Betty the Friendly Neighborhood Crockpot . . .

Is one of my best friends, and she wants to be yours, too! She’s absolutely fabulous, ya’ll. Give her tough cuts of meat like top round, veggies that need to be used quickly and some spices and VOILA! You’ve got a hearty stew without even messing up your kitchen!!

But you know the best part? When your mom comes to visit and gets you all spoiled with a piping hot breakfast waiting in the kitchen she’ll be there to pick up the pieces when you’re on your own again.

Ahem.

Seriously though, Betty is more chipper in the morning that that nest of robins outside Snow White’s window. So when she says “sleep a little longer, hon, I’ve got this” — DO IT. Then roll out of bed and stumble into the kitchen for warm, breakfasty goodness on-the-spot.I’ve you’ve never met Betty please consider this your formal introduction. To get to know her better, check out the recipes below!

Photo courtesy Health Home & Happiness

 Slow Cooker Baked Apples

Make any morning extra special with this hot cooked, cinnamon-sweet breakfast from Cara at Health, Home & Happiness. The aroma alone will have you smiling before you get to the kitchen, promise! We like ours with a quick side of scrambled eggs and/or sausage. Yum!

For kids who don’t eat super sweet sweets, this will be a real treat.

For a variation on this theme, check out this slow cooker applesauce from The Well Fed Homestead

Bacon “Omelette” Crock Pot Breakfast

Alyssa over at Sweet Cheeks says that “The delicious smell fills up the house as you sleep, causing visions of bacon to dance in your head!” Uh, yeah! This looks so delish AND easy – can’t wait to try it! Since we’re one of those families Betty will substitute butternut squash for sweet potato* and add some cheese as well. Since coconut oil maintains it’s benefits better than olive oil when heated Betty will make that switcharoo for us, too. You can find the recipe here.

* If your Betty substitutes with butternut squash you might recommend she use 1/3 less since it is usually higher in water content.

Southwest Crockpot Crustless Quiche

Oh yeah, this one looks UH-mazing! Betty is making this for us next week except she’s going to sub these pickled peppers for the canned green chilis (we can’t find any that don’t have BPA) and bacon for sausage. (Pssst! Want bacon without all the additives? Try making your own with this recipe!) Or to make this casserole more budget-friendly you can substitute this easy homemade spicy sausage recipe.

You can find the southwest breakfast casserole recipe here.

Do you know a mama who could you a few extra minutes of sleep and a hot breakfast? Why not share this recipe with her?!?!? And if you have a fave crockpot breakfast recipe, please share it!

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Daddypotamus Bought Me A Cactus For My 21st Birthday

I named him Frank. Now, if you’re not immediately thinking what a total keeper he is, it’s only because you don’t know the story.

See, eight months earlier I’d fallen in love over the sneeze guard of a salad bar. Oh yes! An unfamiliar voice called my name, so I looked up and there – just past the iceberg lettuce  - stood a smiling stranger with gorgeous blue eyes. And then I saw stars. Seriously, stars. Like the ones in cartoons when someone gets whacked with a frying pan.

Okay, he wasn’t a stranger, he was my fifth grade crush all grown up. The two foot height difference is what threw me for a loop (and of course those stars!).  I’ll tell you this, though: All my agnosticism about “the one” evaporated that day. He was real, and he was standing 5 feet away in the Crowley Hall Cafeteria.

But, Uh, There Was A Glitch

My college nickname was Femi-Nazi. It’s not pretty – university kids are not known for their tact – but it was basically accurate.  After my dad died I determined not to be “that girl” who looks for love in all the wrong places. Unfortunately, my poker face got so good it became hard to express things even when I wanted to. So what did I do when I met the love of my life? I bluffed, of course! It went like this:

“Okay, Imagine A Cactus”

Daniel continued this odd request with an equally strange follow up: “Now split the screen and imagine the best looking guy you’ve ever seen. Which do you prefer? If it’s the guy, the single life is not for you.”

I leaned back, cradling the phone while staring out my second story dorm room window.”I don’t know. I really like cactus.”

Ugh, can you BELIEVE ME? Fortunately Daddypotamus is not easily provoked to jealousy when it comes to, uh, succulents, so he gave me Fred and insisted I could have both.

The Thing Is . . .

