Newark Natural Foods

I never use pre-made tomato sauce because tomato sauce is so easy to make.

For a super quick sauce:

Olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 28 oz. can diced organic tomatoes (Don’t drain)

1/2 to 1 can (6 oz.) organic tomato paste (optional)

sea salt

herbs- fresh or dried basil, oregano, parsley

sweetener, if needed ( agave, honey, or sugar)

Saute chopped onion in oil. When onions begin to turn translucent, add garlic and continue cooking until onions are turning golden. Add tomato products , stirring to mix in the paste. Using tomato paste will give you a heartier sauce. If using dried herbs, add now. Cook for however long you would like… just to heat it all through for a fresher taste or if you will be cooking the sauce again (as in making lasagna) or to really cook the tomatoes and thicken it up. 

Add chopped fresh herbs , if you are using them. Add a small amount of salt. You may barely need any if your tomatoes were seasoned. If you have an immersion blender, tilt pot to the side, immerse blender and blend until desired texture. You can also blend some or all of it in a regular blender.

Taste for seasoning. If it tastes too acidic, add a bit of sweetener. If it is too thick, add water. Too thin? Cook longer.

You can also add soymilk, milk or cream at the end to make a Tomato Cream Sauce. Other possible addition….Olives, sauteed peppers, parmesan cheese, pesto, sauteed sliced mushrooms and before you add the tomatoes, you can pour in a splash or two of red wine.

Multiply recipe as needed. You can freeze unused sauce or tomato paste.

It is pretty easy to make your own lip balm at home. Save up your used lip balm tubes and small containers or purchase new ones. It is inexpensive and makes a lovely little gift.

All you will need is some beeswax, oil (sweet almond or coconut), and a flavoring oil, if desired. You should start with a ratio of two parts oil to one part beeswax. You put these ingredients in a pan and heat until the wax is thoroughly melted. Add your flavoring as it begins to cool. Stir with an old chopstick or other disposable stick. Once it is cooled, check the consistancy. If it is too hard, add oil and reheat. If it is too soft, add more beeswax. You can vary the consistancy to suit your needs. Let’s say you wanted to make a creamy salve…that means you’ll be using more oil. You can use  medicinal oils such as comfrey, tea tree and rosemary to make healing salves.

Pouring the liquid into a pyrex measuring cup will make it easier to pour into small openings.

You can also add other fats like shea butter. Shea butter is a whitish fat obtained from the seeds of the shea tree. You can add cocoa butter or even mango butter!

4 ounces of Sweet Almond oil and two ounces of Beeswax will make more than enough to fill a dozen ¼ oz. jars or tubes. To this size batch, you would add a few drops of essential oils (such as anise, peppermint or orange).

Other optional ingredients …. honey, wheat germ oil, vitamin E (just break open a capsule), lanolin, a small piece of an old lipstick (for color).

 You can probably do this pretty easily in a microwave, too. But since I don’t own one, I can’t help you there!