Let's make ketchup.

Or is it catchup?  Or catsup?  It has so many different spellings that the name is impossible to set in stone; like Cuthulu.

So, this all started a year ago when my family decided to do away with all of the high fructose corn syrup.  We found it almost impossible to find a ketchup brand that did not have high fructose corn syrup in it.  Now, for those who are not into scientific research and think that there is nothing wrong with high fructose corn syrup, then just think of this as a sugar substitute.  For those of you looking for low sugar or low calorie foods, then you may miss this condiment.  Most people don't think of ketchup as a source of calories and when they diet and have it as a sauce, they wonder where those extra calories come from.

I am not associated or affiliated with this company in any way.  I have to say that I grew up, all my life, eating Heinz Ketchup and always thought it tasted like this.  I was alive when it switched from sugar to high fructose corn syrup but honestly didn't notice a change in taste.  What I notice is that a single tablespoon of this stuff has 20 calories.  However, who uses 1 tablespoon?  A large french fries from McDonald's requires about 1/4th of a cup, 4 table spoons at least, and that is already at 80 calories.  This is how calories start to secretly rack up.

So, I decided to do something fun:  I made sugar free ketchup.

First step, is to cook chopped onions.  I like this recipe already.  Then you add some vinegar, tomatoes and brown sugar, with which I used a brown sugar replacement.

So, everything gets cooked together and then it looks like this.  You use a blender and pure' it down so it can fit into a bottle or squeeze bottle.

  What does this taste like?  The best tasting ketchup, and I don't even use ketchup.  This was a great thing and now, with about 3 calories a tablespoon, it is way better than the latter.  The Heinz product has both sugar and high fructose corn syrup in it which adds added calories but no real tomato flavor.  My ketchup tastes like tomato, which is not what I can say for the big brands.