Condiments are something we all eat quite frequently. Most people typically don’t pay attention to or notice how often they are actually using and consuming them. Think for a moment how many times throughout the week you use mayo, ketchup, hot sauce, tomato sauce, pizza sauce, mustard, salad dressing, salsa, BBQ sauce, *input favorite condiment here*.
The unfortunate thing, though, is that these condiments are typically loaded with added sugars, sweeteners, food colorings, and my personal favorite- “natural flavoring”. It astounds me how much sugar and added crap is in our “food” products these days! If you don’t believe me (or even if you do and you’re afraid to look), go right now and take a gander at the ingredient lists on your “nutrition” labels in your pantry & fridge.
Did you look?! WHAT THE HELL, right?! Total bummer…But hey! Don’t fret just yet, because I’m going to help you out.
If you didn’t look, I stole my roommates gnarly Heinz Ketchup so I could show you guys the crap thats inside, word for word:
INGREDIENTS: TOMATO CONCENTRATE FROM RED RIPE TOMATOES, DISTILLED VINEGAR, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, CORN SYRUP, SALT, SPICE, ONION POWDER, NATURAL FLAVORING.
Tomato concentrate.. not even real tomatoes? Come on Heinz! Not one but two types of corn syrup, and the mysterious “natural flavoring”. Ruh-Roh. If you don’t think these ingredients are that bad, google some articles about corn syrup and go play with some at the grocery store while imagining it inside of your body. If I’m not convincing enough, those two things certainly will be.
With that said, I think we all have that one condiment we don’t want to give up no matter what’s inside of it. For some of us its mayo on our chicken salad sandwiches, for others its that oh-so-tasty honey mustard with your chicken strips. I’m right there with ya! One condiment I absolutely love is Ketchup. I could put ketchup on literally anything, and totally enjoy myself. But, when I came to realize how much S*** was in my beloved ketchup, I stopped eating it because the ingredients were deal breakers. And then my heart broke a little bit.
Ive been playing around with making my own condiments throughout the past year, and I’ve come up with a pretty solid recipe for Ketchup.
- 14 ounce can/jar organic diced tomatoes (Jovial or Muir Glen)
- 2-3 big medjool dates, pitted
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- Pinch of black pepper
- Pinch of salt
- Blend all ingredients in a Vitamix or food processor until well combined.
- Enjoy immediately as a condiment, or as a tomato sauce in a separate entrée.
- Store in a Mason Jar/container of your choice. Keep refrigerated up to 2 weeks.
I hate the sneaky and nasty ingredients the food industry puts into our foods! I’m so glad I found out about eating REAL food at a young age and can protect myself from most of those chemicals. Thanks for sharing! http://www.miaandmilopaleo.com
Pinning this to make this summer 🙂 I’ve made homemade ketchup in a food processor before, but yours is much simpler. Congrats on the blog by the way! I’ll be following 🙂
Oh this ism yummy. Any idea how long it will last in the fridge?
I would guess it would last up to a week or so in the fridge. I always do the smell check- if it smells fine keep it, if it smells bad pitch it haha. You could always make a double batch and keep extra in the freezer!