Sunday, April 30, 2023
Saturday, April 29, 2023
Slow Cooker Hard Boiled Eggs
https://thelazyslowcooker.com/lazy-slow-cooker-hard-boiled-eggs/
Yes, home cooks, you read that right - slow cooker hard-boiled eggs are a thing! Using your cooktop isn't the only way to hard boil eggs!
Even I have to admit that this seems "extra". I love making everything and anything in my slow cooker. However, hard boiling eggs the traditional way is super easy and only takes about 15 minutes of cooking time. So, why would anyone want to drag out the process?
🥚WHY USE YOUR SLOW COOKER TO HARD BOIL EGGS
Hear me out on this one. There really are several great reasons to make crock pot hard boiled eggs.
🍳COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
Place eggs in your slow cooker. I usually make a dozen eggs. Cover with enough cool water to ensure that all eggs are fully submerged. Place lid on top and cook on high for 2.5 - 3 hours. I know that sounds like a long time. But you don't have to monitor it the entire time like you would a boiling pot of water.
After cooking time, carefully drain hot water and fill slow cooker with cool water to stop the cooking process. To stop it faster, add ice cubes to a bowl of cold water to make an ice water bath. Use a slotted spoon to remove the eggs from your slow cooker and place them in the bowl of ice water.
STORING EGGS
Once cooled, store hard-boiled eggs in the refrigerator for up to one week. They can be stored with or without the shell. If you remove the shell, the eggs should be kept in an airtight container with a little water. This water should be changed every day or so.
Hard-boiled egg whites do not freeze well, but you can freeze the egg yolks if you choose.
Friday, April 28, 2023
I Wonder If This Is a Good Idea
I watched a Youtube video about three kitchen gadgets. A butter crock. An omelet maker. An electric kettle.
The video showed the water on the stove boiling in 8 minutes and the water in the electric kettle boiling in 4 minutes. Hmm.. I've had an electric kettle before. It took around 20 minutes for the water to heat. I don't remember that it boiled. Maybe they've improved electric kettles. And it turns off. That was the problem with heating water on the stove.
I read some of the comments. There were many people from Europe who wrote of their astonishment to learn that Americans seldom use electric kettles. Well, the voltage in Europe is 220V. In the US it's 110V. The lower voltage causes these electric kettles to heat water more slowly. And we don't drink much tea. We make coffee, usually in a coffee maker.
I have reservations about this idea. How many electrical outlets does my kitchen have? Two. The refrigerator is the main appliance. Then the microwave. There is no where to put a kettle. So it would take some reworking just to plug it in.
How do I heat water now? In the microwave. How would this electric kettle be better? Well, I just like it. Some people have pointed out that one can use hot water to make ramen soup and all sorts of things. All sorts of things I don't eat. And you can hard boil eggs in them. Really? There you go.
I may try this.
Thursday, April 27, 2023
Ole Grey Still Missing. New Plan for Feral Cats
I've been trying to come up with another plan to thwart feral cats. This is it. My new plan. Maybe this will fix things.
The cats have been living underneath my house, which they access through openings in the foundation. There are four of these openings. And I don't think it's just feral cats. Possums. Mice. Who knows?
Well, what about putting boards in front of the openings? There are boards in front of the openings. I don't know who put them there, but they didn't do a very good job. They are just propped up and don't close the openings from much of anything. So what to do? Better boards?
No, I have it all figured out. I take large, heavy duty black plastic trash bags and tape them over the openings with duck tape. Very down and dirty. Oh, an animal could get through that, some might say. The weather would cause the tape to come off. Well, if the weather makes the tape come off then I could put more tape on. I don't think an animal would break through that. I have read that one can build a coral for horses by putting up a square of lines to hang sheets over, and horses won't attempt to get through the sheets, even though it could be easily done. They don't know that. It was even a less hazardous way of corralling the horses, since horses have been injured by fences. So most likely animals won't figure out that with a certain amount of effort they could break back in under the house.
UPDATE
Ole Grey still hasn't showed up. I feel disturbed about this. I had gritted my teeth to try and deal with him. He appeared to have recovered from his Ambien misadventure and was well for at least a week afterward. I was trying to make him go to sleep so I could put him in the pet kennel and take him to the vet. The vet wanted to make him a barn cat. Am I sorry something has become of him? I was very tired of having a bobcat in the yard. He had the weirdest, most malevolent expression. I just wish something good could have happened to him though.
