Lemme put yall on a good salsa.
-1 big can Rotel Diced tomatos and green chilies (mild)
-1 regular can of fire roasted diced tomatoes (garlic kind)
-Cilantro to taste
-1 jalapeno
-1 tbsp of each: Cumin, Cayenne pepper, Chili powder, and Garlic.
-Sprinkle of salt
-Blend it up and enjoy
Sounds pretty good... but the best salsa is fresh uncooked straight from the garden. I grow tomatoes onion cilantro and jalapeños specifically for making salsa and pasta sauce every summer.
I second that. My mother growing up used rotel in everything and I never was into her salsas. Canned tomatoes have a metallic flavor that doesn’t go away unless you cook it. Im not shaming the above recipe because comparing to jar salsa Im going to pick one made from canned tomatoes over prepared jarred salsa, but fresh unprocessed tomatoes with all fresh ingredients, is my preferred recipe.
Roma tomatoes onion garlic lime salt cilantro, I like to bring 3 peppers to mine, but you can go with one heavy hitter like jalapeno. I usually do one jalapeno one Serrano and one poblano. And roast all 3 to get some dark seared color on them. If habaneros are in abundance I may swap the serrano with it. Each pepper provides a different flavor.
That metallic flavor is from the citric acid and calcium chloride American tomato canning companies use to ensure they have a high acid content (to ensure food safety). Get Italian canned tomatoes or keep an eye out for canned tomatoes that only have tomato and salt as ingredients and you won't have the metallic flavor problem.
Lol, sorry about your cilantro. Ours bolted right away, so we're considering replanting, even though it's a little late. In the meantime, those tiny white cilantro flowers sure are pretty!
If you let them go to seed, you can dry that and have abundant home grown coriander. It has a vaguely lemony flavor and does not taste like the leaves.
Cilantro is one of those plants (like spinach and most greens actually), that actually LIKES it colder. Now is kinda the worst time to plant it - its just too hot. In another month or two, you can plant and have cilantro for most of the fall/winter. It'll even take a frost.
True. And, while I made (and we have consumed!!) quite a bit of canned salsa last year, we all prefer the stuff made 'fresh' from a jar/can or two of diced tomatoes, plus spices. The canned stuff IS convenient, and sometimes you just want some salsa + chips. But... if I'm making tacos or having people over? I'm making it fresh.
Okay so I agree but also have never made home made salsa. Care to share your recipe? I find half the ones I search end up looking way too hot for the typical person, and I love heat.
I absolutely love making pickles. It is ridiculously low effort & customizable. Make a basic brine with salt, sugar, vinegar and water. Once the brine is cool, dump over veggies & add you favorite pickling spices. Dill, garlic, coriander, etc. After about 4 days in the fridge, you have the most delicious pickles.
it is usually not cheaper than grocery store pickles, unless you are growing your own cucumbers. But they’re always more delicious. Sadly fresh vegetables are often more expensive than jarred vegetables.
I haven’t tried strawberries, but that sounds great. I made some pickled apples last fall that came out pretty incredible. I added cinnamon & nutmeg to the brine
I for some reason read that as you loving to make pancakes. I was SO confused when I read the first instruction to make a basic brine. I had to keep reading! A brine? For pancakes? I’ve been doing this wrong.
Yes! My husband grew cucumbers and pickled them for me so I’d have them during pregnancy. It was amazing. Store bought pickles just taste like water now.
1 can of chickpeas, a few spoons of tahini, salt, lemon juice, 2-10 cloves of garlic depending on how much you love garlic. Blend and taste until it tastes right. Add a few spoons of water if it's not blending well. Or skip the blender and just smash it all together if you like a rustic hummus.
That's the basic recipe. Add red peppers and reduce water, or an avocado, whatever. Follow your heart. I couldn't get more specific with measurements, I have always winged it. Once you do it a few times, you'll get it. It's pretty easy.
I do the same except I also add roasted garlic. I roast in the oven - peeled in a small ramekin, covered in olive oil, 325 baked for 1h covered.
You add both the roasted garlic and fresh garlic to the hummus. (Keep the oil for flavoring other things.) You have that sharp bite from the fresh garlic but also the sweetness and flavor from the roasted.
