Homemade Bourbon Whiskey BBQ Sauce - AKA: Oh Dear Lord. I've died & gone to Heaven.

This is part three of getting my family away from store bought condiments & preservatives.  So far I have made ketchup & taco sauce.  All with great results.  If you missed my post about my homemade ketchup, go here, & taco sauce go here. 

 

Here in the PNW, Autumn comes quick.  Chilly nights make the tomato skins crack.  I had to get out there in September & pick all the green tomatoes that were left on the vine.  When it was all said & done I had 6 brown paper bag full.  Yesterday, I finally used up the last remaining tomatoes from my garden.  I'm so happy to be able to see my clean counter top. 

 

I decided to make some BBQ.  I tried a recipe from the Ball Canning website, but it was too hot & vinegary for my taste.  Then I came across this little gem from allrecipes.com.  Go here to bookmark it.  Here is the recipe in its entirety:

 

Bourbon Whiskey BBQ Sauce:

1/2 onion, minced

4 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 cup bourbon whiskey

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper  

1/2 tablespoon salt 

2 cups ketchup

1/4 cup tomato paste

1/3 cup cider vinegar                                                

2 tablespoons liquid smoke flavoring

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce                                                    

1/2 cup packed brown sugar 

1/3 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, or to taste                                                    

Directions

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, combine the onion, garlic, and whiskey. Simmer for 10 minutes, or until onion is translucent. Mix in the ground black pepper, salt, ketchup, tomato paste, vinegar, liquid smoke, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, and hot pepper sauce.
2. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 20 minutes. Run sauce through a strainer if you prefer a smooth sauce. 

I played around with the recipe to suit my situation.  For example I wasn't going to use store bought ketchup & paste when I had my own tomatoes.  Secondly, I wasn't going to go out & buy liquid smoke.  Finally, I found out I had no Worcestershire sauce or garlic cloves. 

I peeled & seeded 8 quarts of tomatoes.  Cooked it down to desired thickness.  I added 1/4C of whiskey, I didn't want to over power it.  Then added the onion & garlic powder,  salt, pepper, brown sugar, & hot pepper sauce.  I let it cook a bit more so the alcohol would cook out.  I processed it for 25 minutes in my water bath canner.

 

It came out AWESOME!  I am never going to use another recipe.  My husband wants to use this on the next tri tip we buy.  Try it out & tell me what you think.  Now I am putting my canner away, jars & lids away.

Thrifty tip: Saving Marigold Seeds

Who doesn't love Marigolds?  Those little ruffled yellow & orange flowers just add a pop of color to any spot & they keep bugs away.  Did you know you can that you can gather the seeds and regrow them next year?  I didn't.  This seriously easy.

 

 

Pull or cut the spent flower off.  Let it dry. Or if you are lazy like me, wait until it is dry on the plant then pull it.

 

 

Pull the dried petals out.  Sorry for the dark photos, but I'm not a photographer.

 

 

Pull the seeds out of the bottom & store them for next year.  The seeds are thin with black on the bottom.  Each one can grow another plant.  Each flower could hold around 50 seeds.  If you planted & cultivated each seed you'd have 50 plants for free.  Which could save you a lot of money.  Even if they were $1 each that's $50 you saved!

 

Homemade Taco Sauce

In my house we eat a ridiculous amount of Mexican food, in particular, tacos.  We have tacos at least once a week.  It's just easy & everyone eats them without complaining.  I am trying to cook from scratch & trying not to buy processed food. The most easiest way to start lessening my family's dependence on processed food is with making my own condiments. 

 

I haven't bought taco sauce in the past 2 years.  In my humble opinion, I like my sauce more than the store bought stuff.  That's saying a lot because I am picky about my food.  This recipe is similar to the previous post about making ketchup.  See the post here.  (Yes I am reusing the same pictures.)

Use as many or as little tomatoes you want.  I use about 6-8 quarts of tomatoes.  Peel tomatoes (lightly cut an X into the skin and drop them into boiling water.)  Leave them in the water for about 10 seconds and put them in cold water (ice water is preferred).  The skins will slide off.  Core & cut.  Leave pot uncovered.  Once soft run through food mill to remove seeds.  Unlike the picture, you don't need onions or red peppers.

