This is a post I really hope my kids don’t read. It could ruin everything. Kids, if you’re reading…stop now. See…it’s just spinach. Move along.
Are they gone? Shhh. Lean in a little closer.
I’ve been secretly replacing the ketchup in their favorite bottle with homemade. Gasp!
Their favorite brand is made with High Fructose Corn Syrup and while the effects on blood sugar are about the same as table sugar, the effects on gut health are way worse than that. High fructose corn syrup is a pre-biotic that firmicutes thrive on. Don’t let that name fool you. Firmicutes don’t make you FIRM or CUTE. Think F for Fat. Studies have shown that people with higher levels of firmicutes in their gut biome struggle with weight control versus people with higher levels of bacteroidetes who tend to be naturally thin. Source
In our quest for health, I’ve been slowly getting HFCS out of our diet. I started with switching from Aldi peanut butter to Costco’s organic peanut butter, where the ingredients are just organic peanuts and salt. It was a little more expensive but not too bad. The kids are eating it, but have been asking for their old peanut butter back (sigh.) Then I switched from Aldi grape jelly, to Welch’s made with real sugar. They like it even better, because it spreads well. It’s still a lot of sugar, so next stop is buying all fruit jam or making homemade.
I decided to be a little more stealthy when it comes to their ketchup. I noticed the bottle was half empty. I made a homemade version and filled the bottle back up, shaking well. When it gets half empty again, I’ll repeat the process. Pretty soon the bottle will be 100% homemade ketchup and the kids might not ever notice.
Here’s our recipe, which I adapted from Whole New Mom.
Homemade Ketchup
6 oz Tomato Paste
1 oz Apple Cider Vinegar (2 Tbs)
2 1/3 Tbs Erythritol (You can use Turbinado sugar or 1 2/3 Tbs honey instead.)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
dash cayenne
dash allspice
1/2 cup water
Whisk everything together and chill. If you want it super smooth, use a blender. It makes about 12 oz of ketchup, which fills our bottle halfway.
I’m also working on a homemade BBQ sauce. In the meantime, I’ve been buying this one.
What do you think? Are your kids ketchup fans like mine are?
I was just thinking that I would look for a recipe for homemade ketchup; it’s like you read my mind. ; )
When we switched to actual peanut butter the kids were like, “what is this stuff, and what did you do with the peanut butter?” But now they like it and think the sugar laden stuff more akin to dessert. We also buy fruit spread instead of jelly and the kids really don’t mind at all. It may be tough at the get go, but it is so worth it in the long run. Keep at it!
Lol! I can totally relate to the “what is this stuff” reaction to natural peanut butter, ha! Hopefully mine will adjust too.
I have been diagnosed with fructose malabsorption and have been trying to follow a low fodmap diet. I have found that Heinz makes a ketchup with HFCS in it. It is called Simply Heinz and takes pretty much the same as their regular ketchup.
I love this!!! I thought you were going to sneak spinach into the ketchup! But I guess you probably could. Before our leafy greens get to slime stage, I throw them on my dehydrator and then powder them up in my magic bullet. I’m going to make this ketchup and add some spinach powder.
Nicole, Let me know how it goes! It might change the color a little. You could probably sneak beets in without their notice.
You also do not need the salt in the peanut butter, very bad for blood pressure. There are versions organic without salt. I use Tomato puree, no added salt, but that is just for me.
Kathleen, Salt is an essential nutrient. My cardiologist just requested I eat MORE of it. An acquaintance of mine just became a widow because her husband got too low on sodium and other electrolytes after a long run, and his heart stopped. If you don’t have high blood pressure and your doctor hasn’t put you on a low salt diet, it’s ok to salt food to taste. Even more so if you aren’t eating a lot of processed foods, chips, crackers etc. I’m so glad, because unsalted food isn’t very palatable to me.