Ginger Barbecue Sauce

We bought a gigantic grilling cookbook with lots of great recipes, but after trying the ginger sauce  recipe, we rarely make anything else.  Yes, it is THAT good!  After giving the recipe to yet another friend I decided that it should be posted here.  The original recipe called for brown sugar, which I replaced with honey.  Although the recipe calls for this to be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated, I don’t think that we have ever done it and the sauce still turns out fabulous.  So if you are like me – a little spacey and always behind schedule…  don’t worry make it anyway!

Ginger Sauce

1/2 cup Organicville organics ketchup (sweetened with agave)

a little less than 1/4 cup honey,

3 Tbsp (1/8 cup) water

3 Tbsp (1/8 cup) soy sauce

1 tsp dried ginger.

Mix well, refrigerate for 6 hours

Great on any type of meat – brush it on during the last few minutes of grilling time or serve on the side.  Enjoy!

(if our ketchup is nearly gone -just enough left to make the recipe- we add the other ingredients to the bottle and shake it up.  It’s quick, easy and less cleanup!)

Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa

I am not a fish lover and I don’t really care for mango so when my husband suggested this meal I will admit that I was not thrilled about it.  I admit that I put it off as long as possible and didn’t know what I was going to do if he wanted to have it again.  So I was very surprised to find that not only did I like this meal, I was the one to request it being put into our regular rotation.  This meal is simple, gorgeous and delicious!  Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa

Fish Tacos:

3-4 tilapia fillets

1 Tbsp Lemon Juice

1/4 cup olive oil

salt and pepper if desired

corn tortillas

Whisk lemon juice with olive oil.  Dip tilapia fillets in lemon mixture then sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place fish in baking dish and cook at 350 degrees for approximately 30 min or until fish is tender and flaky (In the mean time, prepare the salsa and guacamole). Remove fish from oven and using 2 forks break the fish into small chunks.  Heat corn tortillas briefly in the microwave or on the stove.  Fill tortillas with fish and other toppings and enjoy!

Mango Salsa:

1 mango, chopped

1/2 cup diced onion

1-2 jalapenos seeded and diced

2-3 roma tomatoes chopped

1 Tbsp chopped cilantro or 1 tsp dried cilantro

Mix all ingredients together, serve.

p.s. If you make the same recipe without the mango you have Pico de Gallo

 

Other Toppings:

cheese, guacamole, sour cream

layer desired ingredients onto tortillas, bend tortillas around the filling and devour it! Yum yum!

Best Ever Cheese Sauce

So, a staple at our house is cheese sauce, we call it yellow gravy and serve it frequently.  It is a very versatile topping – we use it over vegetables, pasta and sometimes over meat.  We change the flavor by using different spices or different cheeses… altogether it is just wonderful!  It is interesting to note that I was not able to make it very well until I changed my diet and now it is the simplest thing to make – and comes out perfectly every time!  The secret is — heavy cream.

Cheese Sauce

Best Ever Cheese Sauce

2 Tbsp butter

1 Cup Heavy Cream

1 Cup Cheese (I like to use the preshredded because it is just easier)

Salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a sauce pan add cream and seasonings, mix until the cream starts to bubble gently then add cheese.  Stir mixture until cheese melts.  If mixture is too thin add more cheese until it reaches desired consistency, if it is too thick add cream.

I frequently use lemon pepper (which I make myself because the store bought stuff has sugar) or garlic salt in lieu of salt and pepper.

For yellow cheese sauce to make macaroni and cheese or to serve over vegetables I use Fiesta blend cheese and add a little bit of sharp cheddar – the sharp cheddar really makes the flavor great even though we do not like the taste of sharp cheddar.

For alfredo sauce – use Italian blend cheese and Parmesan cheese (I sometimes use mozzarella to stretch the sauce if I am short on money but the Parmesan is a must for alfredo sauce.

For mozzarella based sauce to use in vegetable lasagna I use mozzarella  a little bit of Parmesan or Italian blend cheese and add about a tablespoon of pureed bell peppers.

So simple, yet delicious! Enjoy!

p.s. for those of you worried about the fat content of this see check out this post (http://creativenutritionblog.wordpress.com/2013/06/02/cheese-sauce-too-much-fat/ ) over at http://creativenutritionblog.wordpress.com/ which explains about the fat content and how to best eat such foods.