 

 

 

 

Reduce the tomato mixture to desired thickness.  Cook on low for 4-8 hours stirring from time to time to prevent sticking.  I prefer my sauce a bit thick so when it covers the spoon & doesn't fall off too quickly I know it's done.  The only thing I add after reducing the tomato mixture is my homemade taco seasoning.  If you're using my recipe for taco seasoning, I used at least 4-5 tablespoons full.  I really don't know how much I just pour some seasoning in until I like the way it tastes.  I'm that kind of cook.  I usually can get 6-8 pints of taco from 6-8 quarts of tomatoes.  Have fun & let me know what you think.



 

 

Once you try it, you'll never buy it again: Homemade Ketchup

I have been making my own taco sauce for the past couple of years and it's pretty easy.  Cook down tomatoes, run through a food mill, add my homemade taco seasoning & water bath it.  This year I had so many volunteer tomato plants in my garden & they are producing tomatoes to the nth degree I decided to try to make ketchup.  Why?  We are trying to eat homemade food to help our children with their epilepsy.  Less chemical or man made products going into their body. 

 

My ketchup label says this:

 

"Tomato concentrate (water & tomato paste), high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, vinegar, salt, onion powder, spice & natural flavoring."

 

Thank goodness for my Ball Blue Book of Preserving.  I found a wonderful recipe that I will use forever.

 

• 4 quarts of chopped, peeled, & cored tomatoes (abt 24 large)
• 1 cup chopped onion (1 med)
• 1/2 cup chopped sweet red pepper (1/2 medium)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 teaspoon whole allspice
• 1 teaspoon mustard seed
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 1 c sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 1/2 cups vinegar

Combine tomatoes, onion & pepper in a large sauce pot.  Cook until tomatoes are tender.  Puree using a food processor or food mill.  Cook puree rapidly until thick and reduced by one-half.  Tie whole spices in a spice bag.  Add spice bag, sugar, salt & paprika to tomato mixture.  Simmer 25 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking.  Remove spice bag,  Ladle hot ketchup into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch head space.  Adjust two piece caps.  Process 10 minutes in a boiling water canner.  Yields about 3 pints.

  

To peel tomatoes lightly cut an X into the skin and drop them into boiling water.  Leave them in the water for about 10 seconds and put them in cold water (ice water is preferred).  The skins will slide off.  Core & cut.  Leave pot uncovered.  Once soft run through food mill to remove seeds.

  

Once reduced add spice bag & other ingredients. 

 

*Remember to use iodine free salt or sea salt when canning.

The finish product.  This picture does not do it justice.  The color is vibrant.  It's a deep red-orange almost like the color of marinara sauce.  The flavor is AH-MAZING.

 In the water bath canner my pretties.

The finish product:

 

 

4 pints of tomato heaven.  While it is not a thick as store bought, probably because there is no corn syrup to thicken it, but it comes very close.  If you cooked it down a bit longer it would be more like store bought.  My has the consistency of taco sauce. 

 

NOTE: I don't know how many quarts of tomatoes I had.  I just used what tomatoes were ready, I probably used more. than the recipe calls for.  I did cook my sauce longer than it said and at a higher temperature.  I think from start to finish it took about 8-10 hours, mostly just waiting for the puree to cook down.

The Most Medicinal Weed in Your Garden

From time to time I head out to the countryside to go to a women's group called Titus 2.  This group of ladies are a wealth of knowledge.  They would rather find medicinal herbs in their yard than go to the store & buy it.  I thought it was weird to use weeds as medicine, but I started to think about it, this is how my great grandparents healed themselves.  After all, most over the counter medicine are derived from plants.

 

The first easily identifiable plant is Mullein.  This plant has soft furry leaves.  When mature mullein will have a long spear like stem with small yellow flowers.

