Whole30 Day 14 — No Sugar Added BBQ Spice Rub For Pork

Melissa Hartwig, the co-founder of the Whole30, says that the majority  of people who quit the program do so between days 9 and 10. I am on day 14.  Let me repeat that because I can’t believe it myself, I am on day 14.  Not only did I make did I make it through day 9 and 10 without quitting, I made it through 2 weeks of the program.   I am so proud of myself, I could just cry.

Have I seen any changes yet?  Yeah, I have.

1.  The dark circles under my eyes have almost disappeared.  I don’t know if this is because I am sleeping better or for some other reasons.
2. I can breathe through both of my nostrils.   I am always completely stuffed up, sneezing, dealing with runny nose, all the time.  I am not completely symptom free yet but as I can’t remember the last time I could breathe through my nose at all I count this as a win.
3.  My work pants went from fitting comfortably to almost being too loose.  I’ll never know how much I have lost because I didn’t weigh myself or take measurements before I started.  Weight loss was not my purpose for doing the Whole30. It is   just a bonus.
4. I definitely have more energy through out the day.  I don’t come home from work so exhausted I am ready for bed at 630 pm.
5. I am sleeping through the night.  It is too early to tell if this is totally because of the Whole30 because I go through cycles where I sleep just fine.  However, before I started I was in a particularly nasty cycle of sleeplessness, where I was up two or three times a night for hours at a time so, again, I am counting sleeping through the night a Whole30 win.

Last weekend I made some bbq sauce for pulled pork. I had a little sauce left over from that so I decided to make some ribs. I usually use a spice rub on my ribs before  I cook them but all my rub recipes have sugar in them so  I needed to find a new rib rub recipe.  I dare you to say that 10 times fast, ha!  I had the same problem finding a no added sugar rib rub recipe as I did finding a no sugar added bbq sauce recipe.  Every recipe said no sugar added then had honey, molasses, maple syrup or some kind of artifcial sweetner in it.  I did eventually find a couple to try.  I will post them as I try them.

No Sugar Added BBQ Spice Rub

• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

2 TBS paprika

1 TBS garlic powder.

1 TBS onion powder

2 tsp kosher salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp allspice

1 1/2 tsp oregano

In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients together.  Store in an airtight container in a cool, dark place.  

Magazine Monday — BBQ Ribs

Can you believe I have lived 46 years, spent about 15 years cooking and almost 2 years as a food blogger and never made BBQ ribs until Christmas eve 2015?

Since I am usually home alone Christmas eve, it has been my tradition to make an outrageous homemade pizza and watch my favorite horror movies. Hey! It’s my Christmas tradition don’t judge. As if the abdominal snowman from Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer isn’t as scary as hell! No? Okay, maybe that’s just me. Seriously, that thing gave me nightmares as a child.

I don’t know why I decided to change it up for Christmas eve and do ribs (still did the horror movies though) but I did. I figured I could always do a big bowl of popcorn if it was a disaster. I am nothing if not flexible.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to use plan b. I spice rubbed my ribs and threw them in the fridge while I was at work. When I got home I threw the ribs into a preheated oven and let the ribs cook for two and a half hours while I watched The Conjuring, then I made my sauce. I slathered the ribs with sauce and baked them for another 40 minutes. They were so good! I will be making ribs more often.

BBQ Ribs

• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

Ingredients
1-2 lbs bone in ribs, your choice of beef or pork
Dry Rub
1 1/2 TBS brown sugar
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp salt
2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.

BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup plus 1 TBS water
2 TBS plus 1 1/2 tsp cider vinegar
2 TBS plus 1 1/2 tsp white vinegar
2 TBS brown sugar
1 TBS plus 3/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp kosher salt
3/4 tsp black pepper
In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix well. Set aside.

Several hours before you plan to cook your ribs, rub them with the spice rub, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. When ready to cook, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place your ribs in a baking dish that can hold them in a single layer. Bake for 2 1/2 hours. Cover ribs with sauce and bake another 30 – 40 minutes. Enjoy!