Making your own food

I’ve made my own spaghetti sauce for years, and recently, to try and avoid as much bad stuff as possible (like high fructose corn syrup and those nasty preservatives) I have been making my own butter, mayo, and whipped cream. I also had some herbs growing this summer which I want to dry for the winter. Next on my list to make is yogurt. Does anyone else make their own food? What do you make?

When ever DF and I make a chicken (a whole one) we make a chicken soup out of it. It is probably the best chicken soup I have ever had, and I am happy to know exactly what is in it. It is a bit of work, but DF doesn’t mind extra work if he knows the outcome is good!

I’ve never made my own butter/mayo/yogurt, though I am interested in trying someday. I don’t regularly make my own bread, either. But I make as much as possible from scratch. I don’t use jar spaghetti sauce, canned cream soups, canned veggies, boxed foods…

I like to make my own bread, but with the bread maker we have, it sometimes takes like 3 times to get a good loaf. Most of the time it is either too heavy or not cooked enough. Which bugs me cause I always compensate for exactly that…a little extra yeast and a lot less flour…shrugs I will stick to my banana bread!

I do like making Jam. It is something I don’t have the supplies for, but I have done it once or twice, and homemade jam is so much better then the store bought stuff!

This is my second year of making marinara sauce from my garden tomatoes. Last year I thought I had a nice freezer full of it to last all year, but I didn’t. I’m trying to make more this year. I’m getting a bit tired of making it, but it is sooo good.

I make my own hot cocoa mix in big batches. Just ran into a super great deal yesterday on nonfat dry milk, so I bought a lot of it. The cashier and bagger asked me what I do with it, so I told them about the hot cocoa mix. Add a cup of hot water to a half cup of cocoa mix and add a dash of salt and vanilla to taste. Yum.

I like to make as much as possible from scratch, like pancake batter, zucchini bread, soups, cakes, brownies, cookies, or whatever. Whenever possible I like to modify the recipes so they have less fat and more whole grains.

I can’t say I never buy packaged stuff though. Sometimes I just want convenience. Oh, I tried making whole wheat bread once, and it was a total failure. One of these days I’ll give it another shot.

I learned to cook from my mother who, having grown up on a farm, pretty much only knows how to cook stuff from scratch. I think it tastes better and you have so much more control over what goes into your meal. Especially since pre-made items have so much sodium.

I remember the first time I had cornbread with a meal at my in-laws…it was from a boxed mix. Silly naive me, I said “I didn’t even know you could buy cornbread in a box!” MIL gave me a funny look and said “How do you make your cornbread?”

I have to admit to being vaguely surprised that people [I]dont [/I]make their own pancake batter or soup or sauces.
I can understand maybe not making things like butter all the time from scratch (although i would like to) but things like sauces are just cooking. their just recipes. but then i suppose so is making butter!
and packet white sauce … i just don’t get it.

I always make my own stock. Vegetable, chicken and beef are all realy easy but i have to admit i have never made fish stock. I just dont eat enough fish dishes to justify it.

They then become the basis for my own soups, stews, sauces etc etc. Nice and yummy.

Funny you should mention the drinking chocolate, i never thought to make it using milk powder. I always make it the old fashioned way with hot milk, plain coco powder (the dark bitter stuff used for baking) and brown sugar to taste. it was how my great nan tought me to make it, but then i do like very dark chocolate so i like being able to control the sweetness that way.

I had to add; I don’t mind store bought stuff (although I like to check the ingredients), tinned tomatoes are an essential item in my cupbourd since growing them can be difficult in this climate and I just adore tinned baked beans and custard (not together) even though I know how to make my own. It just doesn’t occur to me that many things are available ready made or pre-packaged and when I see them in shops I get a little confused.

My housmate came home once with tinned apple pie filling and a bag full of eating apples. I just didn’t understand.

I make my own mayo and my own hummus. Unless I don’t feel well or I’m really short on time, I make soup and sauces from scratch as well. I try not to buy any processed foods or foods full of artificial flavors and preservatives. Sure, it costs more sometimes, but I feel it’s money well spent. I save money in other areas like utilities usage, clothes, gas usage, etc.

I really want to have a go at making my own bread.

