Squat Challenge & Marinara Sauce Recipe

So I found this squat challenge on Pinterest about a week ago and me and Brandon are going to start it today!

Me & B rocking our llama hats

He is away for work a lot and this is something fun we can do together from a far and it is always nice to have that accountability partner. I joked that we will have to compare our buns of steel at the end to see who got more out of the challenge. His will probably be better :/ but that's okay. I'll just have to do the challenge a second time to catch up! 

I'm hoping I can still walk after this awesome challenge. It is a  four week time line with a rest day every fourth day. It has a variation of 5 different squats to work different muscles. I also plan to run every other day this coming week. I may have to take it slow but something is better than nothing right?

As for the marinara sauce, you will never want to buy a jar of sauce again.  I found this recipe through a court reporting friend who introduced me to the Karma Chow website.

Mel's Zesty Marinara Sauce

Ingredients:
1 red onion, diced
1 c. shitake mushrooms, sliced thinly (I have tried to force myself to like mushrooms but I can't do it, so I leave these out)
4 cloves garlic, minced (I always use quite a bit more than this. I can't get enough)
2 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. thyme
1 TBL Tamari (This is a gluten free soy sauce - I am assuming regular soy sauce would work but I had this on hand so I normally use it)
1 TBL balsamic vinegar

 Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/2 can tomato paste
2 - 28 oz cans fire roasted crushed tomatoes (In my small town store I can never find the fire roasted, so I just use plain crushed tomatoes)
Salt & pepper to taste
2 tsp. Agave Nectar
2 TBL fresh basil, chopped (I have to use dried most of the time because of the small town store)

Before I ever add in the tamari, agave, and balsamic, I like to use the immersion blender to make sure my sauce it completely smooth. I don't like chunky sauces so this is my way around that. 

After adding in the tamari, agave, and balsamic, I added in some meat. I prefer to use ground turkey. If you do choose to use turkey you will need to season it. It is very bland. I just use an Italian seasoning which seems to do the trick. I would taste it though because it needs more than you would think. 

I hope you all enjoy this marinara sauce as much as I do!