I recently read a news article on the credit card generation and living frugal. The article stated that people are now in the process of considering ways to save on food bills, clothing and other expenses. As a reader you should be doing this automatically however there are people who do not know about the art of thrift.

Being frugal or thrifty does not mean that you have to limit yourself. What is means is that you become financially savvy or wise. You use practical steps to cut cost and you enjoy the process since it is an adventure.

Over the past decade people have grown accustomed to using credit cards for most of their purchase, even when they do not have the money to buy. For some people, living without a credit card amounts to a jail sentence. They have no idea of how to survive.

Consider your parents or eve grandparents who practiced the art of frugality each day. They learnt to remodel clothing to make new, can vegetables, make pickles and process food for long term storage. Today we can still use some of the methods, although with more modern equipment, to dry fruits, make pickles, tomato ketchup or paste, mayonaisse and many more food items that will help to reduce the grocery bill.

Now here is a recipe for making tomato ketchup at home.

Ingredients

• 3/4 kg Tomatoes or 28 oz can of whole tomatoes
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 3/4 cup brown Sugar
• 1 tsp Ginger, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 cloves Garlic
• 1/2 cup cider Vinegar
• 1 tsp Salt

Optional:

• 1 Clove
• 1 Cardamom
• 1/4″ piece Cinnamon

These can be placed in a mesh bag and place in the pot to add flavor. Remove bag before step 3.

Preparation:

1. If using fresh tomatoes, then chop. Canned tomatoes can be used as is.
2. Put tomatoes, onion, garlic and ginger in a pot and cook on a low fire until tender.
3. Add brown sugar, vinegar, chilli powder and salt. Allow to simmer uncovered while stirring occasionally until very thick. (Takes up to 1 hour.)
4. Puree using a blender until smooth, bottle and chill.

CAUTION: Be careful when blending hot liquids.
Lasts up to 3 weeks.

If you are allergic to tomatoes or they are too expensive you can use other vegetables. I remember the year my mother made pumpkin ketchup. It was surprisingly quite tasty. And since she added red food coloring, if you did not know what it was you would have thought that it was the real deal.

Have a go at making your own products. If you have any recipies you can send them along.

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Tags: Add new tag, finances, food ideas, FRUGAL RECIPIES, Frugal Tips, saving
Filed under: Frugal Tips, Frugal food