Tuesday, April 25, 2023
Monday, April 24, 2023
The Mystery of Ole Grey
There was a disturbing event for Ole Grey recently, around two weeks ago. He disappeared for two days after that, but then he seemed to be back to normal and every morning I saw him lying on the air conditioner to remind me to feed him.
About a week ago I decided to speak to him. I prayed for him once before about "his demons" but nothing changed. This time I spoke to him more gently and told him I was concerned about his situation. I felt he was bothered by evil spirits. He looked at me in a puzzled way, and I prayed for him to be freed from his evil spirits, in the name of Jesus Christ. He didn't snarl or hiss, which was unusual. He doesn't like me to look at him, finding this to be threatening, so most of the time I pretend he isn't there. But this time I did look at him.
Since that time I haven't seen Ole Grey again.
Saturday, April 22, 2023
Friday, April 21, 2023
Pork Rib Rub
https://wholelottayum.com/dry-rub-for-pork/
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon ground garlic
- 1 Tbsp ground onion powder
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 2 tablespoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon stevia (or 2 teaspoon sugar or brown sugar)
Pressure Cooker Explosion
Have I ever blown up a pressure cooker before? Yes. I was 13 and was in charge of making dinner while my mother was at work. She had given me a couple of lessons on using the pressure cooker, especially for beans and peas, so I was making split pea soup. Kawhoom!!!
I had no idea that could happen. My mother never mentioned it. It was an astonishing surprise. It was messy, and ruined dinner, but no injuries.
Did I learn my lesson? My mother didn't seem particularly surprised that the pressure cooker exploded. And since the result was limited to a big mess and ruining dinner, it didn't seem to be that big of a deal. She didn't mention what could have happened. I don't remember any warnings. But in the future I was more aware of adjusting the heat when the pressure cooker had reached the magic point. I suppose I was much more aware. And I didn't neglect making sure the little vent was clean and open.
I have been surprised more recently to only now find out what can happen with wayward pressure cookers. Wow. The lid can blow off. Super heated contents can go everywhere. People have even been burned, blinded or killed. Looking into this I read, "Never buy a used pressure cooker." And yet, I just received my refurbished Instant Pot pressure cooker.
Well, it didn't explode. One of the ways that some have blown up an Instant Pot is to put a cloth over the vent. Why? Oh, there are videos on Youtube recommending this so that when you release the pressure you don't have the hot steam coming out in a blast and possibly scalding you. They've revised the vent release for this reason.
Just so you'll know, this can be avoided either by wearing oven mitts to release to pressure, or letting the Instant Pot cool off until it is no longer under pressure.
Day of Sunshine
I ordered this nice clock about 10 days ago, and have eagerly awaited its arrival. What was so special about this clock? It seemed to me that it would be nice to be able to see the time at night. It arrived finally. We'll see.
Fridays can be busy because everything comes to a halt on the weekend, so it all winds up happening on Friday.
I decided to try my hand at pulled pork again since I still have three pounds waiting for Helene attention. I bought a refurbished Instant Pot because I seem to have lost the lid for my old one. So the new lid fit on the old Instant Pot and my shoulder roast is being pressure cooked, I hope. About another hour and the magic should have happened. Yay! I am getting a shoulder butt roast at Walmart today, bone in. My theory is a bone in butt roast will make a better broth. I'm really going to be a BBQ expert before it's all over.
Then? Walmart!! I can't wait.
Happy weekend.
Thursday, April 20, 2023
Chicken Soup Drama Continues
It was generally conceded that the chicken soup Tuesday was a resounding success. I've been trying to remember the ingredients.
Suddenly this morning I found an empty box of Lipton's Onion Soup mix. Oh. That's right. That's the secret ingredient. In fact, the soup name, right on the box, is "Recipe Secrets." But when one thinks all this through, what was I trying to accomplish? I don't like to eat processed food. The chicken broth was supposed to be unprocessed. Putting Better Than Bouillon seemed like a minor concession. But then to put in Lipton Onion Soup mix??
I laugh at recipe books that all the ladies at church get together and write. Every recipe starts with "one can of Campbell's cream of mushroom soup." Usually they move from there to, "one party size bag of potato chips, crumbled." Then they mix it all together and spray a can of cheez whiz on top. Are these people suicidal? It makes me shudder.