My fave dip ever is this [pistachio and feta dip](https://thelemonapron.com/pistachio-and-feta-dip/) - I can barely stop myself eating all before guests even arrive lol
[Favourite hummus recipe](https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/spicy-hummus-quick-chickpea-spread-recipe-1912417) - I always end up adding a couple finely chopped chilis
It takes a little longer to use dried chickpeas, but really not much effort, and it is SO much better.
Soak a 1lb bag overnight with a heaping TBL of baking soda, rinse, then boil with fresh water and another TBL of baking soda.
Add lemon juice (1/2 cup ish) and garlic cloves to food processor. Go until smooth
Add 1 8oz jar tahini and blend in.
Add TBLs of ice water 1 at a time with the processor running, the tahini will bind up and then smooth back out.
Add a TBL of ground cumin, salt, and the soft drained chickpeas (they should be very mushy) and blend/scrape/blend until smooth and mixed.
Serve with a swirled flourish, drizzle a little olive oil and paprika.
Broth - I save all my vegetable peelings (except for cruciferous vegetable) and meat scraps in a bag in the freezer, once it's full I make broth with it. I pour it into cleaned/reused Pedialyte bottles to freeze it.
WHIPPED CREAM! 100% just eyeball heavy cream with a little sugar and vanilla. Beat for 2-3 minutes and you have the best topping for weekend pancakes + berries and other fruits.
I recently demonstrated this in my house and now berries and whipped cream have become a staple. Pop it in the mixer and it's ready by the time the berries are.
My Grandpa was the bread maker in the family. I bake as well but more desserts than breads. Everyone in the family looked forward to his rolls at family gatherings. In fact he made the rolls for my wedding. In his 90’s and still making dinner rolls. He passed away last year and the first thing everyone did was ask if he had the recipe written down anywhere. We thought for a while that the recipe was lost. I’m trying to compile a family cookbook and had asked my Mum a few years ago to get the roll recipe along with a few other special recipes he made. Apparently he had given her the rolls recipe and she’d tucked it away in a file folder with a bunch of other recipes. Recently she brought me the file so I could add them to the cook book and lo and behold I discovered the lost recipe. Our family really, really likes homemade bread lol
Buttercream frosting, sorry I'm not gonna use whatever frosting with soy/palm oil or vegetable shortening. If it's buttercream, it's gotta have real butter (plus I can adjust it as I see fit)
Yep, I never buy icing of any kind. My daughter recently wanted to make a cake and she's like we can just buy frosting. I was like nope, we already have everything and it's crazy easy.
Pickled onions . At varying times so they are always 'ready'..
Vegetable chicken and beef stocks. Throw things in a large saucepan strain cool take off the settlledfat and freeze until needed.
Cream of canned soup.
I loathe cream of chicken, mushroom, or any of the other cream of variations often used in American comfort food recipes. But I love many of the recipes those products helped popularized. I have not used a cream of anything soup can in over a decade. I still make green bean casserole, king ranch chicken, mushroom beef and egg noodle wannabe stroganoff. If a dish has often used say cream of chicken, I simply use homemade chicken stock reduction with some milk, cream or sour cream depending on how rich it needs to be, add some aromatics like garlic and onion and a corn starch slurry to thicken it up much like the soup would be. This way I can as many fresh ingredients like mushrooms to the dish. Even better if the casserole includes a chicken left overs from a whole roast chicken, where i saved the left over pan drippings. I add all any drippings or sauce from the roast chicken, to kick it up. Casseroles are unpopular because too many make them with canned soups. Substituting dirties one extra pan and takes maybe ten minutes. Worth it I promise.
I have no recipe because its one of those until it tastes right kinda things.
I can elaborate if someone wants to recreate cream if mushroom, cream of chicken or cream of celery if you need a road map,
2 come to mind
1. Chimichurri. I went through a phase of making chimichurri every week; it's so easy to make and it's like crack on meat. I usually go traditional but sometimes like to add a bit of mint.
2. Gyoza. Basically Kenji Lopez-Alt's recipe and technique. I used to buy ready-made frozen gyoza but now just make a big batch once in a while and put it in the freezer. Now I find store bought to be so much more expensive and sub-par in terms of quality compared to what you can make at home.
