Holliday Gift Set {Give Away} of Route 66 BBQ Sauces from Season's Harvest

image courtesy flikr

Are you looking for a great gift for the hard to shop for man in your life? Does your husband, dad or favorite uncle love BBQ chicken, steaks, wings, pulled pork or brats? Well have I got a last minute treat for you. Season's Harvest has a huge variety of amazing sauces and dips that will add zing and big flavor to your next grilling session.

Their gift sets come beautifully packaged and would make a very special and unique Christmas gift for any and all of the men (or women ;) on your list. Season's Harvest sent me a gift box of their Route 66 Legend BBQ sauces to trial. I am from the South West and so the spicy and smokey  flavors in these sauces were right up my alley.



Why I love Season's Harvest.

"Our products contain no preservatives, additives, High Fructose Corn Syrup, chemicals or extra water to fill the container and thus dilute flavor. You pay for only the natural ingredients in each recipe . . . just fabulous know how, fresh, natural ingredients in recipes learned and handed down from one generation to another."

We especially loved these two sauces. They were so thick and fresh tasting, nothing like the few other jarred varieties I've had. As soon as we popped open the lid on the jars our mouths were watering from the smell of the spices.

 Rich and Bold

Their newest barbecue sauce is an authentic Carolina mustard / vinegar sauce that is ideal for chicken and pork with just the right amount of zest. 

Excellent for pulled pork sandwiches served on a grilled or toasted bun. A wonderful marinade as well. While our High Country Barbecue Sauce is a great companion with pork, it can be used superbly with chicken.

 Deep South BBQ Sauce

Ideal for shellfish, poultry, pork, and even beef. Cajun flavors are captured in the backwater bayous of long-ago Louisana. Sultry, sizzling flavor spoken in a delightful Creole accent. 

While our Deep South sauce was prepared to be a tasty and just a bit spicy sauce indigenous of the heart of the South, its haunting flavor has come to be used in so many other ways. Its old- time flavors will spark the creativity of cooks at home. Currently Deep South is still the second most reordered sauce (and fat free using all natural ingredients).

So fire up the grill and put some spice in your life! It's been the coldest days of the year here in Phoenix so I could use some heat from Season Harvest's Spicy with Heat Sauce on some BBQ'd Chicken. 

image courtesy flikr

Please be sure to visit Season's Harvest online and check out all of their other products and gift sets like salsa's, olives and salad dressings. 

The give away is for 1 Route 66 Legend BBQ Sauces Gift Set a $49 value.

Don't want to wait? Season's Harvest is offering 50% off ALL Gift Sets right now! 

Support small business in your gift giving this year and remember, all of their products are all natural and don't contain HFC or additives!

Giveaway open to U.S. and Canada residents only.

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Saucy Mamma! Hawaiian Grilled Chicken-Pineapple Sandwiches with Home Made Terryaki Sauce

It's only a few weeks into Summer and already unbearably hot outside here in Phoenix. I have officially sworn off cooking or baking until October.... at least. Might as well unplug my stove. I'm done. I am however, o.k. with sending my dear husband outside to BBQ something wonderful for dinner. Hey, I'll put everything all together, all he has to do is stand there by the fire and look manly with a large pick fork and cold beer in hand. We have a nice pool that he can jump into any time he starts to scorch and feel a heat stroke coming on. Cush job right?


4th of July is coming up very soon. This Hawaiian Pineapple BBQ sandwich is my idea of a perfect backyard celebration. When paired with Grilled Corn on the cob, Watermelon Boats, Coconut-Berry Cake and Cherry Lime Aid Slushies next to the pool I'm in heaven!




Believe it or not, when asked what the fam would like to BBQ for special occasions the majority vote is always for these Hawaiian Chicken sandwiches. Maybe it's due in part to the fact that grilling steaks scares me. They never turn out good, let alone to die for. When you splurge and spend the money for high end steaks you expect them to be perfect, not fatty and grisly and either under or over cooked. I can see the raised, confused eyebrows now. Don't judge. We just don't eat read meat very often... at all. So we are far from being savvy on the grilling technique used to master a perfect steak. Not that my husband and teenage son wouldn't like engorge themselves in humongous carnivorous slabs of meat on a daily basis but I'm more than fine without.

 I'm all about the grilled veggies and home made sauces and the sides that go along with the barbecuing experience.

When at the grocery store, it's all that I can do to refrain from stopping people who have jarred marinades and sauces in their cart and shaking some sense into them. That stuff is just gross, full of sugar, preservatives and additives not to mention expensive. I don't get it. Why do people insist that making their own salad dressing and marinades is a difficult thing.  It's just not I tell you. You can make a very quick and delicious marinade for chicken, fish or veggies with just 3-4 ingredients that most people have in their pantry anyway. 

Any combination of ketchup, brown mustard, soy sauce, terryaki, brown sugar, onion, garlic, cornstarch, horse radish, juice, ginger or grill seasoning can be cooked down into a fabulously simple grill sauce. Think of how many batches of sauce you can get out of these pantry staples for the price of one pre-made jar of BBQ sauce. Experiment and use whatever you have on hand. Even just a simple mixture of ketchup, brown mustard, a pinch of brown sugar and soy sauce would be delicious.

Freshly grated ginger really adds a zingy punch to the sauce.

