basil and oregano and whatnot, which I don't usually keep on hand because... I don't really make Italian food that much. And, as the title implies, I was too lazy to go to the store.

6 tomatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
4 chopped cloves of garlic
1 diced onion
1 tsp garlic powder
salt & pepper

I chopped the tomatoes and cooked them in the oil for like 15 minutes. And then I threw in everything else and simmered it for another 15 minutes.

And then I ate it with some whole wheat penne pasta and it was yummy! Oregano? Basil? Who needs 'em?? Another time I ate this over some couscous and it was good. Another time (this recipe made a lot) I sauteed a zucchini and some mushrooms and put sauce over it and it was also good.

Vegan Taco Dip

This literally takes 10 minutes to make. Mmmmm, and it's delicious.

I used the smallest baking casserole dish I have because I don't need a GIGANTIC TACO DIP for two people. But, next time I go to a party, I'll use a bigger one to share.

Ingredients:
1 can red kidney beans OR chili beans if you find them (I got mine at Sunflower Market)
1 package of mexican tofu "meat" -- I'll edit the note when I'm home and can tell you the brand
Vegan sour cream (Tofutti is the best)
Vegetables -- I used cucumbers, tomatoes, and avocados, but feel free to use what you have
Black olives (optional, of course)

I cooked the beans to heat them up, then blended them and used them as the bottom layer.
Heat up the tofu using the package directions and use that as the second layer.
Cucumbers, tomatoes, and avocado came next. If I had olives, they would be on top.
Sour cream on top of the vegetables.

You can chill first, or you can dig right in! It's seriously delicious. I bought corn chips to use, and made them into nachos, essentially, and there are plenty of leftovers.

Easy delicious pasta sauce!

So a forewarning: I RARELY, if ever, cook according to anything one could conceivably call an ordinary recipe with measurements. I do a lot of adding ingredients, tasting, and adjusting accordingly. Thus most of the measurements included with this recipe are rough estimates and depend, of course, on tasting. [From here forward I'll take more note of what actual proportions I use!]

Ingredients:

2 regular cans of diced tomatoes (I recommend the Italian-style kind that have basil and oregano in them, but any kind will work)

2-3 spicy Italian sausages*

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

A small handful of chopped fresh onion

3 tablespoons chopped jar garlic

3-4 cloves of fresh garlic, diced

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1-2 tablespoons dried basil

1-2 teaspoons salt

2-3 teaspoons cracked pepper

Optional: 1-2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar/balsamic vinegar/red wine (doesn't have to be good)

*I've also made this recipe with chorizo & ground beef; for vegetarians/vegans it works very well with fake ground-beef, or is also delicious without (but in that case I recommend another can of tomatoes).

Take a large sauce pan, and cover the bottom with the olive oil. Remove sausages from casings (this is extremely easy to do and essentially involves squeezing the sausage filling from the casings) and break into small chunks - about bite-sized. Sauté sausage pieces with 2 of the heads of garlic and the onions. As the sausage begins to cook, add the tomatoes directly to the pan with the sausage. Cover and let simmer for about 5 minutes. Note: the ground beef and tofu-ground beef take less cooking time; and obviously, skip the meat-prep step entirely if you intend to serve without meat.

Add the jar garlic, salt, and pepper, stir, and let simmer for about a minute. Taste. Add basil and oregano. Taste. Adjust proportions of any spices according to personal preference. Let simmer for around 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the garlic and onions from burning and the sausage from sticking. Add a splash more olive oil to taste; at this point add vinegar and/or wine (I recommend only adding one, but your personal taste preference can dictate if you'd like to use both). Reduce heat, let simmer for 5-10 more minutes.

Good over pasta, in eggplant parmesan, baked with portabello caps, over veggies, etc! Served over your average-sized serving of pasta this makes about 7-9 servings (proportion based on the eating habits of 4 women in their early 20s, aka my roommates and I - this usually will feed the four of us once, and me alone about 4 times besides).