Sweet Potato Fries with Home Made Ketchup

As of yesterday, Andrew and I challenged ourselves to 2 weeks of no grocery shopping. Our fridge, freezer and food pantry are filled with... well we don't know exactly what's in there. This is our time to get creative and use what would normally have gone to waste. It's like a detox for our cabinets. The exception to this hiatus is fresh produce, which we buy on an as needed basis.

I'm not sure how or why we accumulated so many sweet potatoes, but I decided to use them for lunch today. Tired of the same old baked potato, I got to work on sweet potato fries. Then I realized we didn't have ketchup. Andrew is a ketchup fiend, and fries without ketchup is like cookies without milk to him. Using the allrecipes.com app on my iPhone, I searched ketchup recipes. I couldn't find one that I had all the ingredients for, so after gathering an idea of what's supposed to be in ketchup, I put together my own. Wow. I'm normally not a fan of the viscous red condiment that's full of high fructose corn syrup and artificial dyes, but this was amazing! It had a smooth texture and a spiced, almost smokey taste. I didn't have molasses, so I used organic brown rice syrup from Whole Foods. To compensate for the lack of sweetness I added a little extra brown sugar. The only thing Andrew (the ketchup expert, apparently) had to say about it was that it was too sweet. So next time I'll cut back on the brown sugar. Sorry Heinz, but I'm never going back to store bought again!

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Serves 4 as a side

• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into strips
• 3 Tbsp. safflower oil
• 2 tsp. paprika

1. Preheat oven to 400º.
2. Combine ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
3. Spread evenly on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, or until fries are crispy.
4. Serve warm.

Home Made Ketchup

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

• 1 6 oz. can of tomato paste
• 2 Tbsp. distilled white vinegar
• 5 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. brown rice syrup
• 1 Tbsp. safflower oil
• A pinch each of cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and ground black pepper
• 3/4 cups of water

1. Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan.
2. Simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes, until you reach the consistency of ketchup.

Logan's a fan!