Driven

Are you driven? Do you feel like you have to have more? Be the best? Have the newest? Or are you content? Able to peacefully amble along, stop and smell the roses along the way?

A certain amount of internal drive is good, helps us get up in the morning and go to work, keeps us motivated to pay our bills. We need that internal drive to keep us going and to keep us feeling good about ourselves.

Being externally driven, however, is a different matter. Being pressured to always have more, be the best, drive the newest car, live in the nicest house - why? To be better than your neighbors? To lord it over someone else? What fun is that?

Personally, I am not externally driven. I have a car that is 10 years old. It don't look like much, but it is paid for. The taxes on it are cheap and so is the insurance and licensing. As for my job, I do not feel like I have to type more than everyone else every day. If I make my quota, I feel like I have done well. I had enough of the pressure at my old job.

When you are being externally driven, you are not driving, you are not in control of your life - other things are exerting influences on you. I think there would be a lot less strife and sadness in this old world if people could sort out whether they have drive or are being externally driven.

Ok, off of my soapbox now! I am sharing a recipe for pizza sauce with you today. Very easy, can be frozen, will keep in the fridge for about a week. Does not make a huge big batch, either. We had homemade pizza the other night using this sauce and it was very, very nice.

Pizza Sauce

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon butter
1/2 cup onion chopped
1 garlic clove, minced (can use more to taste)
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
2 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 small bay leaf
1 teaspoon fennel seed



In a saucepan, melt butter with oil. Saute onion and garlic over low heat until transparent. Add tomato paste and sauce and stir until well blended. Add remaining ingredients and bring to simmer. Simmer 30-60 minutes. Or don't simmer, just use it now. Your preference. Remove bay leaf and spread on pizza dough. Or use to dip breadsticks. I would recommend if you are not going to simmer it, to add your spices to the onion and garlic and saute them for a bit before adding the paste and sauce. That is it. We made 2 good-sized pizzas with this and had a bit left over.



I apologize for the yikky picture! Until tomorrow!