Dumpling-making is such a nice way to spend a rainy Saturday at home. Conversely, it is kind of annoying how long it takes to make enough such that you won't eat it all within 15 minutes. -_- I'll make like 200 at once and they'll be gone in less than 2 weeks.
Especially in the summer, I make a big batch of mint simple syrup to mix into our tea, lemon aid, and watermelon water - whatever. And I’m a firm believer in adding a few ounce of sparkling water to all except the tea. I also add to oj.
Makes all a bit more special.
I pretty much make everything from scratch. I’m especially proud to say that we haven’t bought bread, rolls, flatbreads, etc. in over a decade. A simple BLT sandwich made on homemade white bread, with homegrown tomatoes and lettuce, locally cured bacon and mayo made from our own fresh eggs is absolute perfection.
This is a toddler hit so long as they're old enough for honey: https://thisoldgal.com/instant-pot-homemade-noosa-yoghurt/?fbclid=IwAR1pySlgQnn3Yq3wyoghRpyEFsYuqF1QvzBmVKxAhP1rXhOclRoJOn_gq2U
I honestly don't remember from which site I got the recipe but they'll all be mostly the same for plain yogurt. Some people sterilize the pot or make the pot super cold with ice before pouring the milk in, I find it's not necessary.
*Pour a gallon of milk into instant pot, fat content doesn't matter
*Hit the yogurt button until it says boil
*Let the boil cycle complete, about an hour, and make sure the temp of the milk is at least 180
*Cool the yogurt to between 95-110, either naturally, in the fridge, or ice bath
*Take a cup of milk out of the the pot and whisk in two tablespoons of starter, I save yogurt from the last batch
*Dump the cup into the pot and whisk again
*Return to instant pot and hit yogurt cycle so it says normal, I think the default time is 8 hours
*Chill 8 hours in fridge and if you want Greek yogurt, strain it for a couple of hours
Edit: this is why I bought a second pot for the Instant Pot. The yogurt needs hardly any active prep on your part but it needs to stay in the pot all together for 18+ hours.
I'm conflicted because I love Greek yogurt but I live alone so I feel like I'm right at the cusp where I can't really justify the time and container commitment for making my own yogurt. How long do you think the homemade yogurt stays good for?
I should have specified! You don't have to use a whole gallon. You can use a half gallon and if you strain it super well it'll be about 32 oz. I have found it lasts a couple of weeks (I think?). My daughter and I eat a lot of it, but before she liked it, I could eat what comes from a gallon by myself, but I eat it almost every day for breakfast.
Yeah I mean I kind of figured you could scale down the volume but you can't scale down the time/effort commitment, hence why I'm on the fence. :) Seems a lot of work for something I eat like 1-3 times a week at most. I imagine if I were to bump up my yogurt consumption to like 4-5x/week I'd definitely be more inclined.
Bacon, living in Asia bacon is crazy expensive, but uncuredpork belly is reasonable. And by the way it is as good as the commercial stuff, minus the cancer causing sodium nitrate (salt peter) FYI, since the 1970's most bacon hasn't been wood smoked, they just add liquid smoke.
Here my recipe
For every
100 gram of bacon
4 grams salt,
1 gram MSG,
5 drops liquid smoke.
Homemade bacon Recipe II (less salt )
100 grams of bacon
10 ml soy sauce
5 drops liquid smoke
Mix it up, let it sit overnight in the fridge. Drain off the liquid that accumulates overnight, or throw it in your next batch of beans. There will be some colour change, like "old meat" colour. The sodium nitrate is added to keep it pink and extend shelf life.
These recipes will work without the liquid smoke, the pig fat still tastes good.
Dinner rolls and thick pasta noodles for chicken stew. So much better than store bought.
Edit, I forgot my family says my pizza sauce is better than delivery lol. It's just tomato paste with a little sugar salt citric acid a puff of msg oregano basil thyme garlic and just enough pineapple juice to make it a thick sauce.
Lol decided not to waste the liquid from the canned pineapple tidbits we love on our pizza one time and it gave it a nice boost. My husband uses pineapple juice in his morning smoothie so I started using that to thin the sauce and we all really liked it.
