What are your must-have condiments, and do you or have you ever made any of them yourself?

This topic came up at the dinner table the other day. We each had different opinions on which condiments are must-haves, as well as which ones we think we'd enjoy eating homemade. We also debated what defined a condiment.

Here's what Merriam-Webster says is a condiment:

"something (such as a seasoning, sauce, garnish, or topping) that is added to food usually after the food is prepared and that enhances or adds to its flavor."

Here's my must-have condiment list for savory foods:

• mayonnaise
• ketchup
• mustard
• pickle relish and pickles
• soy sauce
• chutney
• salsa
• barbecue sauce
• flavored vinegar

My family members add:

• tartar sauce
• ranch dressing/dip/seasoning
• hot sauce
• queso

Of my list of must-haves, I've made ketchup, mustard, pickles and relishes, chutney, salsa, barbecue sauce, and flavored vinegar. My family prefers commercial ketchup to my homemade. But they like my barbecue sauce. My husband prefers my homemade salsa. We all thought the homemade mustard was too hot. I make tartar sauce, and we all enjoy it. I prefer my chutney, pickles, and relishes. They're good, and they're unique. My family has never had commercial chutney, so they have nothing with which to compare it. I've never made mayonnaise. I know it's not supposed to be super complicated. However, I like the long refrigerator life of commercial mayo.

There are other condiments that we enjoy having periodically. These are simply my must-have ones, those that I make sure we always have on hand. 

So what are your must-haves, and what's your experience with making your own?

After 4 weeks, I finally did a major grocery shopping. I didn't spend as much as I would have thought. Why would that be?

So like it says above, I finally did a stock-up shopping after 4 long weeks. I'd been popping into the local Walmart to pick up milk, cheese, and bananas once per week (spending under $10 each week), but that was about it.

Then last Friday, I made a WinCo run. I had been keeping a list going as we'd run out of items. I brought a fist full of cash and a bunch of shopping bags. I cruised through the aisles, picking up the foods on my list. I thought I would spend a lot, a whole lot. 

At the check-out, I was rather surprised that I "only" spent $125.73. After allowing our supplies to dwindle for a month, I had anticipated spending closer to $200.

I was thinking about why I didn't spend more. Here's what I think. Like many questions in life, the answer is multi-faceted.

• Our garden has been in heavy production for the entire month of August and now into September. We have featured garden fruit and vegetables very heavily in all of our meals, meaning we used more produce and less of the ingredients that we would need to purchase to replenish. Most dinners included a serving of fruit and 2 servings of vegetables this past month. We snack on garden fresh fruit when hungry between meals. Every lunch contains 1 fruit and at least 1 veggie, sometimes 2.
• We used purchased foods that are low cost or practically free throughout the month. We turned to our surplus of dried beans instead of using all of our meat for protein. We used our copious supply of saved meat fat in place of vegetable oil or butter in cooking. This meant that I didn't need to buy more meat or more vegetable oil/butter.
• As our garden will continue to produce enough for our meals for another month, we have no need to stock up on frozen or canned veggies just yet. The only produce I bought at WinCo were 2 bananas, 1 bag of carrots, 1 bundle of celery, a bag of potatoes, and a bag of onions. We'll have enough produce with this purchase plus garden fruits and vegetables to last several weeks and still have variety.
• Stocking up on groceries may be more cyclical for some of us. Right now I'm still coasting on what we have on hand and not yet needing to make our big autumn stock-up purchases like a case of canned tomatoes and a case of tomato paste and a jumbo 50-lb bag of onions to get through fall, winter and spring. I'll need to buy those items in two to three weeks.

The lesson I learned is that August is a very good month for me to skip major grocery shopping. By shifting away from the pricier purchased foods and incorporating more of the almost free garden produce and low-cost purchased foods, fewer expensive foods need to be replenished after a month of eating.

Maybe you're curious what I actually bought at WinCo on Friday. Here's the list:

10-lb bag of potatoes (I'm 3 weeks away from harvesting our potatoes)

10-lb bag of carrots (I just have a small patch of carrots that we mostly eat as baby carrots)

2 bananas

bundle of celery (for fresh eating, our garden celery is better for cooking)

3-lb bag onions (to get me through until I buy a 50-lb bag in a few weeks)

10 cans tuna (still on sale)

1 jar mayo (still on sale)

2 large cans tomato paste (for pizza sauce)

1 large block cheddar

1 large block mozzarella

bag of pitted dates

25 oz of frozen sausage (on sale)

2 pints natural peanut butter

large bag roasted peanuts

large bag oats

salt

bulk cinnamon

bulk onion powder

bulk garlic powder

bulk peanut butter powder

bulk pickling spice

bag of raisins (smaller amount than I would normally buy, as we have so much fresh fruit)

2 lbs sliced pepperoni (on sale, to divide into 10 smaller bags for making pizzas)

1 gallon milk

5-lb bag whole wheat flour 

2 5-lb bags organic white flour (no additives that I'm allergic to)

2 canisters of cocoa powder

And that's it. I really didn't need all that much, even after going 4 weeks with minimal grocery shopping.

I have to include some pertinent information to our overall grocery spending. I will be receiving another delivery of beef (quarterly deliveries) in a week. That, of course, bumps up the actual grocery spending considerably this month. But that meat will last 3 months, so I divide the meat cost over those months when figuring monthly grocery spending for my own purposes.