YIELDS  2 1/2 CUPS       TIME   20 MINUTES

Terryaki Sauce:

1 cup unsweetened pineapple juice

1/4 cup peanut, avocado, coconut or vegetable oil

1/3 cup soy sauce (preferably *Organic Tamari)

1/2 cup molasses 

1 teaspoon ground ginger (use 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger if you have some) 

1 tablespoons cornstarch

1-2 tablespoon Raw (turbinado) sugar or brown sugar
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon dried onion flakes

Sesame seeds for garnish

Optional: Thai Chili Pepper Sauce to bring some heat. Bring it.



Putting it all together:

In a small bowl whisk together corn starch with pineapple juice, set aside. Combine all remaining ingredients except Tamari soy sauce. Bring to a gentle boil while whisking. Lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes whisking occasionally. Remove from heat, add Tamari and let cool slightly then pour into a large plastic bag to coat chicken. Reserve 1 1/2 cups for spooning over done chicken. Lay the bag of marinated chicken on a large plate so sauce covers it and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, preferably 2-3 hours.

*Tip:  

I pound my thawed chicken breasts with a rolling pin while they are in the zip lock bag to make

them large enough to fit a bun and to cook faster and evenly.

Other simple sides to make this 4th of July

Grilled Corn on the Cob with Chile Butter

Watermelon Boats with Blueberries and Fresh Coconut

Cherry Lime Aide Slushies

GF Coconut-Berry Patriotic Cake recipe here

Shredded Chicken BBQ Sandwiches- revisited

BBQ has never been one of my favorite things. I know, how un-American of me! I never really liked pizza either until I discovered the thin crusted ones with fresh veggies, herbs and goat cheese scattered on top. When my husband and I were first dating, he took me to this little BBQ place in old downtown Gilbert, AZ. It was sitting room outside only on picnic tables and was very popular. I thought I would just order a salad or something, I mean we were dating, I was still trying to impress him. ;-) After just a few minutes however, I was overcome by the heavy smokey BBQ sauce smell and just couldn't stomach it. Poor guy, he loves his BBQ. I guess he loved me more because here we are, 9 years later happily married.

So, the point of my little love story is well, first I like to talk, and second I want my sweet husband and my boys to eat the foods they love too. I have found that I actually enjoy my homemade BBQ sauce, especially on these delicious chicken sandwiches. This sauce is tangy and mouthwatering! Far less sugar than jarred varieties and no preservatives, fresh is best!

I have also found that using my Kitchen Aid food shredder attachment to shred my own cabbage makes a world of difference in taste. I used to buy the pre-packaged, pre-shredded cabbage. The kids wouldn't touch it and to be honest, I thought it was to thick and well, cabbagy tasting for BBQ sandwiches. Shredding your own into a fine texture actually makes the cabbage taste sweet! The kids gobbled it up!


A great trick to getting perfectly shredded chicken in just seconds.... throw the cooked chicken into your Kitchen Aid stand mixer with the cookie paddle attachment. Turn it onto speed 4-6 and in just 20 seconds you'll have perfect, restaurant style shredded chicken.  Tip: Make sure the chicken is warm/hot before you shred it. Refrigerated chicken is harder and may harm your mixer.

perfect, resteraunt style shredded chicken

Just in time for Summer!

You Will Need:

4-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

package of Kaiser Buns

2 cups finely shredded green cabbage

3 cups homemade BBQ sauce, recipe here.

Putting it all together:

I throw frozen solid big chicken breasts into my pressure cooker and they cook perfect and so moist in aobut 8 minutes! If you don't have one, put it on your birthday wish list and in the meantime, boil your thawed chicken in a large stock pot for about 20 minutes.

When chicken is done, place in a big bowl and shred with 2 forks. I "cheat" on this too, I put my cooked chicken in my KitchenAid with the paddle attachment and it shreds perfectly in about 15 seconds, resteraunt style! (put a KitchenAid on your Christmas list) ;-)

Meanwhile, preheat your broiler. Saute chopped onion in a pan for about 4 minutes until translucent. Shred your cabbage with a food processor.  Toast your halved buns by placing them face up on a broiler pan and putting them about 6 inches from the broiler for about 1-2 minutes. Watch them carefully, bread burns fast! Toasting them is really key for BBQ. Otherwise they will get soggy.

PRINT THIS RECIPE (and sauce recipe)

Quick BBQ Sauce:

1 1/2 cups ketchup

3/4 cup spicy brown mustard

1 onion finely grated

1/4 c. lemon juice

2 tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar

1 tbsp. Worcestershire

1 tbsp. brown sugar OR honey

1/2 c. water

2 TBSP Grilling Seasoning

Combine all ingredients together in a sauce pot. Cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes whisking occasionally.

Other BBQ Sauce Recipes You Need To Try

Papa's Chicken and Honey Spice Marinade from Kitchen Confidante

Soda Pop Pulled Pork with Spicy Cilantro Pesto from Indigo's Sugar Spectrum

Terryaki Turky Burgers with Home Made BBQ Sauce from Good Life Eat's 

Quick BBQ Sauce

Making your own BBQ sauce is super simple. It's so much better for you than store bought jarred stuff. Most of these ingredients are common pantry staples so it's also much cheaper than buying a bottled BBQ sauce.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups ketchup

3/4 cup spicy brown mustard

1 onion finely grated

1/4 c. lemon juice

2 tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar

1 tbsp. Worcestershire

1 tbsp. brown sugar

1/2 c. water

2 TBSP Grilling Seasoning



Combine all ingredients together in a sauce pot. Cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes whisking occasionally.
Use over chicken, shredded beef or pork.
Click here for my shredded chicken BBQ Sandwiches! Yummm Me!