March is Sauce Month designed to celebrate all things saucy! In honor of this, I made sauces this week! I actually prefer making my own things as much as possible. It’s so nice to be able to control salt content and overall taste by making it myself.

There are things in foods sold in American supermarkets that are banned in other countries because they are known to be bad for consumption. I try to avoid these things more and more. Doing my research for this column every week has shown me how beneficial and easy it is to really make things for myself. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not a purist, but I do try to help myself and my family eat healthier whenever I can. These will not taste the same as what you can get in the store (most times they taste much better), but they will be similar and they will not have a list of ingredients you can’t pronounce along with unnecessary dyes for coloring or preservatives to extend shelf life.

Creating your own sauces allows you to control what goes into it. If you want less or no salt, leave it out. If you like heat, you can add extra chili powder or add less if you like a kick but not much heat. You can control how sweet it ends up as well by adding sugars or sweeteners to your liking.

One other thing I really like about making my own sauces, I know how fresh it is. As long as I label the container, I know when it was made. It has not been created and then sitting in a warehouse and then shipped and then sitting on the store shelf. Who knows how old it is by the time we are eating it? And how much has to go into it to preserve it for months or even years in some cases? Unfortunately, due to no preservatives, you have to pay more attention to whether it is still any good though. Vinegar is a natural preservative though. So anything that includes that will last you longer than those recipes without.

Fun Facts:

In ancient Egypt, mustard seeds were thrown into King Tut’s tomb at his funeral as they were thought to bring good fortune in the next life.

Colman’s mustard was one of the few foods that wasn’t rationed during WWII because it was so good at livening up bland food.

It’s traditional for German brides to sew mustard seeds into the hem of their wedding dresses to assure their dominance in the household.

Mayonnaise can be a handy home remedy for sunburns. Applying mayo on the affected areas will help to ease pain quickly and reduce the burning sensation.

Speaking of mayo, in the U.S. alone, about 80 million eggs are used annually to produce commercial mayonnaise!

The main ingredients in ketchup used to be anchovies, walnuts, mushrooms and kidney beans. That seems so odd! Can you imagine how it used to taste?!

Skip the expensive polish when your silver tarnishes. Use ketchup to restore the glow to your pots and pans since the acid in ketchup removes the tarnish.

These recipes are easy to make so there is really no reason not to try to make your own sauce. Make these over the weekend when you have extra time and they will last you a week or so depending on your ingredients and how quick your family eats it! So this week, make your grocery list or maybe just pull the ingredients out of the pantry and meet me in the kitchen for sauces made easy!

Fry Sauce

1 cup mayonnaise ¼-½ cup barbecue sauce, to taste 1 Tbsp. sriracha, more or less to taste ¼ tsp. salt 1 tsp. red pepper flakes 1 tsp. paprika In medium bowl, mix mayonnaise, barbecue sauce and sriracha until combined. Add remaining ingredients and mix until well blended. Taste and adjust flavor as desired. Serve with hot, fresh fries. Yum!

Chipotle Tahini

½ cup olive oil ¼ cup water ¼ cup tahini 2-3 chipotles in adobo sauce 1 tsp. minced garlic ¼ cup fresh squeezed orange juice ½ tsp. salt Blend all ingredients in small blender or food processor until smooth and creamy. Taste and adjust flavor as desired. It will store 1 week in the fridge. I used this over chicken thighs and rice and it was so good!

Recipe adapted from pinchofyum. com.

Apple Pie Ice Cream Sauce

2 cups apple cider 6 Tbsps. heavy cream 1 tsp. ground cinnamon Pinch salt In medium saucepan over medium- high heat, reduce apple cider until it’s thick and coats the back of a spoon, about 10-15 minutes. Stir in cream, cinnamon and salt and cook another 2-3 minutes. Taste and adjust flavor if needed. I served this over vanilla bean ice cream and oh it was amazing!

Recipe adapted from foodnetwork. com.

Béchamel Sauce

5 Tbsps. unsalted butter ¼ cup flour 1 qt. milk ¼ tsp. salt ¼ tsp. grated nutmeg Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and whisk into melted butter until smooth. Cook and stir until flour turns a light golden, sandy color, about 7 minutes. Increase heat to medium high and slowly whisk in milk until thickened by the roux. Be careful though, if you aren’t paying attention, on high heat, the milk will boil out of the pan. If needed, reduce heat from high slightly. Once thickened, bring to a gentle simmer, then reduce heat to medium- low and continue simmering until flour has softened and no longer gritty, 15-20 minutes. We used this on a shrimp pasta. Taste and adjust flavor as desired. So delicious!

Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com.