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Well, I cleaned out the fridge a few weeks ago and threw out all of the products that contained high fructose corn syrup. (Hereafter referred to as HFCS because the other way is interfering with my laziness.)
I got rid of all the offending condiments, and it was all of them except mustard-the plain kind. Anyway the toss included ketchup (gasp! I have kids! I need ketchup!) and ranch dressing (GASP! GASP!! I like that stuff!).
Are you getting how huge a thing this was? I won’t say I made a mistake because I read the info on the HFCS and how they process it and what it has in it. Who knew? But~ we totally needed something to dip our chicken nuggets and tater tots into on The Princess’s birthday!
Leave it to my real life friend, Faith, to find me some recipes for condiments online. Not only that, it’s on one of my favorite blogs, Passionate Homemaking.
So, since The Princess loves helping in the kitchen, I decided this would make a great activity for her birthday, a treat for a future homemaker!
I used Lindsay’s recipe for ranch dressing, but we added more salt. This was so easy and came out really yummy-licious!
Our ketchup was a little different. I used Lindsay’s recipe, but had to substitute tomato sauce for the tomato paste and water. Somehow (pirates!) my tomato paste is still in the van, which is at work right now. It’s ok, it worked out. Actually, it’s the best ketchup I have ever tasted (and I’m not much on ketchup). Think about it, you can add whatever you like. Why not figure out what makes it yummy to you and tweak it?
Now, making ketchup takes a little longer (30 minutes) than making ranch dressing because you cook it, but still, super simple.
- So delicious!
- Free from weird, unwholesome ingredients!
- Easy to do!
- Pretty stinkin’ frugal!
Four things that really float my boat!
So, follow these links and go meet Lindsay at Passionate Homemaking and find the recipes for ketchup and ranch dressing.
Thanks, Lindsay! You saved the day! :D
(I know it’s hard to tell, these are pint jars.)
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I don’t think he had any, actually, so I don’t know whether he would have noticed.
hahahaha!! That’s awesome. Did Bert notice?
You Go, Keeley!!!
Ritsumei, I put homemade ketchup in a regular bottle when no children were around. They had no idea. There were no comments whatsoever. =)
OK, well, hopefully the notification that you got in the comment form was some kind of fluke, not to be repeated. Thanks for the info. Have a great day!
We’ve got Trend Micro, which says that I’m recently scanned and all good other than I ought to go and get patches from Microsoft for some of my programs. We used to use AVG, but we got a NASTY virus that my husband couldn’t fix himself and ended up paying someone to help us save our data after the virus moved from one computer to the other on a stick of RAM, which we hadn’t known was possible. Apparently it re-wrote the hardware somehow or something weird like that. Anyway, since then we use Trend Micro, which is consistently ranked #1 or #2, and things have been MUCH better. Anyway, the tech that came and helped us out said that AVG’s free virus control is not very effective: you get what you pay for.
It can’t hurt.
Hmm, I’ve never made a “break your teeth brown bread”. Sounds like a definite turn off.
In a “side by side” taste test kids will go with the familiar. Maybe if you run out of ketchup for a couple of weeks…
Thanks for the info on the spm thing. Hope it doesn’t happen again. I have no idea what it is. But the only other times I have had readers tell me that something weird is going on with loading my page or leaving a comment the problem has been that their computer had a virus. Might wanna run a scan just to be on the safe side. If you don’t have virus protection you can go to AVG and download one for free.
I wonder: if I put the “Mom catsup” in a commercial bottle, would Monkey even notice it wasn’t the “real thing?” Silly boy.
DH was made to eat his mom’s “break your teeth brown bread” growing up, and he blames it for his aversion. He’s just not into bread at all as a rule, though. Prefers thin crust pizza, doesn’t like pasta, it’s very consistent. I, on the other hand, *love* bread in all its forms and varieties. Homemade happens to be one of my favorites. I originally learned to bake it because my Daddy casually suggested that some would be “nice” one afternoon when I was a teen. Mom nearly threw me out of her kitchen when she saw the mess I made & left! But I’ve never really stopped making bread. It is, however, more of a hobby than a Serious thing.
On the condiments, I tried the catsup recipe, except that I didn’t have any onion powder. It was pretty tasty. I’ll have to put the onion powder in the next batch, and then I may reduce the honey. But it’s tasty nonetheless. And Monkey won’t touch it. He wants “normal” catsup. Picky eaters. What can you do? [rolling eyes]
I don’t know what was up with the spam thing. I didn’t really do anything special either time. No links. It said my cookies & java were, in fact, turned on. And it said you’d want to know, so I told you.
