Sweet Easy Pie Crust :)

I also love this pie crust recipe. It is also a press it into the pan recipe!

2 cups flour (white or whole wheat)

1 cup brown sugar, packed (I have used successfully 2/3 cup honey and 2 TBS blackstrap molasses)

3/4 cup butter/coconut oil/olive oil etc

1/2 cup quick-cooking oat (I don't own quick-cooking oats, if you are really worried you can blend it in the blender for a few seconds)

You can use part of it as a topping or make more pie crusts. You just mix them together (I use a pastry cutter) and press it in!

Yum yum and easy peasy!

Easy Pie Crust

I do not like to roll things out, it's a mess and I am not great at it. So, I use this press in the pan recipe and love it!

1 stick butter (I have used coconut oil, but it doesn't work quite the same)
1 cup flour (white or whole wheat works great)
2 TBS sugar (honey, sucanut, agave and xylitol all work fantastically!)

Work with hands until dough almost holds together (I use a pastry cutter). Press into pie plate. Bake at 375 degrees about 15 minutes. I have added extra sweetner before, cocoa powder and spices at different times for different things with great success. I never change the butter/flour ratio though.

Pasta e Fagioli

It's soup time! This recipe is similar to Olive Garden's Pasta e Fagioli. I serve it with some sort of bread and a salad. It takes about 1 hour. I do not add the beef so to round off the flavor I add 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Enjoy!

Pasta e Fagioli

1 lb ground beef

1 small onion, diced

1 large carrot, julienned

3 stalks celery, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes

1 15 oz can red kidney beans (with liquid)

1 15 oz can great northern beans (with liquid)

1 15 oz can tomato sauce

2 12 cans vegetable juice (like V-8 juice)

1 tbs white vinegar (optional)

1½ tsp salt

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp basil

½ tsp pepper

½ tsp thyme

1 handful small shell pasta

dash of cayenne pepper

1. Brown the ground beef and drain off most of the fat.

2. Add onion, carrot celery and garlic and saute’ for 10 minute

3. Add remaining ingredients except pasta, and simmer for 1 hour.

4. About 50 minutes into simmer time, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Serve.

I like this soupier so I add a 46 oz can of V-8 and double the seasonings.

Favorite Salsa Recipe

I have tested this on the teenagers in the neighborhood. They love it! I taste it until it seems hot enough. Sometimes I add more jalepenos.

4 cups tomatoes

2 cups green peppers

½ cup jalapeños(deseeded)

1 anaheim pepper

¾ cup chopped onions

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp cilantro

1 ½ tsp salt

2 cloves garlic

5 tbps vinegar

Quarter whole tomatoes and coarsely blend in blender 4 cups at a time. Add to pan. Blend onions, peppers, green pepper add to pan. Simmer for 10 minutes. Water bath can 40 minutes for pints. I do not worry too much about how many peppers I have or what kinds, as long as it tastes right before I process it.

Pizza or pasta sauce

This is a super simple and flexible sauce. We LOVE it on our pizza and we stole it from Alicia. :)

2 roasted garlic cloves--you can also crush them and cook in 1/4 cup oil and add (though I always use fresh, I am too lazy)

2 14 oz cans of diced/whole etc tomatoes. I even use fresh ones and it turns out great!

2 tsp Italian mix (or any Italian herbs you have on hand--basil, marjoram, oregano, sage)

1/4 tsp pepper

Blend in your blender and put on your pizza. I have read that you can let it "marinade" for awhile and it makes a great raw (assuming you use fresh tomatoes and garlic) tomato sauce for pastas.

I have also been known to blend other veggies into it...like summer squash, cauliflower, spinach etc ENJOY!

Hair-Raising Cider :)

Hi there everyone!

I really like this recipe because it's easy to get the ingredients and it can be used immediately. This recipe is from the book "Family Herbal" by Rosemary Gladstar.

1 quart RAW apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup fresh grated horseradish
1 chopped onion
1 head of garlic, peeled and chopped
2 TBS turmeric
1-2 pinches of cayenne pepper.

Cover and let sit in a warm place 3-4 weeks. Strain this and then add 1 cup honey, rebottle and regrigerate. You can take 1-2 TBS daily as a tonic or if you are sick then you can take it from the first sign of symptoms and every 2-4 hours until your symtpoms are gone.

Some people like the flavor okay, some don't care for it. However, it works great and has very familiar ingredients, all of which you can purchase at your local grocery store!

Sinus rinse

This remedy has worked for many a friend who has had a sinus infection. Even those treated with antibiotics with no success. Our family uses it with great success just for sinus congestion during a cold! Many people won't try it because they are afraid, but everyone that does try it raves about the way it aids them!

What I do is use 1 cup of warm water, 1 tsp of sea salt and a few granules of ground cayenne pepper. You can use up to a pinch, but I would start with a few granules and then add more as you feel like you need them. I do like a pinch, but it took me a few tries to find the acceptable heat.

Then what I do is breathe it up one side of my nose and let it go into the back of my throat and spit it out. I know this sounds gross, but it helps with sore throats and with stimulating all around your sinuses. Now, I use this same remedy in a nettie pot, but find that the breathing it up is more effective when totally infected.

We have not used antibiotics in our family for the past 7 years (except when I was in labor with positive group B strep and when my daughter severed the top third of her ear from her scalp)