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Thursday, March 29, 2012

Ketchup



After sifting through various SCD-ketchup recipes I found that most take hours to boil down tomato juice or just whole tomatoes into paste. Elaine Gottschall said that canned tomato paste from the store is illegal. However I stumbled upon this recipe from My Cranky Gut, I decided to try it. I believe that the food list in BTVC is somewhat outdated. Foods that are available now are vastly different than what was on the shelves 40 years ago. I will concur that most of them are worse now for us, but there has been a large movement toward whole and organic foods, and new "real" foods have been discovered since (i.e. Stevia) so some changes have been made for the better. So while shopping for homemade ketchup ingredients at the grocer, I carefully read all of the ingredients on the label, and even took the time to call the manufacture of the tomato paste I selected. Unfortunately, they did not have any organic tomato paste, but here is sort of how the phone call went to Contadina:

"Hi I have a question about one of your products."

"Sure, go ahead."

"I bought a can of the tomato paste, however, I have several food allergies. The only ingredient listed on the can is 'tomatoes'. Are there any other ingredients in this at all, whatsoever?"

"The tomato paste, correct?"

"Yes."

"Yes, that is right, the only ingredient is tomatoes. They're just pure tomatoes, boiled down, and boiled down again, until it comes out into that paste."

"Thank you."




They were actually one of the friendliest companies I have yet to actually give a call or write an email to. And when I looked at, smelled, and finally tasted the product I tend to believe they are telling the truth. When I eat something illegal I can tell right away, as I start feeling terrible within minutes. But I ate this hours ago and I feel completely fine, more than that, my taste buds are happy.

In any case, I don't blame you if you chose to still avoid tomato paste from a can, but this is my adaptation of a quick and easy homemade ketchup recipe:

1 small can tomato paste
2 Tbps. white vinegar
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup honey

Mix well and refrigerate. It's really that simple.

13 comments:

  1. I love simple recipes! This sounds and looks lush!

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  2. wow! no boiling for hours to get ketchup?! This is great. I have made it the long slow way a couple of times, and despite how much I love ketchup, came to the conclusion that I would rather just do without it.

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  3. Seems like a lot of honey, and no salt? Also, garlic powder is illegal in SCD, do you have a recipe for how to make this scd garlic powder? I really want to try this, (not much for ketchup, but then again I did use it occasionally)
    Is shelf life very good seeing as there are no preservatives??
    Thank you

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    1. Honey is a main ingredient because traditional ketchup is mostly sugar/corn starch. The fact that it is sweet is really why so many people love ketchup as a condiment. The garlic powder I use is made by Tones and I have a written email from the company stating that the only ingredients used in their spices are what is written on the label. I've never had any problem with their spices. If you want to make your own garlic powder I would assume just dehydrate some garlic cloves and put them in a food processor until powder. I would not use this after more than a week or two, the recipe does not make much so I would also assume that it would be gone by then anyways.

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    2. Made this recipe, very quick and easy. If you are worried about shelf life throw it in an ice cube tray in the freezer, then you have little individual portions ready to go.

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  4. I don't eat anything canned. BPA in the lining gets leached by the acids in the food. The lining is simply plastic and the food is put in hot also. Good Health.

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  5. Oh THANK YOU so much for this recipe! I've been finding different ones and i think this is the one that I am settled on!

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  6. Sounds wonderful; we've been trying to avoid all processed foods ourselves. Although I do wish you had a link to Ziplist on your blog, so I could add your recipes to it. :-)

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  7. What size can is it?

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    Replies
    1. the little one, i don't know the exact amount it's only a couple of ounces, usually less than $1.

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  8. How long could this store in the fridge?

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  9. When you freeze this does it get watered down?

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