Homemade Pasta Sauce

Thanks to a trade group that I’ve been obsessed with, I’ve managed to obtain a hilarious amount of canned tomatoes in various forms. Whole, crushed, and pureed… Got em all!

This recipe can also be used with fresh tomatoes if that’s what you need.

Pasta Sauce

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 tsp red bell pepper flakes

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp basil

1 tbsp sugar

4 cloves of minced garlic

1 tbsp dried onion flakes

2 tbsp butter

salt and pepper to taste

1 can diced tomatoes (796ml if you are dicing your own fresh tomatoes)

1 can crushed tomatoes (796ml of you are crushing/ processing your own fresh tomatoes)

1/2 cup fresh Parmesan cheese, grated

1. Mix the oil,bell peppers, garlic, onion flakes, butter, sugar and spices in a large pot on medium heat. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

2. Add the cans of tomatoes- simmer for 2 hours.

3. When it’s finished, add the Parmesan.

This filled 3- 500ml mason jars with ease. REMEMBER to let the sauce cool 100% if you plan to freeze it in a glass jar. Also be sure to leave some headspace or the jars will crack when they are thawing (learned that the hard way).

DIY Body Sugar Scrub

Continuing on with the slow pace of either eliminating the plastic in my home or finding uses for the things already in the house to avoid them getting into our oceans.. I needed some more body scrub!

Equipped with a plastic container from my last purchase I started cruising the internet to understand what makes a good sugar scrub. After some dozen articles and blogs about the best things to use, I was able to collaborate on a recipe that not only matched my preferences perfectly, but I already had everything in the house!

My Homemade Sugar Scrub included:

1 Cup Brown Sugar

1/2 Cup Coconut Oil

1/2 Cup Coffee grounds

2 Tsp Vanilla

Mix everything together until well blended and store in a container that can be sealed. My general rule with scrubs is use them no more than twice a week.

Your shower will smell like sweet sweet coffee in the morning! It’s a great way to wake up.