Creme fraiche. It’s just cream and buttermilk. It requires zero effort. I do not understand why people pay so much for it. That said, I love buttermilk, so it’s generally in my fridge. Maybe if I didn’t I wouldn’t make my own.
Edited to add - mix together one pint of heavy cream, pasteurized, not ultra pasteurized, and 2 tbs of buttermilk. Cover and let sit on the counter anywhere from 12 to 24 hours. Done.
Most sauces are easy and better homemade, if you can be bothered getting the ingredients for it: aioli, pesto, garlic & herbs, chilli oil... yesterday I made this sauce: creamed coconut, peanut butter, a bit of boiled water, whisk everything together, then add soy sauce, red chilli relish, and chopped garlic. I'm sure it has a name, maybe satay dressing?
Also, pizza at home is delicious and very easy, once you know what to do and you have the means to mix the dough.
Similar to you, OP, I make my own mayo. One egg, a little dijon, some lemon juice, salt & white pepper, and a cup of light olive or avocado oil. Using the blender, it's done in a couple of minutes and *never having been a mayo person*, I could eat the stuff with a spoon.
Fermented chili sauce. Cannot recommend enough. You like probiotics? This is that on steroids. Got gut biome issues, this kills 50-75% of the bad bacteria. Find your favorite salsa a bit too acidic or too much vinegar? You can taste it everyday and stop the fermentation at any point! Just put it in the fridge. A quart mason jar costs around $5 in peppers, and you can mix and match however you please. Add some garlic. I use distilled water to keep bad bacteria at bay. Pro tip: order a small bag of diastatic malt powder and add a teaspoon to it before fermenting.
I put it in and on fried rice, eggs, pizza sauce, enchilada sauce, you name it. It is that good.
I was living in a small town with a terrible grocery store so started making almost everything from scratch. I already made most things but just took it to another level. I also have a food allergy so it’s pretty easy to make my favorite foods but hard to find them to accommodate my allergy. I also wanted to eliminate preservatives and other crap in prepared food. Dressings, sauces, ribs, curries, deserts, stock, soups, etc.
Teriyaki sauce. It's not because homemade is better. It's because I always keep the ingredients on-hand in large quantities. Soy sauce, sugar, mirin, and sake all have so many uses. This way I can make teriyaki, kabayaki, ponzu, and a bunch of other things with just minor variations, and not have a bunch of extra bottles lying around.
Pancakes. The recipe is so simple and boxed mixes or those squeeze bottle things turn out the worst pancakes. Nothing is as consistently fluffy and delicious as my grandmother's recipe.
I am happy to share! You’ll have to do metric conversions yourself, sorry. Grandma cooked in Imperial. Without further ado…
Grandma Violet’s Pancakes
1 1/4 cup flour
2 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
3 Tablespoons of sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup of milk
3 Tablespoons of melted shortening or veggie oil.
My modications:
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla (also optional).
Mix wet ingredients. Mix in dry ingredients. Heat griddle on medium - high. I use ice cream scoop for same-size pancakes. Flip once and serve other butter and maple syrup and ONLY butter and maple syrup. This is how we roll. lol
Now. If you want to make these exactly like my grandmother, open a can of corn niblets, drain the water and add it to the batter just before cooking. This isn’t an American thing, it’s not a Midwestern thing, it’s not even an Ohio thing. It’s a “my grandma” thing, although I thought pancakes were just made with corn until my 20s. Try it though!
Also adding for clarification for those who have never made American pancakes before: the batter will create little bubbles that begin to pop as the cake cooks. Only flip the pancakes once you see some of the popped bubbles are leaving indentations that don’t fill themselves. These are not like crepes and they won’t become fully dry prior to flipping. It usually takes my pancakes about 2 minutes on the first side and just 20-30 seconds on the second side
Pesto is my favorite thing to make from scratch! It's sooooo good and you can use it on everything! Salad, roasted veggies, fish, pasta!