I tried to think of why this was OK. "Read the ingredients," the voice of reason whispered. I thought I was about to be vindicated. It would say, "onion powder and salt, period." It said, "sulfites, onion powder, cornstarch, sugar, salt." My world was collapsing. This can't be. I read the carbs. "4 grams per serving." I felt saved. Until I read "8 servings per package." 32 grams of carbs??? How much do I usually use? I usually make a package into two cups of soup. Or else two cups of dip.
On the counter was a can of the evil Campbell's cream of mushroom soup, which is kept around for emergencies only. Two and a half servings, 8 grams of carbs per serving. Twenty grams total carbs per can. I would have done better to put a can of Campbell's cream of mushroom soup into the chicken soup.
I'm still trying to wrap my head around this.
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
Aunt Helene's Chicken Soup
Yesterday I decided to extend my pulled pork skills to pulled chicken. I had had several conversations with my brother about this idea, which was his idea. He actually is an impressive cook. As impressive as me? Weeeelll.... But when we join forces some gaps are filled in for me. I told him about the frozen chicken problem, and he said just go ahead and put it in water and cook it and yum, soon it will be fall off the bone pulled chicken. Or roast it after that if you like.
OK, I tried it. Results? I would say fair. First of all, look at the above dish of pulled chicken. Does that look sumptuous? It was a lot better looking than mine. At best, pulled chicken look like, "Can we go to KFC now?" Which I'll admit, I did. But besides fried chicken, on Tuesdays, at least around here, KFC also has fried chicken livers, which they say are "regional." As if chickens don't have livers in New York City. And, yesterday was Tuesday.
Off to the freezer. I put four chicken quarters into my Instant Pot on sauté with about two quarts of water. Then I added about 2 tablespoons of salt, an eighth of a cup of vinegar, maybe two tablespoons of sage, and ? My brother was right there on the phone and told me that adding curry would be good and maybe turmeric. I didn't have curry. Then I went looking for my accountant. Some time later I returned and found the Instant Pot on the "keep warm" setting. This is one of the nice things about this device, although I had forgotten about it. Then I set it back on sauté in order to bring it to a boil, and then set it on slow cook for five hours.
So, as you may be able to see, there were some issues. The first one was OK because the Instant Pot has a feature to rescue neglected food. Otherwise? I don't like to think about it. Issue two. Is it a good idea to slow cook chicken for five hours? Well, that depends. In five hours that chicken was cooked to pieces. The broth was pretty good. So if making broth was the object, yes, that would be a start. But I would say, if broth is what you're trying to make, it isn't done. Not to perfection. Continue to cook until you just can't find the bones anymore because they have dissolved into the wonders of brothy goodness. And long before that the cartilage will have vanished. This probably will take 24 hours, unless one pressure cooks it, and that takes about three or four hours. Then strain this broth and remove the remaining skin and meat. But this is where I take issue with what happened here. I was actually trying to make pulled chicken.
So, the pulled chicken I made looked kind of mushy and soggy. Usually if I decide to make broth I don't take whole pieces of chicken to do it, I just save some bones of already cooked chicken and use that. To cook meat into broth seems a little pointless.
I removed the bones and skin and cartilage and tore up the chicken, and had about a quart of pulled chicken. I gave Mrs. Billingsley two cups of the broth. I was surprised at how she devoured it. It's not typical of her to show much interest in food. It was good because she needs her nourishment and this was coming close to Jewish chicken soup of legend. Really yummy. She looked suspiciously at the pulled chicken. What did I intend to do with that?? "I'm not sure."
The pulled chicken and the leftover bones and skin were refrigerated and the broth was put in a half gallon Mason jar in the refrigerator. How do you know if the broth is perfect? When it's chilled, it turns into a gel. Well, today I didn't have chicken jello, but still, it was congealed some. Should I put it back into the Instant Pot with the bones and skin and try to achieve perfection? I'm not planning to. I think I will use the leftovers in my next attempt at broth, along with some other leftovers, but not the whole pieces of chicken.
What will I do with the pulled chicken? I suppose BBQ sauce or chicken salad or chicken soup.
So next time I'm not planning to slow cook the frozen chicken for five hours, but I suppose I will pressure cook the leftovers and broth for about three hours.
