Inside My Pantry: Condiments

One category of "food" we may overlook easier is actually the condiments we put on our food.  I don't know about you, but I love to eat ketchup with my fries, fried potatoes, hamburgers, and many other things.  But for a long time, I didn't think about what the ketchup was actually made of!

I was really disappointed again when I went through all the condiments and dressings and saw how many I had to throw out because there was added sugar and ingredients that I didn't feel comfortable with. But I was also realizing for the first time that added sugar was in everything.  It was frustrating at first, but as I learned more about what was in the bottles inside my fridge, the more I realized what I was actually putting into my body when I used those things.

Now, here's a little disclaimer.  There are cleaner versions of ketchup and bbq sauce out there, and yes, I have tried them.  However, my taste buds were not accustomed to those tastes yet.  The Standard American Diet has tons of added sugar in it and our taste buds want everything we eat to be sweet.  So when I tried these two things that I made, I didn't like them because they weren't as sweet as I liked.

So in that moment, I told myself that I could splurge on those condiments as long as I didn't use them at every meal of every day.  Fast forward to now, and I rarely use ketchup or bbq sauce.  I've found other things, like avocado or guacamole, to be really delicious on my hamburger.  I don't particularly miss ketchup or bbq sauce, but I'm sure I would have a different opinion on the cleaner versions now since my taste buds have changed.

My husband does like to eat mayonnaise, but I have found a cleaner version to make, which tastes better than the stuff you buy at the store.  I will share that recipe a little later.  One of the things that we all know to be healthy is a salad.  If my husband comes home and says, "Hey! I ate the healthy option today, and it was a salad," I always ask what he put on it.  Yes, salads are great because we get a dense dose of veggies in that meal, but if the greens are doused in dressing, it doesn't end up being that healthy.

In the video below, I share my favorite vinaigrette dressing that doesn't have added sugar in it.  (It does have raw, local honey in it though.)

Here are the links for the Vinaigrette Dressing and the Homemade Mayo.  Enjoy!  And let me know if you try them!