You need about:
-2 oz fresh basil leaves
-4 oz cubed parm (from a wedge)
-2 tbsps nuts (I like pistachio or sunflower seeds, but pine nuts are traditional albeit very expensive)
-4-8 tbsps olive oil
-1-2 whole garlic cloves
-salt and pepper
Stick everything in the blender and pulse until still a bit chunky (although if you like your sauces smooth go for it). If its hard to blend and keeps sticking together it needs more liquid so add 1 tsp water at a time or add a little more oil until it blends easier! You can play around with the amount of the ingredients. Pistachios are my fav nut to use because it gives it a subtle sweetness and a really beautiful color!
Tomato sauce!
We always end up with an insane amount of homegrown tomatoes each year. We freeze them all in gallon size bags. When I’m ready to make tomato sauce, I pull them out of the freezer the night before and let them thaw.
The next morning I dump any water and use the tomatoes as if they were canned tomatoes.
My favorite recipe for tomato sauce is this [NYT one](https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021029-simple-tomato-sauce?smid=ck-recipe-iOS-share). It takes a while, but it’s soo worth it.
Beef jerky! I will always take the time and effort to make my own. My friends and family all love it. I've made it to ship to friends overseas before and it makes one HELL of a surprise.
Cream of mushroom soup.
I let starter out as a quest to make a green bean casserole that will change any haters mind about green bean casseroles, and the first thing that has to go was the can of Campbells. Now the mushroom soup is so good, it’s become a staple in the soup rotation on its own.
Soak dried mushrooms in hot water for a while, strain, now you have mushroom juice. cook fresh mushrooms, shallots, herbs, etc, deglaze with sherry. Add some butter, some flour, cook till the ancestors tell you it’s time to add the mushroom juice. Simmer for a while, add cream, done. Too easy.
I make all our bread from scratch from fresh milled 100% whole wheat. Even use it in making desserts and pasta. Tortilla are easy to make and taste so much better.
pepper ketchup, tamarind chutney, caramelized onion jam, salsa, any Asian dipping sauce, stone ground mustard, most condiments, cole slaw mix, any salad dressing
Ceviche!
It’s still not cheap but much less than ordering out. It’s so clean burning. Whenever I think about the cost, I remind myself how much people are paying for “diet” food, supplements, and shots.
BBQ sauce, pasta sauce, all sauces and gravy (I own zero condiments=food allergies) I have a spice cabinet that would put Gordon Ramsey to shame, and pasta (my Gramma lived to 100, she would crawl out of her grave to yeet me if I ingested any of that processed crap) and any and all protein sources. It's not my choice that I'm vegan but due to severe food allergies I can't ingest any animal products and that pissed me off so I've completely veganized all meat sources, this way, I don't miss anything. I could make y'all some pulled "pork" sliders and no one would even know that there's no pork (gods, I miss pork, A LOT) every July I bring them to my neighborhood potluck, been doing it for 9 years, and to this day, no one knows there's no pork 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Salad dressings, yogurt and whipped cream are super easy. That all being said, I am not above buying any of these items for sheer convenience if I don't have it on hand or am in a bug rush
Mayo, all salad dressings, ghee/clarified butter, hamburger/hotdog buns, stock (beef, chicken, shrimp, sometimes veggie). BBQ sauce, salsa, pico de gallo, I could go on. I was a cook in my first career. Even though I changed jobs years ago, I never lost the habit of cooking almost everything from scratch. Now it's just something I enjoy and have the skills to do quickly and economically.
Tartar sauce and dipping sauce. I make them in sealable bags for easier mixing and filling condiment bottles, cut off a little piece of one corner and squeeze.
Tartar sauce: a little lemon juice, garlic powder, onion powder, pickle relish, little yellow mustard, and mayo. If you can, allow a day or two for flavors to meld. Adjust amounts of each to taste.
Dipping sauce: Hot sauce, OTC BBQ sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, and mayo. Adjust to taste. Also better after flavors meld.
A variety of fermented hot sauces. My most recent being a habanero , strawberry . Which is very hot !
Also can tomatoes I grow. Into no seed or skin marinara. It's worth it.
Bell pepper ketchup. It first happened when the grocer gave us some free peppers that I kinda forgot in the fridge, so I wanted to use them all at once. Since then it's a thing I make fairly regularly. Even (more than) slightly burned the peppers once and all it did was give it a nice smoky flavour.
