summer

Homemade Ketchup

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We ran out of ketchup last week, and as I was writing the word on my grocery list, I thought, “I bet I could make that.” So I looked online and found a recipe that took two hours instead of two days and bought the ingredients instead of a bottle of premade. It was a bit more expensive this time because I only had about half the necessary spices, but next time it will be super cheap :).

So here we go. Recipe courtesy of JS Online.

Ingredients:
2 cans (28 oz each) whole tomatoes OR 3 pounds roma tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1/2 yellow onion, cut into chunks
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar (more or less to taste)
1 stick cinnamon
2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp whole cloves
1/2 tsp celery seeds
6 black peppercorns
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp cayenne (more or less to taste)
1/2 tsp salt

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Blend the tomatoes, with their juices, along with the onion and garlic (half at a time so as not to overload your blender) until smooth. Pass the liquid through a mesh strainer, pressing with the back of a spoon as necessary. Discard solids.

*I don’t have a mesh strainer, so I skipped this step, and my ketchup is still delicious. It’s just not as smooth as factory ketchup. So know that if you opt out of this step, your ketchup won’t be ruined.

Pour tomato mixture into a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat.

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Continue simmering until it’s reduced by half. This will take 1-2 hours.

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Meanwhile, combine all other ingredients in a second saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve the sugar and turn off the heat. Let it sit while the tomatoes continue to reduce.

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When the tomatoes have reduced by half, strain the spices out of the the vinegar; discard the whole spices. Stir the vinegar into the tomatoes.

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See that black line in the middle? That’s my vinegar mixture :).

Continue to simmer the ketchup, stirring occasionally (but be careful not to let it burn!), until it is thick. This will take about 20-40 more minutes.

Taste for salt and spice, adjusting to your liking.

Let cool, then transfer to jars. The ketchup will keep in the fridge for 2-3 months.

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I got 2-16 oz jars (a repurposed Alfredo sauce jar and a new jar). And let me tell you, this stuff is delicious! And the best part is that you can adjust it to your family’s liking. For example, I left the cayenne out altogether, but if you like spice, you can totally use more. It’s a wonderful recipe. It does take some time, but it’s not all hands-on time. Pay enough attention to keep it from burning, but other than that, it practically cooks itself.

I hope you “take the plunge” and try your hand at homemade ketchup once you run out of the commercial stuff :).

–Wendy

Summer Wardrobe

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We went shopping for new clothes yesterday. I’ve gotten a new item here and there, but never a completely revamped wardrobe before, so that was nice :). The kids’ clothes are fine – and we’d shop for them at Goodwill anyway, not Old Navy (since they wear out their clothes so fast, it’s too expensive to buy new for them) – so it was a day for hubby and me.

One slight disclaimer before I post the picture… we are striving toward a minimalist lifestyle. We’re not there yet, but we’ve made huge strides the past 18 or so months. Yesterday was a huge step in the “right” direction.

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I have these two dresses, which are the only items from my old wardrobe I’m keeping. They’re only about 2 years old, and I haven’t been able to wear them the past 10 months because in order to breastfeed Small Fry, I had to switch to skirt/top combos.

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These are the new clothes. I got those two skirts (which replace 4 old skirts), 2 black camis, and one white cami. The tops replace 2 white ones and a brown one from before. But the Old Navy ones feel much better than their WalMart counterparts.

I also got a Coobie Bra. No picture of that ;). But seriously, if you’re in the market for new bras, I highly recommend them. This is my first one, and I love it. It’s seriously the most comfortable bra I’ve ever worn, and with a price tag of only $22, they’re comparably priced to a traditional bra. I definitely plan to replace all of my bras with Coobies, one at a time over the next couple of weeks.

You may notice something “missing” from my wardrobe: jeans. Outside of my pajamas, I haven’t worn a pair of pants in years. I don’t even think about it anymore. To keep warm in the winter, I just wear tights.

So that’s it :). And if you’re curious, hubby’s gone minimalist, too. I don’t have pictures of his clothes because he left before I could snap them this morning, but he now has 2 pairs of (identical) pants, 1 dress shirt, and 2 t-shirts. His goal is to get another dress shirt and maybe some better casual shirts. He’s a pretty semi-formal kind of guy, though, so it still remains to be seen what his final shirt selection will be. As for shoes, he has 2 pairs (shoes and sandals), and I have 3 (shoes, sandals, and rain boots).

On the agenda for tomorrow: sourdough bread 🙂

–Wendy