By the end of my 21st year of life I would have slept on a dirt floor if it meant being with this man. But now that I’m, um, NOT 21, I’m kind of used to being pampered. Oh sure, the purse I’ve been carrying around for three years was a $3 Goodwill purchase, but in exchange I have a fresh oysters every week, real butter and pastured eggs. I just might choke if I have  to eat MSG-laden Ramen Noodles ever again and – let’s be real – I cannot imagine life without raw cheese.

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Dear Daniel,

We spent the morning of our wedding day roaming a foreign city in search of stamps. Not to mail postcards, of course, but to appease the crazy tax laws in Vieques. Do you remember us? “Colecturía? Colecturía?” I’ve never been so happy to be a clueless tourista. It was the beginning of so many adventures.

However, my FAVORITE memory from that morning was our trip to the doctors office to get our health certificate. With a serious smile and a Puerto Rican accent, our physician spoke fifteen words I’ll never forget.

I have to make sure you’re not drunk, not crazy  . . . . and you don’t have syphillis.”

Check. Check. And . . . oh wait, about that crazy part.

Just kidding. But truthfully on paper it doesn’t look good for us. It’s not just that  I spent my last night as a single woman sleeping behind a bar or that we didn’t have a wedding cake. Forget that you’ve had your brain zapped and I’ve had my forehead needled. The fact that we we’ve never used birth control or that our children most often play in the exact place I pushed them out of my body . . . not even worth mentioning.

It’s not even that I sometimes eat eggshells.

As I dug through photos to put this slideshow together I realized some very important pictures were missing. Not just the ones of us rolling on the sand like beached whales . . . the real bummer is that neither of us thought to make our huge fights a Kodak moment. There are no pictures of our “enthusiastic disagreements,” but there have certainly been plenty of them along the way. And honestly they deserve their place here because they are as much a part of our story as anything.

That’s where the crazy part comes in: If I had known what was coming on that bright morning in Vieques I probably would have thought we were nothing less than certifiable for going forward. Love takes more work than my “Little Mermaid” and “Beauty and the Beast” upbringing prepared me for. Remember me trying to stow away in your bags as you headed to The University of Copenhagen for a semester abroad?

Nothing but smiles there, but what was supposed to be a simple four month adventure turned into an excruciatingly painful test of our relationship that lasted much, much longer. As I held that picture I thought to myself, what if it had ended there?

There would have been no dance under a hundred-thousand blazing stars on our first night as husband and wife.

And remember how hard our first year was? What if it had ended THERE?

We would have missed not one but TWO of the sweetest blessings on earth.

Think of all we would have missed. Saturday morning pancake breakfasts, naptime snuggles, chasing seagulls on the beach. Are we flawed? YES! YES! YES! But really and truly we are getting better at this everyday. I love you more than you will ever know and I can’t imagine anything better than spending the rest of my life with you.

So, Daddypotamus, without further hullabaloo I present to you a few other moments I’m glad you stuck around for.

*Look closely and you might capture a glimpse of Food Renegade during our college days. Yes we’re cool like that.
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Lotions. Potions. Elixirs. Oh my!

Do you love the idea of homemade spa goodies but think they are “too much trouble” to make? Or maybe it worries you that the exact form of sodium laurel sulphate in your bottle of suds is used to degrease car engines. (Don’t see it listed? It has about 150 aliases and is often used in “natural” and “herbal” shampoos! ) Well then, I have just the thing for you!

This video/photo tutorial – adapted from and inspired by Andrea at Frugally Sustainable – is your guide to hassle-free soapmaking. Chocked full of natural humectants and softening butters, this recipe takes just 30 minutes of active time.* Oh yes! Half an hour and you’ll have  a revitalizing, moisturizing rosemary mint bar – or eight – curing on your countertop. I am by no means an expert at soapmaking (this was my first time!), but this was really simple and fun to do. I am LOVING the results and want to share it with you!

New To Shampoo Bars? Here’s What You Need To Know

The easiest way to use your shampoo bar is to lather in your hands and then work from root to tip. For a conditioning rinse Andrea recommends spritzing with a solution of 1/3 apple cider vinegar and 2/3 water in a spray bottle. Leave it on or rinse – either way the vinegary smell will fade away as your hair dries. Here are some more tips for making the transition from Dress Green.

• “There is a big difference between natural and commercial shampoos: natural bars don’t contain the preservatives, or the sulfates that cleanse by stripping everything – not just the daily dirt buildup but also the good natural oils on your hair. This means that natural shampoos leave hair generally more moisturized and with much more texture (as opposed to the sleek and squeaky feel).
• You may also find that your hair will need to adapt to the shampoo bars over time (don’t give up if after 2 or 3 days your hair is acting ‘differently’!). Many people’s hair tends to take a while to get accustomed to a natural shampoo when switching away from commercial shampoos – it is part of a ‘detoxifying’ process as the synthetics that have built up on your hair are slowly removed. To help your hair through this detox process, you may find that doing a daily or every-other-day vinegar rinse will help to remove excess buildup (we provide instructions with your new shampoo bar:).
• Once your hair has adjusted to your new shampoo bar, you may want to continue with weekly vinegar rinses to keep your hair’s pH balanced, help prevent tangles, and remove soap and product buildup.
• Shampoo bars can be a little challenging if you live in an area that has hard water. Hard water means that you will need to use more soap to get a good lather, and that soap is more difficult to rinse away. The minerals in hard water can react with soap, causing excess residue and tangling of the hair. If you have hard water, you may want to try using a vinegar rinse more frequently or using a water softener in your home.”

Giveaway TODAY!

Aside from sharing this tutorial, I am also giving away a couple bars from the batch I just whipped up. If you’d like to be entered to win one just share this post on FB or Twitter and leave a comment below letting me know! Contest ends tonight (1/25/12) at midnight. Winners will be selected via www.random.org and prizes will be mailed tomorrow!

And the winners are . . . Amber Stetler & Jenni Schuessler! Please email me your mailing address and get these shampoo bars in the mail!

*Note: The process takes about 1 1/2 hours total (including non-active time), but you’ll need to wait 24 hours before using!

Video Tutorial

Ingredients

All amounts are per weight. You will need to use a scale for these measurements.

• 10 ounces coconut oil
• 10 ounces olive oil
• 3 ounces castor oil (cold-pressed)
• 3 ounces jojoba oil
• 2 ounces shea butter
• 2 ounces cocoa butter
• 1 ounce beeswax (available at craft stores like Hobby Lobby, Joann’s or Michaels)

• 4 ounces water
• 6 ounces coconut milk
•  4 ounces lye (Usually available at your local hardware store. Make sure to get 100% lye!)

• 1/2 ounce rosemary essential oil
• 1/2 ounce peppermint oil

- OR-

• 1 ounce essential oil of your choice

Equipment:

• crock pot
• stick blender
• digital scale
• glass measuring cups
• small glass bowls
• plastic spoon with long handle
• rubber spatula
• sink or bowl filled with vinegar and soap mixture (for cleaning anything that comes in contact with lye)
• protective equipment: long-sleeved shirt, plastic/rubber gloves, safety glasses or protective eye gear
• soap mold – I used a cardboard box lined with parchment paper. A lined bread pan is the perfect size for this batch, though. I’ll be using that next time!

Photo Tutorial:

Step 1: Place solid oils (coconut, shea butter, cocoa butter) and Beeswax in a saucepan and gently warm over low heat

Step 2: Place melted oils and liquid oils (olive, castor, jojoba) in a crockpot and set to low

Step 3: In a well-ventilated area and while wearing protective gear slowly add lye to water/coconut milk and stir. Do not touch the bowl – it will be hot! Let lye cool for 5-10 minutes before proceeding to the next step.

Step 4: Add lye to crockpot (being careful not to splash) and stir a few times.

Step 5: Using the stick blender begin mixing toward “trace.” You’ll know trace is achieved when the mixture has the texture and thickness of pudding. Mine took about 3 minutes.

Step 6: Cover and let cook on low for 1 hour. During this process the oils should rise up the sides like a wave and then fold back into the mixture.

Step 7: At the end of one hour the mixture should look a little like semi-translucent vaseline. According to this post, “once the whole mix has this look, you can test it to see if it is done. Take a small sample of the soap and rub it between your fingers. It should have a waxy feel. Test the soap by touching it to your tongue. Keep cooking….if it ‘zaps’ like a nine volt battery, it’s not done.”

Step 8: Once the mixture is ready, add the essential oils and stir.

Step 9: Then spoon it into your mold and let firm up for 24 hours.

Step 10: Once the soap has had 24 hours to harden, remove from the mold and cut into bars.

Step 11: In an area with good air flow, place bars on a rack/tray to dry out and harden for another week or so. But by all means, go ahead and enjoy your first bar now!!!Similar Posts:

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Hey ya’ll! These little bursts of indigo-flavored joy are all wrapped up in moist, cakey goodness topped with crunchy, crumbly bits. And even though we are one of those families, I promise no one will ever suspect you didn’t use grains or refined sugar. Blueberry bliss, guaranteed.

Want the recipe? I am sharing it over at Nourished Kitchen today. Go check it out!Similar Posts:

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Note from Heather: This is a guest post from Jenni at The Urban Poser- one of my favorite bloggers! Ya’ll, this girl can COOK. Daddypotamus literally gets giddy when she stops by with one of her creations of for us to taste test. You are in for such a treat!

YES! My Favorite Time Of Year Is Well Under Way

.. and by ‘time of year’ I don’t mean a season; I’m talking about a holiday! This day of which I speak is equally loved and hated by many. But I think…..it’s just misunderstood. I too was once a ‘Valentine hater’. With it’s cheap chocolates, cheesy cards, shiny, ugly balloons, and cupids arrow… BLEH! Not my cup of tea. (well, except that one year I bought the whole lot and had it delivered to my husband’s office as a joke) But I digress…

So, what was it that put cupid and me in such good standing you might ask? Well, perhaps it was the first time I saw a beautifully ruffled peony, all rosy and pink like the cheeks of a child on a cold winter’s day. Or maybe it was that moment I first bit into the crisp, yet chewy and creamy decadent perfection of my very first French Macaron. All I know is that at some point, things were awakened! Things I had never even known about myself were suddenly revealed like…”Wait, I actually like pink?”

Yes indeed! At least for about 4 weeks out of the year I do. It’s like I transform; as though all the girlishness that has been dormant inside of me suddenly comes out to play, and play I do! Valentines for me has become about giving gifts to my loved ones; gifts that are 100% creative and completely me. And since there aren’t really any expectations to begin with, I can pretty much do ANYTHING I can dream up. This creative impulse usually manifests itself as something along the lines of French pastries, French foods…….OK French anything really. Somehow Valentine’s Day now existex in my brain as the ‘Everything French’ holiday.

That Being Said . . .

What I have for you today isn’t necessarily ‘French’, per-se. I’m trying to work on that little obsession, and of course, with my current dietary restrictions I’ve had to change my repertoire around quite a bit. But I think that my Valentines ventures have only improved with all my dietary changes. You know what they say: creativity often flourishes most when under restriction.

So what I offer you today are a couple of tasty, homemade, honey-sweetened, pectin-free jam recipes. These particular flavors were my own experiment but hopefully, once you’ve made these, you will feel comfortable modifying the recipes and concocting your own lovely flavor combinations. Or if you’re like me…just throw caution to the wind and creatively dive in on the first try.

In addition to tasting fantastic, these jams also make the most amazing homemade gifts. Put them in a vintage style Mason jar with a quirky little note and you’ve got yourself an elegant and unique little valentine. Or you can create a nice display (see below) with ‘markers’ for the different flavors as a classy addition to a Valentine’s brunch. Oh yes, and one more thing; these jams make brilliant fillings for little tartlets (yet another great valentine gift idea).

Below are the two recipes. Please note that they have different amounts of honey added to each. Because these are ‘cooked’ jams, (often referred to as ‘freezer jams’ due to the fact that they are not actually preserved and need to be frozen if kept for more than a few weeks. Honey does not have the same preserving powers as white sugar…no surprise there) you can add anywhere from 1/4 cup to a whole cup of honey to every 2 cups of fruit and still get great results. As you can see, I’ve added 1/4 cup of honey to the peach jam and 1/2 cup of honey to the raspberry jam because the raspberries were more on the tart side. Just do what tastes good to you! Once you get the hang of it, the possibilities are endless.

Marmalades (as seen in the photo above), are a bit more complicated. I have not listed the recipe here, but you can look for it in the very near future at The Urban Poser, in my upcoming Valentines Extravaganza!