 

It is widely used for herbal remedies with emollient and astringent properties. It is known to possess anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, antiviral, anti-fungal, antibacterial, expectorant, and analgesic properties. It is especially recommended for coughs and related problems, but also used in topical applications against a variety of skin problems.  Because of its astringent properties it can be use on hemorrhoids & athlete's foot.  

 

 

 

 

The primary use for Mullein is to fight coughs.  Herbal teas are made for an expectorant, dry cough, bronchitis, & sore throat.  The combination of expectorant and emollient mucilage makes the plant particularly effective for cough. All preparations meant to be drunk have to be finely filtered to eliminate the irritating hairs.

About a week or so ago I found this little guy in my garden right in the middle of my spinach & carrots.  My OCD tendencies wanted to pull it, I didn't.  The leaves grew so nice & big in just a few days.  I cut the bigger ones & cut them into smaller pieces & dehydrated it.  It took only a few hours to dehydrate.  Friends have encouraged me to try it, they really says it works.  So I have a small jelly jar full of mullein ready to use when the cold season starts.  I will let you know how well it works.  I will have to add some sugar or homemade vanilla extract in the tea.

Hydrogen Peroxide is FABULOUS stain remover!

My children are active.  That's the best way to say it.  They climb, run, and jump.  They never sit still.  They're kids; that's what they are suppose to do.  There are many times that they fall & get scrapped up.  Most of the time they get blood on their clothes.

 

This is from our current ouchie:

 

 

Pour the hydrogen peroxide directly on the blood stain.  Let it foam.  Repeat if necessary.  Wash with cold water and pour hp again.  There will be less foam each time you use hp.



This pair of sweats washed once.  The stain is gone!  No scrubbing & no harsh chemicals.

 

 

 

I have even done this on dried blood stains.  Do the same steps.  The stain still comes out.  If for some reason you wash & dry your clothes & you missed the stain, repeat the steps.  It will still foam, but I would add some stain remover.  I just love hydrogen peroxide!  A chemical free miracle!

 

Homemade bleach

I read somewhere that bleach was used as a method of chemical warfare during WWI.  Most households didn't have bleach they used hydrogen peroxide, which is safer for the environment.  This recipe isn't too harsh & doesn't have that "bleach" smell.

1 C hydrogen peroxide
3 T lemon juice
12 C water

Mix all ingredients.  That's it.  Use it in the wash, counter tops, where ever you need to use bleach.  Store in a cool place.  Use within 6 months.

An easy way to make fruit leather

You will need two things: yogurt and a dehydrator.  Yes that's it.

1. Yogurt, any kind, preferably the cheaper the better.  Great way to use up those containers that are just about to expire.

 

 

2. Pour it on plastic wrap and smooth out.  Add extra cut up fruit to intensify the flavor.

 



 

 

3. Dehydrate until dry about 6-8 hours at about 150*.

 

Pretty easy and better for the kids than the roll ups from the store.  I didn't add sugar or artificial sweeteners.  Next post will be dehydrated yogurt bites.  Can't wait to try it.



Homemade Vanilla Extract

Do you know what's in vanilla extract?  2 things: Vanilla beans & vodka.  THAT'S IT! The 3rd ingredient is time.  About 3-6 months depending on your desired level of strength of flavor.

First vanilla beans & vodka

 

 

 Cut beans length wise & scrap seeds into jar.

 

Put vanilla beans into jar.

Pour in vodka to cover beans.  Put jar in the a dark cupboard.  Let sit 3-6 months. 

Shake every month or so.  Don't forget to write date on the lid

 

Cost analysis: $5.99 for organic beans, $18.99 for a liter of vodka.  I probably used about $4.00 worth of vodka (overestimate).  So $9.99 total.  The jar holds 1 pint = 16 fl oz.  Amazon has vanilla on sale 8 oz for $10.17.  I made double for the same price & didn't have to pay shipping.  I'm ready to bake some chocolate cookies!

I'M BACK!

I've been MIA for a while.  School, hospitalizations, & life in general.  But I'm coming back with a vengence!  See my new posts soon!