So, between my sister’s apparently inability to handle any kind of sugar, and my reasoning that if I were ever to give up sugar completely now’s the time . . . well, I’m seeing if I can give up sugar completely.  🙂  That doesn’t necessarily mean I won’t be developing recipes with sugar in them in the future, but as always I post here what I make for myself and my family, so I guess odds are low.

The really interesting part is that my sister can’t even handle the sweeteners Jocelyn uses for her no-artificial-sugar husband, like honey, molasses, brown rice syrup, or even Truvia (my sister can’t handle “processed” foods either, it seems).  So, to have any sweetener at all, it seems we have to go straight to pure ground stevia.  If you’re only really interested in my posts for their gluten-freeness, and not so much for sugar-freeness, well, that’s okay; I suspect much of the time you’ll be able to sub sugar back in using much the same conversions I used to sub it out, here.

So the idea for this sauce started when I wanted to recreate ketchup; but I very quickly decided ketchup was boring, and why not just make a decent barbecue sauce if I wanted something to dip my chicken or french fries in?  🙂  The sauce is easy to make; the only even vaguely obscure ingredient is liquid smoke, which you should be able to find at a grocery store in the condiments aisle.  The vinegar (and a tiny bit of dextrose in the liquid smoke) means this isn’t completely paleo, but I’ll get there eventually, right? 🙂

Sugar-Free BBQ Sauce

Yield:  About 2 cups sauce

Ingredients:

• 4 oz tomato paste
• 1/2 tsp green stevia powder
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp celery salt
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 T liquid smoke
• 1 T apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup water

1.  Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat.  Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring regularly.  (It likes to burble and bubble, so be careful.)

2.  Either use immediately, or let cool and store in a jar.  If you want the sauce as smooth as possible, you could put it through a blender or food processor, but that’s strictly optional.  I love chicken baked in this sauce.  🙂