The Easiest Pie Crust (No Rolling)

Pie crust doesn’t have to be difficult!

This is the pie crust that my mom has been making with pumpkin pie for years.

However, it can be used with most any pie that calls for a single crust.(in other words- only crust on the bottom) I use it all the time!

It is my favorite, because it just couldn’t be any easier to make. You don’t have to roll out the dough, and you can mix it together right in the pie dish!

It also is my favorite because it is flaky and tender and a perfect compliment to that special pie that you worked so hard on.

I wouldn’t say pie crust is ‘healthy’, but a homemade crust is going to be worlds better for you than those refrigerated pie crusts that are readily available at the grocery store. Yes, they might save you a few minutes, but compare this list of ingredients to the 5 simple ingredients in the homemade crust. (Enriched Flour Bleached (wheat flour, niacin, ferrous sulfate, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), Partially Hydrogenated Lard with BHA and BHT to Protect Flavor, Wheat Starch, Water. Contains 2% or less of: Salt, Rice Flour, Xanthan Gum, Potassium Sorbate and Sodium Propionate (preservatives), Citric Acid, Yellow 5, Red 40.) (source)  Wow!

Happy pie-making!

Tasty Barbecue Chicken Legs

Here’s a great Main Dish for any weeknight at your house. It’s easy and cheap and a family-pleaser!

Chicken legs are a very economical cut of chicken, so they are a great choice if you are wanting to save your pennies! Perhaps one of my favorite ways to prepare and eat chicken legs is with Barbecue Sauce.

In this method, I remove the skin of the chicken legs, so that the sauce sticks right to the chicken itself. Removing the skin also makes them a little less fattening, if that’s something you are wanting to watch. I have found that I much prefer eating chicken legs without the skin in the way. I never liked that all the good coating or sauce, or whatever was used, was only on the skin, and then you have all that bare chicken underneath. Personal preference, yes, but maybe you feel the same way?

In this recipe, I both bake and grill the chicken legs. Bake first to ensure the chicken gets cooked fully and evenly- then finish off with grilling, either on an outdoor grill if weather is warm, or even on an indoor grill. I have done both.

I use my Homemade Sweet BBQ Sauce to coat them up. The end result will be juicy, tender, and very messy chicken legs!

Fried Apples

I have had fried apples on my mind ever since my Grandmother last visited a month or so ago. We were on our way to the apple orchard and discussing good ways to prepare apples. She reminisced about the absolute deliciousness of Fried Apples.

So, last night, I decided to get my fix, and serve fried apples with our turkey dinner. And I’m with Grandma- they really were yummy!

The apples were soft, the syrup was thick, sweet and buttery and the flavors spoke of fall with spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger coating the apples.

What a treat!

Homemade Sweet Barbecue Sauce

Everyone needs a good stand-by recipe for a basic barbecue sauce.

This one I am sharing today is my family’s current favorite. It is thick, sweet and boasts a deep and bold flavor from molasses.

Store-bought, bottled and processed barbecue sauce is among the growing list of ‘foods’ I no longer buy at the grocery store. Here are the ingredients for the popular Sweet Baby Rays Original Barbecue Sauce.  A few notable ingredients are Caramel Color, Sodium Benzonate Preservative, Modified Food Starch. Tasty, Huh?

But the good news is, a homemade sauce is so quick to mix together, and you might even have the ingredients in your house already!

Here it is: