October 7, 2010

Life has been hectic

My grandmother was in the hospital for a week and has now been home resting and trying to regain some strength for a few days.  She was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure which was a shock to all of us.  After a week in the hospital, lots of test, talking to several doctors we were happy to have her back home, but she needs help at her house.  A bunch of us have been taking turns staying the night with her, cooking for her, and making sure she doesn’t over do it.  It’s a terribly hard job..the last part..since she has lived alone for 15+ years and is used to doing everything for herself.  We don’t know what the prognosis is, so we are taking it day by day.

In my research for her sodium restrictive diet I came across a recipe for homemade ketchup.

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A while ago I bought the book Deceptively Delicious but have never really made anything from it…until now.  I made ketchup.  It was low sodium…good for Grandma…low sugar…good for Allyson the household ketchup eater…and easy to make…good for me  I like simple.  For low sodium make sure your tomato paste doesn’t have any added salt.  At first I kept the salt the recipe calls for out, but after tasting it and realizing it really needed the salt, I put it in.  The carrot puree called for is really easy to make. Peel, slice and steam about 4 carrots.  After the carrots have cooled run them through a blender/food processor and the measure for the ketchup recipe.

This ketchup was quite thick so next time I will increase the water to 1/2 cup.  But other than that I thought it was a pretty good recipe.

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Homemade Ketchup (from Deceptively Delicious)

  • 1 6oz can tomato paste (no salt added)
  • ½ cup carrot puree (peel, slice, steam carrots, puree in blender/food processor)
  • ¼ cup water
  • 2 Tablespoons Apple-Cider Vinegar
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced (I used one)
  • 1 Tablespoon packed brown sugar
  • ½ teaspoon dry mustard
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
  • ¼ teaspoon chili powder (no salt, I made my own)

Stir all ingredients together in a big saucepan and bring to boil over med-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer about 15-20 minutes. Keeps in fridge about 5 days or freeze and thaw as needed.

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