So how about you? Have you let your inner Valentine junkie out lately?

Raspberry & White Tea, Honey Sweetened
Freezer Jam (Pectin Free)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of fresh raspberries (packed)
• 1/2 cup honey (more or less as desired)
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon (about 2 Tbls)
• Optional: 1-2 tea bags of organic white tea (depending on desired strength)

Directions:

1. Coarsely mash the raspberries (I like to use a pastry blender or potato masher)
2. Transfer the raspberries to a heavy bottomed sauce pan or even a frying pan.
3. Bring the fruit to a simmer, it will become more liquid. Remove from heat and add the white tea bag(s). Let steep for 4 min then remove the tea bags. If you are not adding the tea you can skip this step)
4. Bring the mixture to a simmer again allowing it to simmer and cook down for a few min. Add the honey, stirring well to combine. Continue to simmer the mixture for about 15-25 min stirring everyone once in awhile to keep in from burning.
5. You want the mixture to come to about 220 degrees (if you are using a candy thermometer), but I prefer doing these jams by feel. This may seem daunting but here is how to do that:  Toward the end of the 15 min, keep a close eye on the mixture, stirring more frequently. It will begin to thicken pretty quickly and as you are stirring, draw a rubber spatula through the mixture. Before it is ready, you will notice that the mixture fills in the space created by the spatula very quickly. As it becomes ready, it will fill the space in more slowly, leaving an open space for a few seconds as it slowly fills in. Also, keep in mind that the mixture WILL thicken even more after it cools.
6. Remove from heat, stir in the lemon juice and let cool. If you feel that you overcooked the jam and it is too thick for your liking, just add a little more water, tea or lemon juice to the mixture. It is pretty versatile stuff!
7. Once cooled, serve on your favorite grain/gluten free biscuits or crackers. The jam also makes a great filling for mini tarts, cookies and (cup) cakes.

This recipe makes about 1 cup of jam. Store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or jar and freeze for up to one month. I prefer to make this in small batches, as this is not your everyday fare.

Peach Rooibos, Honey Sweetened
Freezer Jam (Pectin Free)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of fresh or frozen (partially thawed) peaches
• 1/4 cup honey (more or less if desired)
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon (about 2 Tbls)
• Optional: 1-2 tea bags of organic rooibos tea (depending on desired strength)

Directions:

1. Dice up about 1/3 cup of the peaches. Set aside. Coarsely mash the rest of the peaches. (I like to use a pastry blender or potato masher)
2. Transfer the mashed peaches to a heavy bottomed sauce pan or even a frying pan.
3. Bring the fruit to a simmer; it will become more liquid. Remove from heat and add the rooibos tea bag(s). Let steep for 4 min then remove the tea bags. If you are not adding the tea you can skip this step)
4. Bring the mixture to a simmer again allowing it to cook down for a few min. Add HALF of the lemon and all the honey, stirring well to combine. Continue to simmer the mixture for about 15-25 min; stirring every once in awhile to keep in from burning.
5. You want the mixture to come to about 220 degrees (if you are using a candy thermometer), but I prefer doing these jams by feel. This may seem daunting but here is how to do that:  Toward the end of the 15 min, keep a close eye on the mixture, stirring more frequently. Add the diced peaches in the last five min or so of cooking. and continue to cook till ready. This helps give the jam a fresher taste. It will begin to thicken pretty quickly and as you are stirring, draw a rubber spatula through the mixture. Before it is ready, you will notice that the mixture fills in the space created by the spatula very quickly. As it becomes ready, it will fill the space in more slowly, leaving an open space for a few seconds as it slowly fills in. Also, keep in mind that the mixture WILL thicken even more after it cools.
6. Remove from heat, stir in the lemon juice and let cool. If you feel that you overcooked the jam and it is too thick for your liking, just add a little more water, tea or lemon juice to the mixture. It is pretty versatile stuff!
7. Once cooled, serve on your favorite grain/gluten free biscuits or crackers. The jam also makes a great filling for mini tarts, cookies and (cup) cakes.

This recipe makes about 1 cup of jam. Store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or jar and freeze for up to one month. I prefer to make this in small batches, as this is not your everyday fare.

