Life Without ... store ketchup, try 3

Wow. Who would have thought making such a simple thing could be so much fun. The last recipe I tried came out pretty good & hubby loved it. The only thing I found kinda odd about it, to me, was the cinnamon in it. So, here it is time again to make more. This time I made just a few small changes to that recipe.

I added:

1 Tbsp of Vinegar

¼ tsp of mustard powder

¼ tsp of onion powder

I left out:

Cinnamon

Results? Not bad at all.

I’m not sure what else it is that makes it taste a little “off” to me. Maybe it’s the difference between store bought & homemade. But maybe it’s the all spice & clove. Something else funny … we went out to eat recently. Hubby used some of their ketchup for his fries. To see his face was funny. He could not believe how he used to think that stuff was good. We laughed & commented that maybe next time we need to bring our own.

After seeing & tasting the result of a mish-mash recipe of mayo, I think I am very inclined to try my hand at that next. The kids had tried to make some, but had no blender. Without the blender (or mixer perhaps?), it doesn’t mix very well… no matter how hard you try to whip it by hand. We brought their attempt to our place & poured it into the Ninja. Added a few bits of ingredients & had mayo. Pretty cool. Not quite how I want it to taste, but hubby liked it so its being used. Certainly good enough to make me wanna try. Of course I’ll share the results.

Productivity

socks, shorts, top & pants ... all fixed!

It feels good when several small things can be crossed off a list that’s been neglected for far too long. That was today. While I did not get quite as much done as I’d hoped, I did accomplish a few things that have either needed to be done or just should be done, for some time.

I have this weird thing about a sewing (machine) phobia. I can’t quite explain it, but its there. Stupid, silly, unnecessary … yeah, I know. I’ve talked to several people about it. Apparently I’m not completely alone in this one. While I have all these fun ideas in my head to try out for a new avenue for Nicole’s Visions, I have a fear of things not coming out perfect or just making mistakes. Kinda sucks. Today I took a step in the right direction. I took the small pile on the sewing table that I could hand mend, & did it. Now I have 3 things left that need machine mending. I figure its just our clothes & if I goof or mess up, its not as big a deal. Then the desk will be clear & I can cut into some practice fabric & get some sewing done. Hopefully, then there will be no stopping me!

few of the containers in the storage room

Another thing I managed this morning was finally playing with my new label maker. I bought it months ago when it was 50% off on sale. So, I finally got some labels put on containers. I love it. The business containers will also get some detail labels below the names. That of course, means I need to actually make sure the contents are more organized within them! LOL It wont be too bad as they are already semi organized. Whew!

   I also went thru some of hubby’s wood working magazines that he decided he only wanted an article out of them, not the whole mag. So, I took care of that small stack today too. All nice & organized in a 3 ring binder!

these need details labels still, but its a start!

Then … I kinda stopped. I did manage to get a load of clothes hung out on the new metal rod clotheslines hubby got put up last weekend for me. I love being able to put the laundry back outside to dry again.You can see them in the picture, if you look close. Neat thing is I can remove them & lay them down in the grass along the edge when not in use. that way we dont hang ourselves & the birds dont rest there & poop everywhere!

rods hung between posts.

So now here I am telling the world about what I managed to get done today… tomorrow morning I plan to get the sewing machine mending done … a few errands & maybe even get one of the new project items cut out!