I found this recipe for “The Best Stewed Tomatoes Ever” online. I did make a few modifications, but this just proves that it doesn’t take much for tomatoes to taste good, really good!

I’ve used Roma Tomatoes both times, and did the simple boil (for 30 seconds-1 minute) and then a quick “ice” bath. I only do 5 or 6 tomatoes total. I would have done six tomatoes the last time, but one of them had already begun to rot, and I only bought them a couple of days ago.

It is amazing how the boil/ice bath works to make a tomato easily peeled. 

I had part of a red sweet bell pepper that I large diced into the tomatoes, which I had cut up into smaller chunks. I also fine diced a regular onion and put that in the mix. I added some parsley flakes & salt, according to the recipe, but I also added some dried basil leaves (which I had grown last year, and then dried and put in a re-closeable sandwich baggie), and a little Splenda sweetener.

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I bought a can of mushroom stems & pieces yesterday and then I went looking for a healthy “diabetic friendly” recipe. I had originally imagined stewing the mushrooms down to make a delicious mushroom gravy which led to thoughts of adding them to some Cream of Celery soup, but then I thought that the cream wouldn’t be as diabetic friendly as I would like. Not to add Half-n-Half to make this creamy, hmmm. 

I had some leeks, so I chopped up one small one, and some onion, and some sweet bell pepper. I think I added a diced carrot, some dried tarragon and just a little Splenda sweetener. I ended up eating this concoction as my dinner, along with some of the steamed cabbage I had cooked for lunch. 

*Beef Polska Kielbasa, waffle polenta cakes and steamed cabbage make a good, comfort food meal. I have recently started flavoring my steamed cabbage first with just a little Splenda sweetener. Then I may add a little margarine while it is steaming. Some S&P and some Celery Seeds. Once the cabbage is done, I put them on the plate, and flavor one portion with some bacon fat and another portion with Toasted Sesame Oil.

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This worked. I had calf liver, with sauteed onions, some of the best stewed tomatoes (.5 cup is just enough), roasted cauliflower seasoned with smoked paprika & margarine, and a slice of the Tuscan Boule Loaf bread from Publix. I would do this combination again because it all worked together very well.

One surprise was that the sauteed onions complimented the roasted cauliflower.