Teriyaki, Thai Peanut & Sweet and Sour Sauce

(Easy Teriyaki Chicken & Rice--marinate chicken in 1/2 of the below teriyaki sauce for 2-3 hours, grill, and serve extra sauce over rice)

I am a saucy kind of gal! I am not a fan of anything dry--be it cakes, cookies, chicken, and especially rice. Rice has very little flavor as it is, so if I am to eat it as part of my meal, I want it to be smothered in something saucey and good. Not to mention, if you have anywhere close to a year supply of rice for your family (40 lbs. per person), that is a lot of dry rice you would be eating if you don't have anything yummy to put on it. (Food storage tip: store extras of the ingredients you need to make some of these sauces in your food storage. This way, if you ever had to eat out of your storage for an extended period of time, you would have the ingredients you need to make delicious sauces to cover all of your boring rice. I get anxiety about running our of soy sauce..that would be a sad, sad, day!!)

I am excited to share with you three of my favorite sauce recipes I have come up with that are fabulous over rice. Yes, you can purchase store bought sauces, but they don't even come close in comparison to a homemade version. The other great perk about these sauces is they can be made in large batches and kept in your fridge for 2-3 weeks, making them easy to use for quick night meals. The teriyaki and sweet and sour can even be made and frozen for later meals. Convenient, quick and mouthwatering!

Try these sauces plain over rice, used as a marinade, add them to a stirfry with fresh vegetables, use in wraps, or even over noodles. No matter how you use these sauce recipes, you will love them! Each are sweet (totally up my alley), a little spicy, and smooth as silk. I hope you enjoy!
**You may notice these sauces have a lot of sugar in them. The store brands do as well, although they have high fructose corn syrup--so, brown sugar is a better alternative. However, if you are trying to be healthy and cut calories, feel free to cut back on the sugar and see how you like the taste. I am sure my amounts of sugar are on the high end...like I said..sugar is my weakness!

Teriyaki Sauce
1/4 c. soy sauce
1 c. water
1/2 t. ground ginger or ginger powder
1/4 t. garlic powder (or fresh garlic)
1/3 c. brown sugar
2 T. cornstarch
1/4 c. water
Mix all of the ingredients together except for the 1/4 c. water and cornstarch in a medium to large saucepan. In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and 1/4 c. cold water and dissolve. Add mixture to the sauce pan. Heat until sauce thickens to desired thickness. Add water to thin the sauce if it becomes too thick.

Thai Peanut Sauce
1 can coconut milk
3/4 c. creamy or chunky peanut butter
1/3 c. soy sauce
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 t. ginger powder or fresh ginger
1/2 t. curry powder
1/2 t. red pepper flakes
Simmer sauce until sugar is dissolved about 4-5 minutes. Once sauce thickens you can keep in the fridge for 2 weeks. If your sauce is too thick, add some water to thin it down as needed.

Basic Sweet & Sour Sauce
2/3 c. apple cider vinegar
1 3/4 c. ketchup
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
1 t. salt
1 t. black pepper
Dash of cayenne pepper
1 t. garlic powder or 1 clove fresh garlic minced
Simmer sauce on medium heat in a medium/large saucepan on a low boil until sugar is dissolved (about 3-5 minutes). Once the sauce begins to thicken, remove from heat. Sauce can store in your fridge up to 2 weeks. (If you would like your sauce to be more thick, add one tablespoon of cornstarch that has been mixed with 1 T. of water and then mix into sauce and continue to simmer until thickens).