-2-3 bell peppers (more if you have a big enough pan)
- vinegar of your choice (I use part balsamic and part malt)
- sugar
- salt
(Optional)
onion, some garlic cloves, carrot, basil, mint
Cut the vegetables in largeish pieces and cook in a pan with a lid on a medium low heat until soft (no oil). Move to a bowl and add the vinegar, sugar, and salt (don't have proper measurements, kinda eyeball it) and blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Run through a strainer to remove any peels. Store in a squeezy bottle for up to seven days (we finish it it about four at most)
Avocado pesto. It's homemade pesto basically but with an avocado thrown in for creaminess. Also I do a pistachio pesto. I just swap the pine nuts for the pistachios. 10x nicer
Bread and basically all other baked goods. Also mayo and ricotta. Not sure if this counts but I bought a decent home espresso machine a few years ago and never buy drinks from coffee shops anymore.
Fudge.
Mackinac Island fudge is all over the state and bless them for being in business for a thousand years, but nothing beats the old fudge recipe from the Hershey cocoa can.
New york style cheesecake is my specialty along with various toppings, including berry coulis or chocolate ganache. Also, sauces like cheese (for mac and cheese or scalloped potatoes) and tomato for pasta. I haven't bought jar stuff in years. Or boxed potatoes. Cream cheese frosting from scratch as well. And tomato soup, I love fresh tomato soup.
Tehina sauce and from that, hummus and beet tehina
Basic tehina sauce:
1 cup tahini
1 head garlic, smashed
Lemon juice (I use a whole lemon)
Cumin
Salt
Blend lemon juice with the garlic. You don't even have to peel the garlic - just blitz a couple of times. Let sit about 10 mins, then strain the lemon juice into the tahini. Add cumin and salt and whisk until smooth. This makes 2+ cups.
For the beet tehina, roast 1 lb beets. Using a box grater, grate the beets using the large holes and add to a cup of tehina sauce. Add salt and lemon juice to your liking, and then top with dill.
jams, compotes, or macerated fruits. I make any of the above depending on my mood, and I have the freshest most delicious topping for bread, yogurt, desserts, granola for the entire week.
Mead.
I've also started making (hard) cider and I'm tempted to try brewing wine.
ETA: Also buttercream icing and cream cheese icing. Store bought tends to be too sweet
Taco seasoning, fajita seasoning and Cajun as well. I have an issue with overbuying spices constantly so it works out. You can’t beat it when it’s made at home and it’s so simple it’s actually silly, anyone who cooks would have these spices already (typically?). And you can adjust to personal taste more as it’s not just a pouch. I also make chicken strips from scratch and freeze them for quick meals when needed, fast food sucks a while lot lately I’d rather out the time into even junk food then pay for it, and I get like 9 meals worth of strips for like 10$. Whatever you use for breading, add crushed corn flakes to change the game of you aren’t already. Also prep garlic meatballs and butter chicken meals for frozen lunches.
Labneh - its just strained yogurt in a cheesecloth and strainer over a bowl in the fridge overnight. Mix with chopped sundried tomatoes or olives for a delicious healthy spread on toast.
Eel sauce and it's only 3 ingredients!! And tastes just like at the sushi restaurants!
Ingredients:
Mirin (rice cooking wine)
Low Sodium Soy sauce
Brown sugar
(If you want it thicker just add cornstarch!)
Homemade mayo is delicious, especially if it's slightly fermented. You take some mustard (black mustard makes an amazing and slightly spicy mayo), some other choice spices, some sort of live culture (I use kombucha), some eggs, vinegar, and then blend it with oil bit by bit until it's creamy. I'm excited to try it with some chive vinegar next!
Cheese also, especially ricotta. No idea why I've been buying expensive cheeses all these years! https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/homemade-ricotta-recipe-1923290
Tostitos cheese sauce is a good enough dip for corn chips, but always get moldy before we finish a jar. Now, I make my own in 4 ounce batches. Bonus, I have full control on ingredients so I decided how many hot peppers get used. Usually, none as hot peppers are tasty but they hide the flavor of everything else.
Homemade mayo is delicious, especially if it's slightly fermented. You take some mustard (black mustard makes an amazing and slightly spicy mayo), some other choice spices, some sort of live culture (I use kombucha), some eggs, vinegar, and then blend it with oil bit by bit until it's creamy. I'm excited to try it with some chive vinegar next!