I make my own meat (OK, I hunt it and do the butchering).

I grow most of my own herbs. I’ve figured out that I’d rather have dry garlic and while it tastes good drying homegrown garlic is a pain.

I can my own tomato sauce and apple sauce. Other than pizza sauce and tomato paste (for the pizza sauce) if I don’t have what I canned I don’t use it cook that item.

I do my own horseradish sauce but still use some of the store bought creamy kind.

I don’t eat corn normally unless it’s from my garden.

Cherry pies are always made with my own cherries. The only thing I use canned for is topping cheesecake.

Other than boxed cakes all my baking is from scratch. Bread, cookies, pizza dough, pies.

I didn’t realize scratch pancakes were just as easy as using a box of mix.

I also didn’t realize “instant pudding” had changed so much when I made some from scratch and thought it was no different than when I last made “instant” in the 70’s. My sister told me instant really is instant now.

I used to make my own hotsauce but my stomach can’t handle that any more. My brother is trying the fermented Tabasco type, if that works I may start making it again.

Pretty much any vegetable I eat is grown by me although I do need to fill in with store bought onions and potatoes some times.

That sounds wonderful, but where do you find the time?

I like making my own cakes and banana bread. I make homemade soup from a beef shank, but I use frozen vegetables, except for the fresh that I have on hand. I use canned tomato sauce and petite diced tomatoes. It’s half homemade. I always make cornbread in an iron skillet with just hot rise corn meal and buttermilk. We use to make homemade pudding and I always make homemade popcorn, but I don’t grow my own pop corn.

Well, I’m one of those people who doesn’t make their own stuff. I think that when the Lord was passing out cooking talent, He didn’t see me standing in line. :rofl:

As far as ingredients, home-made cannot be beat – I know this. I am very aware of what’s in stuff; however, I truly do lack the time and ability to make from scratch. Many nights, I barely manage to get something on the table…with dh having more strict dietary needs it’s very difficult to please everyone.

I have, in a pinch, made pancake batter from stuff in the pantry.

My poor family…

Being a country gal for the last 30 years and being poor a lot of that time, I used to make most everything from scratch. I had a milk cow so made butter, cheese, ice cream. We raised a few hogs for sale so rendered my own lard. Butchered my own chickens and bottle raised a few extra calves to butcher. I still garden and put up some veggies. Hubby travels a lot now so it’s not worth doing a lot of cooking for just myself when I’m happy with salads and fruits.

I work at home.
I have wholesale trained to give me work once a week so I can get it all done in one or two days.
Retail doesn’t take that long when it comes up.

You’d think I’d have a clean house but that’s not going to happen.

You and me both. :doh:DH cooks and since I have hypertension we try to be careful. Mostly we eat fresh fruits and vegetables. We don’t buy jarred or canned spaghetti sauce, but we do use low sodium puree and crushed tomatoes to make our own. I can bake, but have always used box mixes for those. Not sure why. :??

I can’t believe so many people don’t make their own bread. I buy my sandwich bread a lot but I never buy dinner rolls or french bread. Its five ingredients mix water flour yeast sugar and butter together, kneed for ten minutes let rise one hour divide into rolls and let rise for 45 minutes, bake at 375 until golden brown. ummmm now im hungry.

My sister does. She even grinds her own grain for it. She lives in a city where she can buy bags of it and do that. My family probably wouldn’t touch it. Apparently I’ve done a poor job rearing my family.

I am so impressed and awed by all of you. Kudos to you! :thumbsup:

Kneading kills my wrists. Before I got a powerful handmixer with dough hooks bread and pizza were an all day affair and rare.
Now I’ll make them on a whim.

Bread in less than five minutes a day with no kneading. Just make the dough, let rise two hours, hack some dough off of the glob and gently ease into a ball then bake. The rest of the dough can sit in the fridge for up to two weeks. There’s a few youtube videos on it and there’s a book called “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day”.
Easiest bread recipe EVER! It comes out as a nice, crusty, french like bread. Here’s the recipe. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/21/dining/211brex.html?ref=dining

Nicolejc83, that’s almost 2 hours. I still would like the recipe. Plantgoddess+, you go girl!:woohoo: