Healthy Homemade Condiments

Condiments have a LOT of sugar and sodium in them.  And who knows what else?  Honestly, I don't always remember to count condiments when I am logging the food that I eat.  And why would you remember anyway?  It's just something extra that goes along with your meal.  It doesn't count, right?  In a perfect world, that would be true. 

I found a couple of recipes for some of our favorite condiments that are much healthier than the store-bought kind.  Not only are they low in sugar and sodium and preservatives, but you can actually see what you are putting into them.  It helps knowing what you are feeding your family.

Sugar Free Ketchup

I found this recipe in 500 Low-Carb Recipes.  My husband says he likes it much better than regular ketchup.  We went out to eat recently and he got fries (obviously with regular ketchup) and he said the ketchup tasted funny.  What I did was take a bottle of ketchup that was in our fridge, pour it down the drain, and rinse it.  Then I put a label on it that said "Sugar Free Ketchup."  That way I could use it for my new and improved ketchup.

1 6-oz can tomato paste

2/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup water

1/3 cup Splenda

2 tbsp minced onion

2 cloves garlic

1 tsp salt

1/8  tsp allspice

1/8 tsp cloves

1/8 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp xanthan gum (optional)

Put all ingredients in a food processor and blend until the mixture is smooth and the bits of onion disappear.  Use a funnel and pour into empty ketchup bottle.  I make a double batch, which fits in my ketchup bottle nicely.

Low-Carb Honey Mustard Sauce

I found this recipe entirely by accident.  I saw a recipe on the back of a French's mustard bottle for "Tangy Ranch Chicken" that sounded interesting.  I decided to try it.  After I mixed up the sauce, I tasted a little bit and immediately recognized it as honey mustard sauce.  I guess whatever French's calls tangy ranch is what I call honey mustard!  Anyway, I just swapped out the brown sugar for Splenda Brown Sugar Blend.  And I did the same thing with the honey mustard bottle as I did with the ketchup - poured out the old and poured in the new.

2/3 cup Ranch dressing

1/3 cup mustard

3 tbsp Splenda Brown Sugar Blend

Place all ingredients in a bowl and whisk together.  Use a funnel to pour into a bottle.

(I still need to make a label for this one!)