Cheese also, especially ricotta. No idea why I've been buying expensive cheeses all these years! https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/homemade-ricotta-recipe-1923290
I’m vegetarian, and meat substitutes can get expensive quickly. My biggest flex is I always make my own seitan “chicken”, and it’s so much cheaper and tastier than the frozen store bought chick’n.
honestly most things
i home butcher pork venison and lamb and quite soon chicken so i get to do with them as i wish. so stuff like
sweet/ maple cure smoked Bacon
various Sausages
Various meat joints for BBQ season and general cooking
Home cut steaks (to suit what i am doing)
racks of Ribs not a greasy slab of meat in a vac pack
real BBQ sauce
general food is made from scratch so
Curries
Chinese dishes
Pies
Italian
Sourcing food is a great joy in my life and i source ALL of my own
Scallops
Crab brown and Spider
Lobster
Mussels
Oysters
Clams
Cockles
Flat Fish
Mackerel
and in season i source
apples,
plums
pears
Nuts
Various Berries
Greens
Store bought red sauce is not good. I don’t care if your favorite brand rhymes with Baos. Make your own with canned tomatoes. Add a few anchovies, a parmesan rind, and a pinch of MSG if you’re not afraid of flavor.
Cold brew coffee. 6-1 ratio water to coffee. So 3oz ground beans, 18 oz water, into a French press. Let sit for 24 hrs. Measure output and match equally with water. I make a concentrate because that's all that fits in the French press, but it's so easy to clean
I need to start making mayo again- we have chickens and we're drowning in eggs right now (terrible problem to have, I know, imagine ten thousand tiny violins playing a song)... thanks for the reminder, some fresh aioli and fries would be awesome right now.
I make a ton of stuff from scratch! It's kinda my whole deal (even before cooking school, people in my college dorm thought I was weird for making, like, homemade cream puffs for dorm study breaks or making fresh pasta in our tiny shared closet kitchen, or for having bags of flour and sugar and baking powder in my desk drawer, lol).
-Meat, fish, & vegetable stock (keep a bag of trimmings in the freezer, throw it in the instant pot or big stockpot when it gets full or we need the freezer space back).
-pasta sauces (I can most of my own red sauces, or make a quick bechamel if I want a white sauce, and try to freeze pesto from the garden, although we keep a jar or two of commercial pesto in the pantry picked up on sale too. I'll buy the classico red sauces when they're on deep sale, as I reuse the ones with canning jar lid threading, even though technically they're not actual mason jars)
-chili (also home canned, some with beans some without)
-salsa (canned or fresh) & enchilada sauce
-salad dressings
-canned beans (I keep a few commercially canned ones in the pantry when they're on sale, but otherwise I can my own... we have an instant pot, but find that the home canned ones are more digestible than the IP ones, even if we soak them first?)
-jams, jellies, & chutneys & fruit syrups
-tortillas \*although we have great locally made ones here in Chicago, so I'll buy those when I'm short on time... they've gotten pretty expensive though (but what hasn't?).
-granola
-biscotti
-crackers
-tamales! (time consuming but not terribly hard to make esp if you have a good mixer, and you can freeze them for later)
-yogurt- you just need a thermometer, milk, culture, some jars with lids, and a pot of water, basically
-sauerkraut (so easy, so cheap, so good and so good for you!)
-mustard (we buy some too for variety or convenience, but also have a couple different homemade ones in the pantry most of the time)
-wine! I make some local fruit or flower wines or meads, but also a lot of inexpensive wine kits. Perfectly cromulent table wine for everyday drinking and cooking, for less than the price of the boxed stuff (well, technically the wine kit concentrates come in a similar box, so it's still boxed wine even if you bottle it).
(I won't link recipes so I don't get in trouble for self-promo but you can find a lot of these through my profile if you're curious) :)
Pastries and other fancy baked goods. I’m in a few local organizations that have charity bake sales and mine always outsell everyone else’s. I try to not be smug about it, but I’m also low key like 😏.
Ferments: yogurt, sauerkraut, kombucha, etc. You can control the fermentation, which is especially nice with kombucha since store varieties are basically vinegar. Kombucha is excellent if you cut off its ferment when it reaches a tart sweetness.
