to lie about my pasta sauce?

Don't text her but if they ask again say "It's just a basic tomato sauce with peas and sweetcorn added" which is true but doesn't give away whether it's home made or not. The mum probably just wants to make it for her daughter.

Bless you! Don't lie, just say "It's Dolmio, I use it sometimes because the ingredients are almost exactly the same as my recipe. I don't put citic acid in mine of course."
Never be ashamed of being who you are.

I wouldn't lie, but I also wouldn't tell the truth. i.e. 'I love the pasta at your house'. 'I'm glad - it's nice to know I'm giving you something you like', rather than 'It comes out of a jar'.

I have been 'not lying' about my extremely popular chocolate cake for many many years, as in I accept all the compliments graciously and just don't mention that I use a bought cake mix (Wright's chocolate cake mix - if anyone wants to know. Delicious and 100% reliable). If asked I would admit it - my younger adult daughter already knows but I have never actually told my elder daughter. She may well know but I haven't told her. I'm not very good at cake making and this mix can be made in 5 minutes plus cooking time.

This is a good idea!

Actually tbh if it was me and the request had come via the child, I would probably just ignore it until the mum asked me directly 😂 And then if she does, “oh I’m so sorry I forgot, it was just a basic tomato sauce with peas and sweetcorn added, no recipe as such!”
Not really even a lie… 😉

I have in the past had another mother comment about me being intimidatingly 'together' and I almost laughed in her face. It's honestly not false modesty - I genuinely couldn't believe her perception of me and swiftly disabused her of such notions!

I'm team 'Have the Confidence to Admit to the Jar' - it could be a bonding moment!

I’ve also anyway seen some utter madness on mumsnet that frozen peas aren’t proper veg too so if the mum’s one of them…... 🤣

I’d just say it’s proper toddler food, jar and frozen veg.

I reckon the real key here is the sweetcorn, revolting stuff but my two both loved it up to about the age of 8. Ditto frozen mixed veg. Peas we are all a fan of anyway, one of the best vegetables.

Just say “I just use any basic tomato pasta sauce and add sweetcorn and peas.” Skirt right over the issue of what the basic sauce is and where it comes from.

I’d say it’s -

tin toms
A spoonful of boullion
salt /pepper
3 cloves garlic
1 onion
mushroooms
1 carrot
tomato purée
oregano
basil

Fry off the veg add toms, purée, bullion plus couple of cans of water. Add herbs/seasoning, simmer for 5 min then blend.

That’s mine and it’s lovely. If you want bonus points you could add a cup of red lentils in after you add the liquid.

She'd absolutely know the OP was lying through her teeth saying that!

You don't grow tomatoes outdoors on an allotment for a start, they need high temps in a greenhouse (so it would beg the question "ah have you got a heated greenhouse with artificial lighting) and tomatoes definitely wouldn't be ready to be freshly picked in April, not if the OP is in the UK anyway.

Keep it simple, it's passata (which is basic tomato purée) with onion, herbs and seasoning, and peas/sweetcorn thrown in. What's the point of creating more problems than it's worth!

Maybe that illegal herb is why Dolmios sauce is a top seller 🤣🤣

Hahaha – when DD was small her favourite Mummy’s Magic Pasta sauce was… a tin of tomatoes, reduced. Nothing else. She used to tell her friends about it! 😂

Now I do: roast a big tray of garlic in skin, ancient tomatoes from the back of the salad drawer, peppers, aubergine, any other knackered and wrinkly vegetables, olive oil, S&P, oregano, at 180 for 45 mins. Squeeze garlic from skins. Chuck it all in a saucepan with two tins of tomatoes and a big blob of red pesto. Simmer through, then blend with stick blender.

^ Try giving her that one, OP: tell her it makes a very thick sauce and freezes flat in sandwich bags so you have 8,000 available for after school. You may desecrate it with peas and sweetcorn if you must.

I couldn't imagine the person the op is worrying about would really overthink a pasta sauce, is it really worth all this angst?

There are UPF free pasta sauces. Tell her it’s Heinz with a added veg 😁

I always ate eggs at a friends house because her dad told me he collected the. From the farm (inner city kid - now realise total bs) but my mum mysteriously started getting farm eggs.
a white lie never hurt anyone. Tell her it’s basic tomato and basil sauce wi tbh sweetcorn added. No harm done

My (very picky, autistic) DC ask me to make my home made pasta sauce.

It would probably take me longer to open a jar of Dolmio.

Tomato puree, water, Worcestershire sauce, red wine vinegar, garlic powder, salt, and sprinkle of brown sugar. Oh, and dried herbs - I use the “Italian mix” so I’m not even adding them individually.

Literally takes 30 seconds to chuck into a jug, whisk, and then just warm it up in the microwave or saucepan.

DC and DP love it and I honestly have no clue why because it was a panic concoction one day when I was about to serve up the pasta for DC and realised I did t have a jar in the cupboard. I had to make something quickly and this was the result 🫣😂

No proper ingredients like onions and fresh garlic. No gentle simmering or cooking down veg like carrots.

It’s embarrassing when DC mention my “amazing” pasta sauce to their friends because it’s not proper cooking and literally is just a jumble of random stuff chucked together. I’d rather die than admit how shit it is. Dolmio would sound infinitely better imo! 😂

I would be honest but maybe try make it into a bit of a joke, like “goodness I can’t believe she liked it, I had to make it when my shopping didn’t turn up/order was wrong and I had nothing else. Now it’s become an occasional special treat for me to make it” If the mum is very picky about food, then she might not want her coming for meals anymore if she thinks you’re always serving foods she doesn’t approve of. This would be sad for your DD if her friend wasn’t allowed over anymore.

This 🤣

Well then she'll have to eat her words lol!

I would say it is juar tomato sauce and I add sweetcorn and peas. I can and often do make a basic tomato sauce, but I also am not adverse to picking up a good quality one when cheap in Heron Foods and using it when I have none in the freezer/cannot be arsed. Not like you are giving them pasta coated in crack. I also always have chopped frozen onions/garlic and ginger in the freezer and frozen mash to top fish pie etc. I hate the prep part of cooking when busy and it saves cleaning the food processor. Hardly crime of the century and I have no time for people who look down on people for taking short cuts. Yes I can cut and onion and cook every thing from scratch but when I get in at 6pm and feel knackered from a demanding job, it is short cuts or order a take away.

I know this is lighthearted but I'm gonna answer anyway. If the mum didn't ask it herself, no need to send anything.

This is the correct answer. The “secret” is that you blend it before adding the sweetcorn to get the right texture.

My daughter’s friend mum who’s a nutritionist/dietitian asked me for my pancake recipe as her daughter raved about my pancakes, I happily passed on my ‘Betty Crocker just add milk’ recipe!