Sauces, Spices, Condiments, & Other Basics

There is SO MUCH JUNK in all of the basics we use every day. Whether salad dressings, sauces, jam, seasonings, or any other condiment, you just don’t know what you’re getting with store-bought items. So for the things that I use a lot, I tend to make my own.

And honestly it’s so easy! I want to show you that healthy and homemade doesn’t have to be hard.

Here are a few of my faves to get you started:

You can browse the full recipe index or a more visual index here or explore the archives below…

Easy Spiced Pear Jam

December 26, 2013

It’s no secret that I love both pears and jam. Weirdly, though, I’ve never had pear jam and I’ve been jonesin’ to try some.

I’d bookmarked a bunch of different pear jam recipes, but when I went through them all nothing really jumped out as the right one.

I didn’t have a vanilla bean, I didn’t want to caramelize them ahead of time, etc. So I decided to wing it and combine different elements with some common sense to make amazing, delicious pear jam.

The first thing I had to figure out was whether I had to use pectin. I’ve avoided that in my jam making so far, but in doing research I found out that pear is a low-pectin fruit (apples have tons) so I probably needed to use it.

Luckily, it was way simpler than I expected. I also picked a great combination of spices—cinnamon, ginger, cardamom (great with pears), and almond extract.

I used a combination of honey and brown sugar, but only a total of a cup for the entire batch. A lot of recipes called for SO much more sugar, but I don’t see why it would need it.

Jam is a great Sunday afternoon activity, because you can put a batch on and still be getting other things done while it cooks. You need to monitor occasionally, but it’s not a high-maintenance task.

And once you make a batch, it’ll last you for a long time—I usually make a big batch and eat on it for 3-4 months (my go-to lunch is homemade peanut butter & jelly on whole grain bread).

After I filled all my jars, I had a few spoonfuls leftover, and had an amazing brainwave. I piled the jam on top of my freshly-baked molasses cookies. REVELATION. Seriously, the spices all went together so well, the textures were amazing, and the crunch of both the pears and the sugar on the cookies was like the embodiment of fall.

I told my mom about it and she goes, “That’s totally unnecessary, molasses cookies are great on their own*.” Me: “SO not the point. It’s so good!”

* True, they are amazing.READ THE POST

Homemade Taco Seasoning

October 23, 2012

I believe in making condiments and such from scratch (peanut butter, jelly, etc.). I used to not use taco seasoning all that often, but in recent years it’s become a staple for me, so I decided it was time to bite the bullet and try making my own homemade taco seasoning. While I’m not technically allergic to the MSG that’s usually in store-bought seasoning, it usually gives me bad headaches and makes me stuffed up, and it’s super high in sodium. So it’s just not worth it.

And it’s so easy!!! The ingredients are basically all ones you’d have in your cupboard. I think the only thing I needed to buy was onion powder. It took me all of five minutes to mix up the seasoning, and it should last indefinitely as long as it’s sealed and in a cool, dry place.

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Georgia On My Mind… (Easy Peach Jam)

September 17, 2012

There are few produce experiences more glorious than a perfectly ripe, succulent peach. Maybe that’s the Southerner that’s always been a part of me, even growing up in the Midwest. More than any other fruit, a sweet juicy peach just screams summer. So when I was perusing my local farm stand a couple weeks ago and found some mostly-ripe peaches, I couldn’t resist trying my hand at peach jam.

Living down here in Georgia, you’d think getting awesome peaches would be simple. Ironically, South Carolina leads the U.S. in peach production (after California, of course—what DON’T they produce more of??). But because we stuck our flag in the sand, Georgia is inextricably linked with peaches.

I had successfully made a no-pectin strawberry balsamic jam (simple and delicious!) a few times, so I wanted to branch out to other jam recipes. Problem was, I was having trouble finding pectin-free jam recipes. Fruit butters, yes. But no jams or preserves. So I decided to make one up. I read several different peach preserves recipes, and also somewhat replicated my strawberry jam recipe.

Good news—it turned out great! The only issue is that peeling the peaches takes much more work than just cutting up strawberries. But when you’ve got sweet, ripe summer peaches, it’s totally worth it.

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Finally, no oil slick on top (One-Step Homemade Peanut Butter)

July 18, 2012

I’ve been buying natural peanut butter for years, because it’s generally healthier, to avoid trans fats, and overall just tastes good. But I’ve always been frustrated by the whole “stir in the oil” aspect of it, because I am apparently not capable of doing that. I start trying to stir it, splash oil everywhere, get the entire knife messy, and finally give up and put it in the fridge—where the next time I pull it out, there’s a congealed oil slick on top. So I eat half a jar of really oily peanut butter and half a jar of dry-as-a-bone peanut butter.

Suffice to say, I’m not a fan of the oil slick component. But I’d never really considered making my own, because that sounded like too much work. Plus, my grandma makes her own and just puts peanuts in the grinder attachment on her mixer, but that just ends up being dry peanut crumblies.

But behold—amazing creamy homemade peanut butter!

Enter Pinterest. Someone had pinned instructions for making your own homemade peanut butter with just the peanuts and a food processor, no additives. They said that if you just kept the food processor running past the crumbly stage and past the “dry ball of peanut goop” stage, magically the oils break down and it becomes creamy and delicious all on its own. No added salt, sugar, oil, etc. I was skeptical, but decided to give it a try. And, miracle of miracles, it works! So now I’m hooked.

I bought roasted & salted peanuts. Considered using honey roasted, but wasn’t sure of the additional sugar. You can use any type you like, or use mixed nuts, another type of nut, whatever floats your boat.

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Balsamic Strawberry Jam (No Pectin)

April 22, 2012

Jams and jellies are some of my favorite things. We made some when I was a kid, with whatever fruit we had—peach jam, apple butter, sandplum jelly. But I’ve never tried making it myself. Partly this is because I’m lazy, but also because I’m scared of things I don’t know, like pectin.