DITY Challenge 1

A few days ago, I mentioned a new challenge I created for myself; The DITY Challenge.

Why the sudden challenge? Maybe I'm "nesting" or people are starting to rub off on me but I just feel like DOING stuff. Last night, I decided to start off the challenge by making my hubby a spaghetti dinner with homemade spaghetti sauce and meatballs. This is a big deal to me. I'm a soup and grilled cheese sandwhich, kraft dinner, cereal loving, non-cooking wife.

I dislike the kitchen for 2 reasons:

1. My tastebuds hate me.
2. I have no idea how to cook.
   Do you know how hard it is to cook when you can't try what you're cooking? Things end up mushy, not seasoned right, or well done. I remember the first time I cooked asparagus. You could tie them in knots. Apparently that's bad.

My husband would add "...And you make a huge mess" to that list. Thanks.

My "spaghetti dinner" was more like rotini noodles with pasta sauce and meatballs.
Close enough.

I followed this recipe from All Recipes. My changes are in pink.

Italian Spaghetti Sauce with Meatballs

Rated: Submitted By: Jeremy Photo By: F18NavyWife Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 2 Hours Ready In: 2 Hours 20 Minutes Servings: 6

"Easy but tasty tomato sauce with big meatballs cooks in just about two hours."

Ingredients:

MEATBALLS 1 pound lean ground beef 1 cup fresh bread crumbs 1 tablespoon dried parsley 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder 1 egg, beaten

SAUCE 3/4 cup chopped onion - added a bit more 5 cloves garlic, minced 1/4 cup olive oil 2 (28 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes - 1 can diced no salt/1 can crushed 2 teaspoons salt - maybe 0.5 - 1 tsp 1 teaspoon white sugar - a whole lot more 1 bay leaf 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste 3/4 teaspoon dried basil 1/2 teaspoon pepper - none, we're out.

Directions:

1.

In a large bowl, combine ground beef, bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, garlic powder and beaten egg. Mix well and form into 12 balls. Store, covered, in refrigerator until needed. I rolled them in flour and gave them a quick fry to seal in the juices. I read it in the review. There was something weird about putting raw meatballs in a sauce for 30 minutes.

2.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until onion is translucent. Stir in tomatoes, salt, sugar and bay leaf. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 90 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, basil, 1/2 teaspoon pepper and meatballs and simmer 30 minutes more. Serve. ________________________________________________________________________________ Now. I can see where I went wrong here. 1. Not enough salt. Apparently, minimizing sodium content doesn't work for all recipes. 2. No pepper. Enough said. 3. I should have used either 2 cans whole tomatoes, 2 cans diced, or 2 cans crushed. In the end, the sauce was way too acidic so I threw in a bunch of sugar to cut it down. It felt like something was missing but it turned out OK. We've definitely had better but it wasn't bad. In the end, I'm just happy I made something I hadn't made before and that my husband didn't get sick. If anyone knows of a good spaghetti sauce recipe, let me know!

Introducing: "The DITY Challenge"

For me, picking a niche for Marce Lips is like picking a favorite pair of shoes. There are way too many options!! I'm the type of person who knows a little about a lot so to focus on one or two topics is completely overwhelming.

 

For the record, these shoes are super cute.

Source

For now, my blog will be about everything. It will be a compilation of things I like; life, health, fitness, hot topics, crafts, motherhood... etc. How can I be great at something if I don't explore new things? With that said, I've created a new challenge for myself.

Introducing "The DITY Challenge!"
(DIT*EEH)

DITY standing for Do It This Year.

Enough procrastinating! Think about how many times you say "I want to do that!" or "I want to make that!" but LIFE decides to be all bossy and interfere. Well, enough is enough. Sometimes we need to be a little selfish. Life isn't only about work, bills, and taking care of your family. It's also about having fun, enjoying life's blessings, and trying new things.

The plan is 2-4 new things every month. It might seem like a lot to some people (especially if you work full-time or have a family) but they don't have to be big projects.

Here are some examples on my DITY list. I'm totally pulling a blogger faux pas by not adding sources. Some of them didn't have sources but you can find all images on my Pinterest here.

Top left - Clockwise

FOOD

1. Bake/make awesome desserts like this.... and often.

2. Prep freezer bags for crockpot meals.

3. Try making homemade soups.

4. Oganize my fridge

5. Do 30 day Paleo challenges. I like candy and cereal too much to give it up.

6. Learn about canning.

 

BODY

1. Improve posture. I carry tension in my neck.

2. Drink more water!

3. Run 5k.

4. Start yoga.

It's about being healthy. Not about the size of my clothes.

 

FASHION

1. Buy a new pair of fabulous shoes. I'm pushing out a baby. I deserve a pair.

2 & 3. Wear dresses.

4. Get a new hair style/color.

5. New body = New outfits.

 

DYI 

1. Build a custom cat post for our spoiled cats.

2. Learn how to knit and make some winter stuff. I love mittens!

3. Make my own spa products; lipgloss, soaps, bath salts etc.

4. Make some Christmas ornaments.

 

BABY

1. Make fabric alphabet set.

2. Make headbands as gifts and for myself.

3. Make a "Quiet Book" for Baby H.

 

HOME

1. Do a family wall.

2. Make this "Meet. Married. Honeymoon." art piece.

3. Work on art; painting/drawing/journals.

4. Build entrance organizer.

 

So there you have it! I'll make sure to write about whatever projects tackle. Maybe I'll come across a hidden talent or something. Now that you've read about "The DITY Challenge", what's on your list for 2013?