The problem I see with making the pulled chicken that I made is that it is just like canned chicken. Far be it from me to disparage canned chicken. It makes nice salad, nice chicken soup, mediocre BBQ. But to intentionally make canned chicken seems pointless because it's so much easier to just open a can of canned chicken. I was trying to make BBQ or else roasted chicken that had been thawed by slow cooking. There is a happy upside to pulled pork or pulled chicken. It's a lot easier for Mrs. Billignsley to eat because of dental issues. But don't think she can't eat fried chicken. She can absolutely manage fried chicken.
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
Tax Day
Many people experience tax day anxiety. Today was tax day. I felt like a deer in the headlights. My tax papers were missing. I finally had to ask for replacements. This has happened before and usually results in a tongue lashing. I really get annoyed by that attitude. So then I decide not to ask for a replacement.
By some miracle I found my tax papers and called the accountant that had agreed to do my taxes. His phone had been disconnected. I checked his business card. Well, I'll drive to his office. His office had been closed up. Hmmm.... This has happened before with a different accountant. He's hiding out, I thought. Except this is his job and he's not at work. I did talk to him about two weeks ago, and he said he was planning to go fishing. I thought tax time was a curious time to go on a long fishing trip, but supposed he had some handle on the situation. It was freaky when I heard his phone say, "The number you have called has been disconnected." Especially on tax day when my taxes weren't filed yet.
So I sent my forms to his email address. I'm hoping he put in for an extension for me and is doing some weird form of holding people at a distance to retain his sanity.
It's actually a relief that this train wreck is over. I'm not going to worry about it.
Sunday, April 16, 2023
Pulled Pork 2
This is pulled pork attempt number two. This time I used pork shoulder. The pork tenderloin has less fat than the shoulder, so it seemed like a shoulder roast would be more juicy and tender.
It was a seven pound roast and I decided to cut it into fourths and cut a fourth into smaller pieces and brown them. First I put on a dry rub. I had talked to Tuna about the fact that I had seen a Youtube video that recommended rubbing it with orange juice. She said this tenderized it. Well, maybe if you marinaded it, but I said maybe I would rub it in lemon juice. "Oh, that won't taste as good," she said. Who knows? That's what I did anyway. And also salt, onion powder, and garlic powder, like before. I made broth from Better Than Bouillon, but made about a quart this time instead of two cups. And again put a package of Crystal Lite orange drink powder in, and about 3 tablespoons of vinegar. So the pork is browned and simmering in the Instant Pot again. Hopefully I will eventually locate the lid for the pressure cooker, but this time it's slow cooking for five hours.
How long did it take to get all this to the point of simmering? About 45 minutes, start to finish.
Friday, April 14, 2023
My Dream
Last night I dreamed about Vladimir Putin, not for the first time. He was having a party and I was somehow invited. All the Russian generals were there.
I noticed Mr. Putin staring at me, but when he realized I noticed, he quickly looked away.
I had traveled there in a Spanish galleon with purple sails. OK. I saw my ship out in the parking lot.
Why would I have a dream like that? I wondered. It seemed to have a lot of military going on.
Wednesday, April 12, 2023
Pulled Pork in Paradise
I continued to puzzle over all the odd recipes on Youtube for pulled pork, but decided to put it in a pot and simmer it for five hours. So why not go ahead and pressure cook it? Because the only pot that seemed up to the job was the Instant Pot, however, the last time I washed it I put away the lid somewhere and can't find it. I will, I'm pretty sure. But I have a nice glass lid for it so it's easier to use the slow cooker function. So I'm using my Instant Pot as a crock pot. This seems wrong somehow.
Well, at least I found the glass lid. And the inside liner. This is a nice way to do slow cooking because this is a six quart pot. And it has the capability to cook.
I started this project at around 8:00 am because a lot had to happen today to make pulled pork by dinner. All kinds of things.
I had to figure out where to plug the Instant Pot in. It has a surprisingly long cord, so I set it on top of the stove and plugged it into the microwave outlet. Well, how was I going to use the microwave? Oh yeah. There are two outlets.
I had been ruminating over all the Youtube advice, and the advice of my siblings. The Youtube video on the Instant Pot method assumed the pressure cooker mode would be used. Well, in a perfect world.