Yeah, I get the part about hommemade being different and irregular by comparison, texture-wise and all. But does he know about the health benefits?
I don’t understand it either. I suppose if you’ve never had homemade bread and have been raised on storebought, then the texture is different. Plus the size of the slices isn’t uniform.
But it’s so stinkin’ GOOD!!
Oh well. Different strokes, I guess.
That is so amazing to me! I thought everyone on the planet preferred homemade bread. I don’t know how that could be.
Yeah, my husband “endured” my homemade bread. He said he liked it. He ate it. But the quickly-hidden relief on his face when he saw a loaf of store-bought bread on the kitchen counter was a sight to see. =D
What IS it with these men?
My son went to school with homemade bread sammiches one time and was totally disdaining them and all the kids around were like “Are you NUTS???”. He got some awesome trades that day. =D
Not? a? bread? guy? I’m sorry, that’s so foreign to me. All my guys are bread guys. But, I’m thinkin’, that if he doesn’t eat bread, then it isn’t so important what kind of bread he isn’t eating.
Sorry about the spam dealie. I have no clue why it would reject your comment, unless it had a bunch of links in it. Glad it worked the second time. Did you do anything different?
I typed a lovely answer to your comment, but your spam thingy kicked me out… wouldn’t let me post. It said you should check your technical support stuff.
In a nutshell, no he’s neither a whole grains guy nor a bread guy, and especially not a homemade bread guy. So putting all those things into the same package is going to be a tough sell! I’m hoping that when I try it, soaked and ground and all, it’ll turn out as lovely as I’m imagining it after your descriptions, and he’ll suddenly think it’s not so bad. But I’m not really holding my breath.
I am assuming you mean to say that he is not a whole grain kinda guy. He may be pleasantly surprised. When I first decided to switch to fresh ground whole wheat bread I really thought it was gonna be some kind of medieval dark (stone-like) bread. I was very surprised at how soft this bread is.
I think the outside limit is 3 weeks. I generally try to make fresh within 2 weeks. Really makes ya wonder what on earth has been done to “factory made” condiments.
Oh, I forgot to ask: how long do your homemade condiments keep? Presuming that your pirates allow them to sit long enough to find out, that is!
This is interesting. Worthy of further study. Grr. I hope it’s not true. Though my gut… it’s with you. My *husband* is NOT going to rise up and call me blessed over this one, I don’t think. Of course, in this situation, reduction may be more palatable than going cold turkey. Plus, it’ll give me the skills needed to get the new stuff going. I cook, but not like you do! More and more, I’m finding that there’s reason to do more of it…
Dang it, Mother Hen, I had a whole movie running in my head of all your children standing on their chairs and proclaiming your brilliance. =D Kisses and thanks definitely work though. =) =)
Stephanie, I’m very interested in your mayo recipe. I tried to make it one time and it was an unmitigated disaster. =Þ
WOW. Loved this post. Great blog, thanks so much. I’m going to be trying the ketchup recipe!
Sarah .aka. Mamalotsoftots’s last blog post..It is not!
Good for you! I also make my own condiments, and I prefer them over store-bought ones by far, now that I’m used to it. My favorite thing to make these days is homemade mayo- yummy and so fast and easy! I also love making ketchup (my version is similar to Lindsay’s) and my kids love it.
I’m glad to hear you like that ranch recipe. I’ve been wanting to try one, so I’ll give hers a try.
If you like creamy honey mustard dressing, try this recipe:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Honey-Mustard-Dressing-II/Detail.aspx
(I use my own mayo, though you could use store-bought, and use dijon instead of yellow mustard- it’s a wonderful dressing!)
Thanks for joining in Living Simply Saturday- welcome!
I just found you and I already love your blog. Yep, make homemade ketchup & ranch and it is love at 1st sight for this mama. Your rock.
I have had “make my own condiments” on my cool things I want to do list for ages….you are inspired me, I’m doing it tomorrow!
Hi! It’s me, Jen’s last blog post..I LOVE comments!
Well, I guess the world wouldn’t come to a screeching halt if I didn’t have ketchup in my fridge. That would be preferable to the hfcs kind.
