Homemade BBQ Sauce

I decided to try making homemade bbq sauce for the first time last week.  It is so hard to find organic bbq sauces at a regular grocery store and the conventional ones are full of crap ingredients like high fructose corn syrup, artificial colorings, and gmo's.  

I do want to preface this post by saying these are ketchup based bbq sauces.  Yes....I know ketchup is technically not a "real food"...it's a condiment.  Condiments are the one area where I have yet to make my own (except for salsa, and now bbq sauce).  For now I am happy to buy organic and call it a day.  At some point I will probably attempt to make my own mayo, but as far as mustard and ketchup...I doubt it.  I do plan on fiddling with these recipes at some point using fresh, local tomatoes when they come back into season.  I would also like to add that yes, these recipes do contain sugar.  Please make sure you use 100% pure cane sugar (or you run the risk of your sauce containing gmo's).  I think honey or maple syrup would work wonderfully in these recipes.  Next time I plan on trying local, raw honey.

And now...back to the regular scheduled programming.

I made two different kinds of sauces.  The first one is a spicy sauce that my son found a bit too spicy for his taste.  I love it though!  The second one I made specifically for my son, which is a sweet & smoky sauce.  It was perfect for him.  I found these sauces to taste much better than store-bought versions.  Below are the recipes.  Don't be intimidated by the lengthy ingredient lists...the recipes come together very quickly and are super easy to make.

SPICY BBQ SAUCE

2 C. organic ketchup

½ C. + 2 T. brown sugar (use pure cane sugar)

1 ½ t. organic yellow mustard

1 T. organic raw cider vinegar

3 T. molasses

1 ½ t. organic worcestershire sauce

1 t. kosher salt

½ t. black pepper

2 t. paprika

2 t. onion powder

¾ t. garlic powder

½ t. cayenne pepper

¼ t. crushed red pepper

¼ t. ground cumin

¼ t. ground ginger

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil over med/high heat, then reduce to low, cover, and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Use immediately or store in refrigerator.

SWEET & SMOKY BBQ SAUCE

2 C. organic ketchup

½ C. + 2 T. brown sugar (use pure cane sugar)

1 ½ t. organic yellow mustard

1 t. organic raw cider vinegar

5 T. molasses

1 t. kosher salt

½ t. black pepper

1 t. paprika

2 t. onion powder

½ t. garlic powder

1 ½ t. ground cumin

¼ t. ground ginger

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil over med/high heat, then reduce to low, cover and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Use immediately or store in refrigerator.

Homemade Corn Tortillas

I made homemade corn tortillas the other day so I could make enchiladas for dinner.  Corn tortillas are very easy to make and taste so much better than their store-bought counterparts.  Not to mention the store bought ones are full of ingredients I can barely pronounce, such as:  propionic acid, benzoic acid, phosphoric acid, dextrose, guar gum, amylase.  Sounds yummy doesn't it!  

The ingredients in my corn tortillas are masa harina (white cooked corn, water, lime) and water.  Masa harina is a corn flour used to make corn tortillas or tamales.  If you are concerned about gmo's like I am, make sure to buy organic masa harina or purchase one that is imported from Mexico.  As of  now, Mexico's corn crops have not been tainted with gmo's.  Unfortunately, this may change in the near future.

To start, you will need a tortilla press.

A tortilla press is a must for making corn tortillas.  You can purchase one online and they are relatively inexpensive.

You need to make sure to wrap both sides of the press with plastic wrap.  This keeps the raw tortillas from sticking to the press.

Once you press your tortillas, bake on a very hot griddle or cast iron skillet for about one minute on each side.

Here is the finished product!

Corn Tortillas

2 cups masa harina
About 1 cup of water

Place the masa harina into a bowl and mix in water.  Start with 1 cup of water, you can always add more.  Mix with your hands.  You want a dough that is about the consistency of play dough.   Form dough into 12-14 balls the size of a golf ball.  Keep the dough balls covered with a damp paper towel while you work to keep them from drying out.  Place a dough ball in the middle of the tortilla press and press down.  Carefully remove tortilla and cook on a very hot griddle or cast iron skillet for about one minute on each side.  Keep cooked tortillas covered until ready to use.

These are best eaten the same day, but they will keep in the fridge for a day or two.  They also freeze well.

Great Find at Aldi Today!

I love shopping at Aldi for certain things, and I was pleased to find these items today!  SCORE!

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog!  I started Real Food the Real Way because I am passionate about food.  I'm even more passionate about real, whole, healthy foods.  I'm constantly posting pictures of foods I have prepared and various articles regarding gmo's (genetically modified organisms) and healthy eating on Facebook, so I decided to put everything here instead.  I'm hoping we can go on a journey together to healthier, better eating.

I would like to say...I'm not perfect when it comes to healthy eating.  I would say at this point, I get it right about 90% of the time.  I love to cook, but baking is my first love.  I LOVE cookies, brownies, ice cream...and I eat these things sometimes.  I just make sure that I make them from scratch, using as many organic ingredients as possible.  I make sure my family avoids gmo's at all costs...meaning when I do bake, I make sure the sugar I use is cane sugar and not derived from sugar beets (more on that later) and the ingredients I use are as healthy as they can be.  I've incorporated more whole grain flours, spelt flour, alternative sweeteners (honey, maple syrup), etc. into my baked goods with great results.  

My view for this blog is to educate my readers and learn new things for myself as I go along.  I will post pictures, recipes, food finds, articles, and whatever else my little heart desires. I hope you enjoy!