Tangy Rhubarb BBQ Sauce Recipe & Re-done!

Has rhubarb sprung up where you are at? Not here. Unfortunately, as I look out the kitchen window, I see gray sky, cold wind and snowflakes falling... Again. But knowing that spring is here and the rhubarb will start to come up soon, I dug out from the freezer what's left of last year's that I'd harvested. I love this use for rhubarb! I have tried a couple low-carb recipes for bbq sauce in the past. They just didn't do it for me - yuck. But this? This is great! I imagine you could:
1.) add a little liquid smoke.
2.) use honey (or other natural sweetener, for that matter) for a sweet honey bbq sauce.
3.) add molasses for a darker and deeper flavor.
4.) add more chipotle for a spicier kick (though this already leaves a nice little "sting").
5.) omit the chipotle if you don't like heat at all.
6.) use as a salad dressing when chilled.
7.) add to mayo/sour cream for a veggie dip or onion ring dip.
8.) etc., you get the picture...

Tangy Rhubarb BBQ Sauce 
(adapted from Cooking Light magazine, April 2014) 
1T butter
1/2c diced onion
1T minced garlic, heaping
3c frozen diced rhubarb
1/2c water
1/3c sugar
1/4c ketchup
2T white vinegar
1/2tsp chipotle powder
1tsp Dijon mustard
1/8tsp salt

Melt butter in saucepan. Add onion and garlic, cook until tender, about 5mns. Add rhubard, cook about 5mns more, stirring occasionally. Add water, sugar, ketchup, vinegar, chipotle and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 5mns more, or until rhubarb is tender. Pour into either a blender or processor and run until smooth. Pour back into saucepan and let cook a minute. Turn off heat and stir in mustard and salt. Makes about a full pint.

Their notes say that this contains 5g carbs per 2T sized serving. No sugar count given. Just think how easy this would be to make into a low-carb sauce! Wait! Don't even give it a thought. I redid it for you!

Tangy Rhubarb BBQ Sauce Re-done to Low-Carb
(adapted from adapted recipe above)
1T butter
1/2c diced onion
1T minced garlic, heaping
3c frozen diced rhubarb (or fresh if yours is up)
1/2c water
1/3c xylitol
1/4c sugar-free ketchup
2T white vinegar
1/2tsp chipotle powder
1tsp Dijon mustard
1/8tsp pink salt 

Follow directions as posted in recipe above.

Now on to-
Frugal doings:
1.) Making our clothes last longer by fixing what we own, such as sewing up a split seam on my black yoga style pants and a tear in the underarm of A's thermal top. I've also been hanging up all of our clothes to dry inside on racks, though this began as a matter of necessity since our dryer conked out. I will continue to hang most things after the new dryer arrives in a week or so, except underwear, socks and washcloths. (As an aside, I have found that hanging my work scrubs to dry has resulted in infrequent shocks at work! I'm tellin' ya, it was a dozen times a day thing before - darn plastic wrap roll. Anyhow, no softener used and haven't had anywhere near the static problems.)
2.) I had set a limit of $1 for shampoo and hairspray a while back. This meant that I purchased those items only if I had a high-value coupon or a great sale at our grocery store, like 77cents for V-05 shampoo. I took a risk (for me, anyway) and while in the nearby city bought two different shampoos and a hairspray from the Dollar Tree store. My expectations were low. But I am happy to say that they work just as well as the higher priced items I'd been buying. While 77cents is better than $1, the dollar store bottle is substantially larger.
3.) Think twice before making a purchase. Then think again. Two examples: I nearly picked up two darling little journals that I'd come across on clearance at Target the other day. They'd been about $5-6 each originally, were marked down to $2 each. I had them in my basket with the idea of putting them away for stocking stuffers. I then recalled that I've seen many cute journals at the dollar store or Michael's for half of that clearanced price. So they went back on the shelf. As mentioned in number 1, we are expecting our new dryer soon. J and I shopped around, looked for scratch-n-dent deals, and finally decided on one at Home Depot. However, it was not in stock and they offered to order it for me. I turned them down since I could order it for myself online and have it delivered right to our doorstep as they had free shipping at time of purchase. On top of that, I get 5% back from our credit card company for going through their link.
4.) Know prices of things I buy regularly. The one thing that comes to mind right away is my favorite mozzarella cheese log. It sells for $5.99 per log at Walmart, $7.99 at our local grocery store. I have bought it from Sam's Club for $9 - as a 2 pack! But I do not have a membership, only had gone with someone else who did. I did a quick online search for a day-pass and was able to print one before heading to the city. Sure, I paid 10% on top of that $9. But $9.90 for two logs is equal to $4.95 each, still the best price.