Ackkk! Good gracious! How can people sell that stuff to us??? And still sleep at night?? Sigh. I’m going to move to Mexico and live in the jungle with my in-laws. Everything is homemade and preservative free at their house! Of course, I don’t think they have ketchup…
Mrs. Q’s last blog post..Confusion in the Bedroom
Just last night I was thinking about needing to find a ketchup recipe since ours is now toxic. Thanks for the links!
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Keeley, I must admit, I employed artistic license when using the phrase ‘risin’ up and callin’ me blessed.’ But there was kissing and thanks being offered. Close enough in my book.
Also, I loosely compared the cost of the homemade ranch with the Kens brand ranch dressing I used to buy and homemade is much cheaper. The ketchup I used to buy was the store brand and so cost about 80 cents. My homemade might have cost a nickel more than that.
BUT ya can’t do it that way, because I won’t ever buy those products again, because of the ingredients. So to compare like to like I would have to find some product with only wholesome ingredients. That comparison, I feel certain, would hugely favor the homemade product.
That said, the recipes I used were not cost prohibitive. That is a biggie in my way of thinking. Good for you doesn’t have to mean ridiculously (or even moderately) expensive. And I didn’t have to make a years worth at once and do a pressure canning session, or any difficult thing. Easy, cheap, wholesome and yummy! Everybody wins!
PS. ROFL! Did your pirates really rise up and call you blessed? =) How cool is that?!?
Note to self: Make this stuff. Can’t wait for kids to rise up for me…. =)
Wow! I had no idea HFCS was so scary. I knew it wasn’t good for you, but I didn’t know it was that freaky.
Thank you for the marvelous recipes. Looking forward to trying them.
I wonder how they compare in cost to the stuff at the store?
Wow – thanks for the info! It was interesting to read about all the effect of HFCS. I am going to do a fridge raid myself!
mandy’s last blog post..Frugal with the All-American Snack
I agree, Cyndi. I am not gonna make peanut butter, I would rather serve leftovers for lunch anyway. But I too was shocked to find HFCS in the applesauce. But that’s ok, my homemade applesauce is the most delicious elixir on the planet!
This post got me looking at the labels in my pantry and fridge. Motts applesauce has it, so does Sunny D. Happily my peanut butter doesn’t. (Not that PB doesn’t have its own issues right now.) I can make OJ and applesauce easily. (Yes, I know Sunny D isn’t really juice.) I really don’t want to go the “make my own peanut butter” route on a regular basis. (Though it would be a fun experiment for homeschool though.)
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Hi Cyndi, yeah I saw those ads. Kinda wanted to throw up a little. Funny how they didn’t address the MERCURY in the HFCS, huh?
thanks for the idea I think I will try this ketchup at the store is getting rather high as well as not being all that great for the kids. My mother used to make catsup all the time when I was younger
Oh, come on people! Haven’t you seen the ads put out by the people who make HFCS? (No partiality there.) HFCS is fine “in moderation”. Problem is… it is hard to have HFCS in moderation when it is in absolutely every product on a store shelf. (Well, a majority of them anyway.) I will have to try the ketchup and ranch recipes. Also, homemade preserves and jam are much more tasty then any store bought jar anyway!
Cyndi Lewis’s last blog post..Homemade Thursdays- Pot Roast
Dave, I was shocked at how many things I had in my fridge that were offenders. I’m just gonna have to break down and make some peach preserves, ‘cuz all our jam went. The bbq sauce should be an easy remedy. Check allrecipes.com for bbq sauce recipes. And I just don’t even know about the 3 bedroom ranch situation, but I’m glad that there’s no HFCS in it!
Ask the Pirates, on Sunday, how they liked the new ranch and ketchup. I know what they’ll say, ‘cuz they already went through the whole risin’ up and callin’ me blessed routine.
Awesome as usual. You got me runnin’ to my fridge. Our ranch did not have the high fructose. It was Hidden Valley Buttermilk Ranch. We live in a 3 bedroom ranch and try not to have any HFCS in it. 3 of our other 5 dressings did not have the offending ingredient. ANd, Gasp, Sweet Baby Rays, has it. My lovely wife will be none too happy!
My family would lynch me. ‘Nuff said.
Woo Hoo for chicken nuggets and tater tots!! Woo Hoo for homemade yummy food!!!!!!!!!
Keep on with this health kick and the chocolate budget will be being spent on postage in no time LOL. Well done, I will have to give those recipes a go one day soon.