To my surprise, my pork tenderloin had already been cut in half lengthwise. Nice. I cut it into about six pieces. You must, must, must put dry rub on the pork! I think I saw the possible virtue of this idea, but the legion of dry rubs that I saw just added to the confusion. Someone said something I found interesting. Add orange juice to the recipe. That's how they do it in South Carolina! Wait. That's not dry. Ultimately I decided to use salt and garlic powder (to keep away the witches).
One video insisted that the pork be seared first, another that it was not necessary to sear the pork. Well, I went with searing in a little bit of oil. Then what? More trouble.
Should the pork be simmered all day in water? Oh, goodness no! It should be simmered in some form of broth. I don't actually have broth. Oh! I know the perfect thing! It's called "Better Than Bouillon." It really is good. I have a jar in the refrigerator.
It took a while to locate it in the refrigerator.
And then, the big moment. I poured in the broth. Hey, I know. I'll put a package of orange flavored Crystal Lite in here in a nod to South Carolina! And some vinegar to convince the pork to surrender. Who knows? Maybe half a cup of BBQ sauce. But what would be the point? No, I'll save that for putting on pulled pork when it's hopefully done.
So then I brought the whole thing to a boil before turning it on the slow cook. In a while I checked it. Not that slow! Simmer! I turned it up and set it for five hours.
Since this stage had been reached at 10:00 am that would make dinner ready between 2:00 and 3:00 pm. We'll see.
And that's how pulled pork it done in Paradise.
Tuesday, April 11, 2023
Book About Edgar Allan Poe
https://www.uu.edu/news/release.cfm?ID=1496
Poe’s book corrects falsehoods, explores spiritual development of Edgar Allan Poe
Related Resource(s): Purchase “Edgar Allan Poe: An Illustrated Companion to His Tell-Tale Stories”
JACKSON, Tenn. — April 20, 2009 — A new book by Union University’s Harry Lee (Hal) Poe seeks to correct some of the misconceptions about his ancestor, Edgar Allan Poe.
“He’s generally thought of as a gloomy, dark loner, obsessed with death and that sort of thing, said Hal Poe, the Charles Colson Professor of Faith and Culture at Union. “Actually, he was a rather cheerful, witty, friendly person who enjoyed music and singing with his friends around the piano.”
In the new book, “Edgar Allan Poe: An Illustrated Companion to His Tell-Tale Stories,” Poe provides some biographical information about Edgar Allan Poe, who was his great-great grandfather’s cousin. The popular picture of Edgar Allan Poe as brooding and depressed was created by one of his literary enemies, Rufus Griswold, after Poe’s death.
Though scholars have long since discredited Griswold and the fabrications he created about Poe’s life, Hal Poe said such scholarship seldom makes its way to the public.
“So essentially, what this book is doing is popularizing the 20th century scholarship about Poe,” Hal Poe said.
In the book, Hal Poe also discusses some of Edgar Allan Poe’s stories, and traces his spiritual development. Hal Poe said Edgar Allan Poe became a Christian before his death.
“It’s a story of Poe’s spiritual experience and how he came to believe in the God who created the universe, and how he came to go forward at a revival meeting five weeks before he died,” Hal Poe said. “The book discusses all of his stories in light of the spiritual questions he was asking.”
The book includes dozens of images and removable memorabilia, including a portion of Edgar Allan Poe’s handwritten manuscript for the poem, “A Dream Within a Dream,” contentious letters he exchanged with his foster father, John Allan, and his controversial obituary as it appeared in the New York Daily Tribune.
Published by Metro Books and available for purchase at Barnes and Noble, the book was commissioned by Barnes and Noble for the bicentennial of Poe’s birth in 1809.
Hal Poe will be the guest speaker at the Union Auxiliary’s annual spring luncheon April 21. He will talk about his new book and about the family life of Edgar Allan Poe. The event begins at noon in the Carl Grant Events Center. Tickets are $12.
The Pulled Pork Boat Stops Rocking
It can be amazing the advice one will get on Youtube in the department of putting a pan on the stove, putting some water in it, and boiling it. From there one graduates to hard boiled eggs. Many, many silly ideas will be floated. Finally, the daring decide to try their hand at dinner. From what I've seen so far, the idea is to bar entry to anyone that needs to eat food today.