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Traditional Nut and Seed Preparation Methods

In her book, Nourishing Traditions, Sally Fallon explains how soaking nuts/seeds in a saltwater solution reduces the naturally occurring enzyme inhibitors and phytates in nuts and seeds. This is called making “crispy nuts,” a reference you will find often in my recipes. Soaking and dehydrating times can be found below. You can also ferment them in a whey solution and then dehydrate for use. To use this method, place nuts in a bowl and cover with water and ½ cup whey. Soak for 24 hours and dehydrate according to the time listed below, or until dry. Please note that nuts expand over time so make sure they are completely submerged with plenty of extra water at the top.

Pecans & Walnuts – Soak 4 cups pecans in warm filtered water with 2 teaspoons sea salt for 7 hours or longer (up to 24 hours). Rinse and place in set at 105-150 degrees for 12-24 hours, turning occasionally.

Almonds – Soak 4 cups almonds in warm water with 1 tablespoon sea salt for 7 hours or longer (up to 24 hours). Rinse, place in dehydrator, sprinkle with salt/honey/other flavorings if desired and dehydrate at 105-150 degrees for 12-24 hours, turning occasionally.

Cashews – Because “raw” cashews are not truly raw (heated to 350 degrees while in their shell to neutralize a toxic oil called cardol.), it’s not necessary to dehydrate them at a low temperature to preserve enzymes. Soaking still makes them more digestible, though! Soak 2 cups cashews in warm water with 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt for no more than 6 hours. Rinse, place on a stainless steel cookie sheet, sprinkle with salt and bake at 200-250 degrees for 12-24 hours, turning occasionally.

Peanuts – Soak 4 cups raw peanuts in warm water with 1 tablespoon sea salt for 7 hours or longer (up to 24 hours). Drain and rinse. Dehydrate at 105-150 degrees for 12-24 hours, turning occasionally.

Pumpkin Seeds – Soak 2 cups raw pumpkin seeds in warm water with 1 tablespoon sea salt for 7 hours or longer (up to 24hours). Drain and rinse (Or don’t rinse. They’re yummy salty!). If desired, sprinkle with flavorings such as salt and honey or chili and lime before placing in dehydrator. Dehydrate at 105-150 degrees for 12-24 hours, turning occasionally.

Sunflower Seeds – Soak 4 cups sunflower seeds in warm filtered water with 2 teaspoons sea salt for 7 hours. Rinse and place in set at 105-150 degrees for 12-24 hours, turning occasionally.

Note: Turning is not necessary in my Excaliubur dehydrator, but it is helpful with other models. Do what works for you.

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The Legend of Jimmy Curry

An Englishman and his gauchos, what better way to begin a story? Hey hey, I hear you snickering! He’s not wearing the gauchos, silly, he’s riding with them. They’re Argentinian cowboys – grandsons of Spanish conquistadors and local women who roast cimarron steaks over open pits and dance the malambo in pampas.

Anyway, back to the story. It’s said that Jimmy – a meat importer – became obsessed with traditional criollo Argentine barbecues during his travels, even to the point of creating a special sauce that took off like wildfire in popularity. Long after he’d made his fortune and returned home locals were still eating Jimmy’s curry, or as it came to be known, chimichurri.

Now seriously, half of that story may not be true. There are reports that it was really Jimmy McCurry from Ireland, or maybe just some guy named James. But you can count on this. If you’re not afraid of a little heat, this sauce will make your tastebuds do the tango over a juicy steak, roast chicken, chorizo, shrimp, baked butternut squash or even your morning eggs.

Buen Provecho!

Chimichurri – Argentinian Herb Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 jalapeno (about 1/2 ounce),
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
• 1 teaspoons dried thyme leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
• about 1/3 cup of extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1-1½ teaspoons crushed red pepper
• 1 tablespoon tightly packed coarsely chopped fresh parsley
• 1 to 2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
• 2 bay leaves, crumbled
• 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
• about 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Set oven on broil and place jalapeno on top rack. Allow to char on one side (about 3 minutes, then turn over and allow to char on the other side)
2. Dice the jalapeno (if you prefer a milder sauce de-seed before doing so)
3. Warm oil over very low heat
4. Add all ingredients to pan and allow to steep for 30 minutes to an hour

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