How To Make Healthy Ketchup That is Delicious

I don't know about your house, but here in mine Ketchup is the King of condiments.  When looking for a tasty, healthy alternative to the HFCS-laden store varieties it has been an adventure.  I also considered this condiment as another opportunity to get health-boosting living enzymes into those sharing my table.  Here is my kid-friendly Living Ketchup Recipe.  Let me know what you think!
Living Life for Him,
The Cultured Mom

Living Ketchup

• 3C. Tomato Paste, home-canned or Organic preferred in BPA-free container
• 1/4C. Liquid Whey, THMers use what you've strained off when making Greek style yogurt
• 1T. Pink Himalayan or Sea Salt, the kind with the minerals, not iodized
• 1/2C. Organic, Grade B Maple Syrup or Sucanat
• 1/4tsp. Cayenne Pepper
• 3tsp. Peeled, crushed Raw Garlic
• 1/2C. Fish Sauce, additive-free sold in Asian markets

Be sure not to substitute honey in this recipe as it's natural antibiotic properties will serve to inhibit proper fermentation.  Place all ingredients in a wide mouth Mason jar or other glass container leaving at least 1" at the top for expansion.  Here's the hard part...screw on the lid, shake to combine, and place on the counter, covered for 2 days.  Refrigerate. Will last for several months refrigerated.

More recipes and sauces

**Turn this into your new favorite Sweet and Sour Sauce by mixing 1C. Living Ketchup with 1/4C. Raw Apple Cider Vinegar and 1/4C. Maple Syrup. Voila!
For Cocktail Sauce combine 3/4C. Living Ketchup with 1/4C. Fresh Horseradish.  Does it get any simpler?
Mix 1/2C. Living Ketchup, 1/2C. Homemade Mayonnaise, and 1/4C. Rocking Relish for Thousand Island Dressing in a snap!

Sauerkraut for Dummies...or Smarties: Fermented Vegetables

Sauerkraut is a love of mine and always has been.  I love it's vinegary, pickly taste.  Perhaps if you do not share my affections for this lowly vegetable it is because you have tried the store-bough varieties.  That stuff pickled in brine and lying there limp on in the can or bag is no longer what I consider to be sauerkraut.  It looks dead because it is.  Put aside what you thought sauerkraut was and relish with delight every bite of your new-found love...cultured cabbage.  Fermenting foods is one of the oldest methods of food preservation.  The liquid that is given off by the fermentation process becomes lactic acid.  It is one of the necessary components and is also responsible for helping your body more readily assimilate the nutrients you are feeding it.

Method One - the simplest.  This is my Basic Sauerkraut Recipe.  Nothing fancy, mellow flavor.  Click here for a great demonstration found on YouTube.

Tools you will need:

• Get the kids involved.
• 3-4 Heads of organic cabbage.
• Large stainless steel bowl.
• A smasher, hammer, or mallet-like object for breaking down the cabbage.
• Sharp knife
• Fermentation crock or jars
• Salt
• Filtered, boiled water - to your liking, up to 3.5 cups

Method:

1. Use the knife or food processor to shred the cabbage...all of it.  If you use the knife be certain to slice into thin ribbons in order to create a small surface area which is broken down faster.
2. Place the cabbage in the bowl in batches, depending in the size of the bowl and really work to break it down.  Let the kids squeeze and smash and smoosh and twist to get the cabbage to give up as much liquid as possible.
3. Mix in up to 3T of Real Salt or Pink Himalayan Salt.
4. Begin to pack your container(s), push down, stuff in some more, until you have about an inch of space at the top of the vessel and liquid completely covers the entire surface area
5. Press down the jarred cabbage once more and add any additional cabbage from bowl in order to pack tightly and
   
   
   
    help it stay submerged under the liquid.
6. Put the lid on jars (if using) with the bands loosely tightened to allow the gases to escape.
7. Put on the counter for 7,-28 days, depending on your tastes, then refrigerate.

Living Life for Him,
The Cultured Mom