I decided to have pulled pork for dinner about a week ago. I bought a pork tenderloin, hoping that would work. The facts are, I've never roasted pork before, so I tried to educate myself with the wisdom of those that had. Wow. What a wasteland of drivel. First you will need thousands of dollars of grills, with hickory wood to smoke your roast in. Or just build a whole house devoted to that. Then some pans, I suppose made of gold. Now you will have to also purchase hundreds of dollars of ingredients to use for dry rub. After that, your life savings will need to be spent on every spice known to man for BBQ sauce.
How many hours have I now spent trying to get to the bottom of this? I'm embarrassed to say I've been down this road before, and been told that I need gold, frankincense and myrrh to season these rare delicacies with. Tuna asked me what I did yesterday. I told her that I had been trying to make pulled pork happen for dinner. "So you go to the BBQ restaurant and buy it. Why would you bother with cooking with all the money you have?" "Well, for one thing, 2 1/2 lbs of pork is $10. But it's at least $10 to buy one lb of pulled pork, plus gas to get there, and the time." I don't know where she got the idea that I have money to burn. I had already been to this fabulous restaurant and ordered a pound of pulled pork, which I paid around $12 for. When I got home, I realized they had sold me a hamburger bun with 1 oz of pork on it. Not even BBQ sauce. It was too far to go to take it back. Another time I had ordered a rack of ribs. Well, there were many problems. They liked to come in and open at around 10:00 am, and if you show up at 2:00 the ribs are still raw. But they sold them to me anyway. If you go in at 4:00, they will say they are sold out. They don't want to sell a pound of pulled pork, or a rack of ribs. They want to sell a sandwich for $12, or two ribs with a potato for $20. And anyway, I don't really like the way most restaurants season pork, which is to use mostly sugar.
And so I truly believed I was going to do this myself. It just can't be that hard. I located most of the rest of my stash of spices today. Wow, dill seed, celery seed, and guess what, crushed red pepper. Sirachi hot sauce, minced garlic, cloves of garlic, lemon juice, soy sauce, more soy sauce. I know there is dry mustard, but where? I think I bought the dill and celery seed, along with a can of beets, to make pickled eggs. I saw that on Youtube. And? Really, I panicked. Someone else said I needed liquid English toffee favoring and lemon extract. Pure vanilla extract. A giant bottle of it arrived one day by surprise. I don't remember ordering that. I sure didn't know I bought that much.
I spoke to my sister. Oh, they make wonderful tender pork with a sous vide. Researching this, I saw that I might also need a vacuum sealer. That's something like buying the grill to smoke it with.
My brother told me to put my tenderloin in a pot, put in some water, bring the pot up to a boil, turn it down to simmer, put a lid on it and simmer it for about five hours.
So finally someone that seemed to know how to do this. Or I could try the Instant Pot way. I may cut the roast in half, and cook half on the stove, and half in the Instant Pot, then maybe they will both be good, or at least one will be OK.
"I think you would do well to buy some Kraft BBQ sauce, and don't worry about making it yourself," he said. Once again, I was steered right.
I suppose when you go on Youtube to look at cooking videos, they understand that someone has asked them, "What's the weirdest, most difficult, time consuming and tedious way of making pulled pork and BBQ sauce in the world?" and "What's the most expensive way? Understand, money is no object."
I told Tuna that I had written a blog about Edgar Allan Poe's poem, The Raven. She began to tell me what an evil man he was. I said, "He was a great poet. He is my favorite." She continued to berate him and his poetry. I don't know where she got any of her ideas about Poe. It was pretty withering.
So what's going on? The full moon? It's like pulled pork and BBQ are satanic.
Monday, April 10, 2023
Ingredient Insanity
$6.66 1 oz
$1.53 4 oz
$2.18 18 oz
$2.10 2.5 oz
$20.47 total
I've experienced this over and over. I look at a recipe. What in the world was I thinking? I wonder.
In this case I was considering making BBQ sauce. Not that I wanted to. It would last about a week, maybe. Would I like it? I don't know.
But what really outrages me about so many of these recipes is the list of ingredients. How much is BBQ sauce that is already made? About $5.00. But just the ingredients I don't have on hand are $20.47. And the ingredients I do have weren't free: tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, erythritol, dry mustard, onion powder, and garlic powder. This is not to mention that I'm leaving some of the ingredients out - kosher salt (? why?), unsalted butter (? why?) and crushed red pepper flakes. Should I really follow the recipe, those would cost about $15 more. BBQ sauce for around $40? Who makes these recipes up?
