What should you do with a bumper crop of jalapenos in the garden? Well, after pickling them and making enough salsa for the neighborhood, I still found myself knee deep in peppers one summer. I couldn’t give them away anymore because my friends and family couldn’t handle the heat. For some reason, the peppers were super duper hot. I hate to waste anything, even if it’s being put use in my compost pile.
After watching an ad for a muscle rub on TV, I realized that the active ingredient in many topical pain relievers contained capsaicin —the active component in chili peppers that are responsible for the heat. My jalapenos were plenty hot, so they had to be full of the natural pain reliever. It hit me that I needed to create a DIY jalapeno muscle rub!
Now, in addition to my homemade hot sauces and pickled peppers, I have a new hot pepper based recipe to add to my preserving arsenal—jalapeno coconut oil sore muscle rub!