Most children do not get enough vegetables and fruits into their diets. We all know this. I try to make sure my kiddos get what they need nutritionally, but I admit that I fail a lot of the time. That is one reason I have been trying to find recipes that incorporate a lot of healthy elements yet still taste terrific. I created this recipe for Sneaky Pasta Sauce by accident last month. I was trying to make a good spaghetti sauce and came out with this instead. I make a lot of food from scratch, but I have never made marinara sauce. Everyone keeps telling me how easy it is so I thought I’d give it a try. I started off with Wendy from Around My Family Table’s Easy Homemade Tomato Sauce. With that as my jumping off point, I just started adding vegetables and spices. What I ended up with was a nutritious and sweet sauce that the kiddos gobbled up and raved about. Check out the recipe below.
Sneaky Pasta Sauce
- 5 lbs of tomatoes
- 1 onion, quartered
- 1 cup carrots, shredded
- 1 cup zucchini, shredded
- 1 cup baby spinach
- 4 oz mushrooms, halved
- 1 tbs fresh parsley
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 tbs olive oil
1tsp dried oregano- 1stp dried basil
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1.5 tsp salt
- Dash of pepper
Directions
- Wash and core tomatoes.
- Combine all the ingredients through the garlic in large pot.
- Slowly bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Let it gently boil for one minute and then reduce
heat to low. - Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 20 minutes or until it thickens, whichever comes first.
- Remove the pot from heat. When the mixture is cool enough to handle, use an immersion blender to puree it. If you do not have an immersion blender you can use a traditional blender to puree the sauce a little at a time.
- Serve over your children’s favorite pasta.
- Be sure to divide up and freeze your leftovers for future yumminess.
How do you get more fruits and vegetables into your family’s diet? Feel free to leave a comment. Share and let’s talk about it.
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Shared this recipe on Fresh Bites Friday, Tuesday Confessional, and Food on Fridays.
I’ll definitely have to try this because God knows my kids avoid ALL vegetables but love spaghetti. Your newest GFC and NetworkedBlogs follower from the Alexa hop
Bri @ Ramblings of a Southern Mama
Southern Mama Bri recently posted..Woo Hoo It’s Mega Swag Bucks Day
Clever, clever! Love the idea of sneaking in some more good stuff. I have kids ranging in age from 10 to 17, and they could all stand to eat more veggies.
Thanks for this great idea, and for linking to Food on Fridays!
Ann Kroeker recently posted..Food on Fridays: Safekeeping
Wow that’s great!!
Sadie recently posted..Fun Free Things to Do in Phoenix, AZ
I love pasta and veggies, so I will making this recipe very soon. I will let cha know how it turns out. Thanks for the great idea.
Looks Yummy!
I have added squash to DS pasta sauce before to get hi to eat it up. He LOVES pasta, so why not add a few extra veggies in with it.
Little Miss Kate recently posted..Food for Fridays — Homemade Granola Bars
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Love it- I did a post a while back on sneaking all sorts of good stuff into your family!
Marie recently posted..Face Palm Friday 9/9
Just bookmarked this recipe to try out over the weekend. My kids love pasta and I’d love to avoid store bought sauce.What an awesome idea. TYVM!!!
marina recently posted..Pizza Mania : Early Math Game (+ Giveaway)
I love Spaghetti, have to try this sometime! Wonderful idea!
katie mitchell recently posted..Furry Friends Friday *Linky*
Sounds good!
MamaPsalmist recently posted..Submission and Obedience
I cant wait to try this.My son loves eating pasta and he’ll be eating his veggies without him knowing it.Thanks for sharing this.
Alisa recently posted..Bento Love – Bento Blog And Photo
Great idea and we love spaghetti. Adding veggies to the sauce is wonderful.
Awesome! I am always sneaking veggies into my cooking
thethriftyhousewife recently posted..Enter A Giveaway, Help Save An Orphan
Hello, I’m a new gfc follower of your blog
that spagehtti and garlic bread is getting me hungry.
Chavonne recently posted..Daily Freebies 9/11
Thanks for the recipe! I am a new follower from the hop. Looking forward to reading more of your posts.
Hope to you can visit and follow my blog – Free eBooks Daily. (You can even read ebooks on your computer or smartphone!)
http://www.freeebooksdaily.com
Free eBooks Daily recently posted..Dreams That Stay by Kara Baum
That looks really good! I don’t have to worry about my kids and veggies, but I might just have to try it because it looks good!
Heather ~ Acting Balanced Mom recently posted..Mompact Blog Hop – #GIVEAWAY and Review – Lil Hot Heads
Very sneaky! I just love this recipe!
This would never work for me. My kids won’t eat any sauce on their pasta, believe it or not. Found you on the StumbleUpon 4 U hop and just stumbled this for you.