Then, what would I have? OK, maybe I'd like it and I would be set for a week and then set aside 45 minutes each week to gather and prepare all this again. This is not a good solution to a BBQ sauce shortage.
What ingredients does it probably take to make BBQ sauce? I am guessing tomato sauce or paste, sweetener, vinegar, salt, and maybe onion and garlic powder. But no no! This has to be made into an expensive extravaganza. Why???!!!
I looked at another recipe for an almond flour bread. For starters, almond flour bread is OK. Just OK, not great. At the end of the day it's a substitute for wheat bread, which some people are avoiding for lots of reasons. Still, it will never be wheat bread. It will be a distant second.
"Oh," whoever made up this recipe said, "You have absolutely got to do it this way. I have made almond bread over and over and painstakingly tried ever imaginable combination of ingredients. You will love this! But I will not in any way say that if you substitute other brands for the ones I recommend it will be any good."
Really?? I checked the prices on her ingredients. Over $100. I commented on this on her post. Everyone was just raving about how this was the best almond bread in the world. But to find out if this was good I had to gather the ingredients, prepare it, and spend a hundred dollars? What if I didn't like it? And I don't make it that often anyway, even if it is a good enough recipe. Why? I just don't see the point of almond bread. It doesn't work very well for sandwiches, if at all. So what would I do with it?
When one decides to stay away from processed foods, it is going to mean making most of what you eat from scratch. This is probably the biggest obstacle to staying away from processed foods. Lack of convenience. You are hungry and maybe you don't have all the ingredients. Or time to spare in the kitchen. I would estimate that you need at least 6 hours a week to prepare food if you don't go the convenience food route. Well, OK. Deal with it. But to add to this all kinds of expensive, silly ingredients and time consuming, unnecessary steps to get what? A sauce? It reminds me of the wisdom of sewing one's own clothes.
I suppose I should make a recipe book that shows people how to actually survive on homemade food and not spend thousands of dollars and unlimited amounts of time doing it. Clearly, most people have no idea how to prepare food or to budget what they spend at the grocery. Maybe this explains all the recipes that are so wasteful of time and money.
In fact, I even know how to survive on about $75 a month on food. Not because I was so much trying to save money. I lived on recipes based on sprouts that I grew myself. This I did for six months. I was well fed and happened to have blood tests after that. The doctor said, "I haven't seen lab tests like that in a long time," and asked me what I was eating. Someone asked me if the doctor was saying that in a positive or negative way. Well, what do you think?
I came away with the knowledge that the easiest way to store food in the event of some food shortage is to have around 200 lbs of sprouting seeds, and maybe some form of cooking oil. I found tomato powder to be handy in place of tomato juice or sauce. And beans and other legumes are nice to eat as soup. Onions and eggs were my biggest expenses. And a good thing about sprouts is that, should some food shortage happen, it would only be about five days before one had a crop ready to harvest, not three months. Not to mention, sprouting seeds last easily for years and don't take up a lot of space. This was not a starvation diet. There was plenty of food.
I'm not against storing other things, like canned goods. I just think the sprouts are the best plan for inexpensive, easy to store food.
I checked my spices today to see what I have. No paprika, cayenne pepper, or chili powder. Well, maybe those would be good to have. No dried parsley. I'm low on bay leaves. I have lots of turmeric, sage, thyme, rosemary, cream of tartar, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, hot sauce, vinegar and cinnamon.
I wish people wouldn't be so ridiculous in their recipe recommendations. It's a waste of time and money that could be better spend on preparing nourishing food.
Sunday, April 9, 2023
Sugar Free BBQ Sauce
https://nosugarnoflourrecipes.com/sugar-free-bbq-sauce/
Sugar Free BBQ Sauce
Skip the sugar, not the barbecue! This easy Sugar Free BBQ Sauce recipe is tangy, sweet and smoky, all without the extra carbs of traditional versions. It's perfect for chicken, pork and all your favorite barbecued meats!
Ingredients
- 6 ounce tomato paste
- 3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- ⅓ cup powdered erythritol
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons liquid smoke
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 cup water
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional
Instructions
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, add all ingredients (except the butter). Bring mixture to a boil.
- Once boiling, reduce heat to simmer and cook for about 15 minutes, until sauce has thickened to desired consistency.
- Remove from heat and stir in butter until a glossy sheet occurs. Add red pepper flakes if desired.