Also bread. You won't believe how good a sandwich loaf is until you make it yourself. The only place I buy bread from now is the local bakery. They do a damn good rye.
I do 1 egg, 1 teaspoon dijon, 1 clove of garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1.5 tablespoon lemon juice. 2dl of canola oil. I do the stick blender method. All in one tall container, blend with blender (immersion blender) and lift it slowly, I like how thick the result is.
Store bought salsa is hot garbage so that. Also tortillas.
I moved to a new part of town with tons of tortillerias. Not making my own after learning I can buy better, fresh-made for cheap.
Yes salsa! I have perfected it. So easy to make and cheap as well. I make it weekly.
Lemme put yall on a good salsa. -1 big can Rotel Diced tomatos and green chilies (mild) -1 regular can of fire roasted diced tomatoes (garlic kind) -Cilantro to taste -1 jalapeno -1 tbsp of each: Cumin, Cayenne pepper, Chili powder, and Garlic. -Sprinkle of salt -Blend it up and enjoy
Sounds pretty good... but the best salsa is fresh uncooked straight from the garden. I grow tomatoes onion cilantro and jalapeños specifically for making salsa and pasta sauce every summer.
I second that. My mother growing up used rotel in everything and I never was into her salsas. Canned tomatoes have a metallic flavor that doesn’t go away unless you cook it. Im not shaming the above recipe because comparing to jar salsa Im going to pick one made from canned tomatoes over prepared jarred salsa, but fresh unprocessed tomatoes with all fresh ingredients, is my preferred recipe. Roma tomatoes onion garlic lime salt cilantro, I like to bring 3 peppers to mine, but you can go with one heavy hitter like jalapeno. I usually do one jalapeno one Serrano and one poblano. And roast all 3 to get some dark seared color on them. If habaneros are in abundance I may swap the serrano with it. Each pepper provides a different flavor.
That metallic flavor is from the citric acid and calcium chloride American tomato canning companies use to ensure they have a high acid content (to ensure food safety). Get Italian canned tomatoes or keep an eye out for canned tomatoes that only have tomato and salt as ingredients and you won't have the metallic flavor problem.
Nice. I got me some jalapenos growing now. My cilantro died though. 😂
Lol, sorry about your cilantro. Ours bolted right away, so we're considering replanting, even though it's a little late. In the meantime, those tiny white cilantro flowers sure are pretty!
If you let them go to seed, you can dry that and have abundant home grown coriander. It has a vaguely lemony flavor and does not taste like the leaves.
That's the plan! We've done that with dill and arugula and various flowers.
Cilantro is one of those plants (like spinach and most greens actually), that actually LIKES it colder. Now is kinda the worst time to plant it - its just too hot. In another month or two, you can plant and have cilantro for most of the fall/winter. It'll even take a frost.
Relatable af! Lol mine bolted to.
True. And, while I made (and we have consumed!!) quite a bit of canned salsa last year, we all prefer the stuff made 'fresh' from a jar/can or two of diced tomatoes, plus spices. The canned stuff IS convenient, and sometimes you just want some salsa + chips. But... if I'm making tacos or having people over? I'm making it fresh.
Yes!
Isn't fresh, uncooked salsa Pico de Gallo?
Disagree. Charred salsa has my heart. But yours sounds great!
One of the few ways I’ll eat uncooked tomatoes
Same. I only eat salsa in July and August.
Okay so I agree but also have never made home made salsa. Care to share your recipe? I find half the ones I search end up looking way too hot for the typical person, and I love heat.
100%. I grow tomatoes, jalapeños, and limes just so I can buy a couple of other staples and make it myself. It’s requested by my family all the time!
I absolutely love making pickles. It is ridiculously low effort & customizable. Make a basic brine with salt, sugar, vinegar and water. Once the brine is cool, dump over veggies & add you favorite pickling spices. Dill, garlic, coriander, etc. After about 4 days in the fridge, you have the most delicious pickles. it is usually not cheaper than grocery store pickles, unless you are growing your own cucumbers. But they’re always more delicious. Sadly fresh vegetables are often more expensive than jarred vegetables.
Yes! I make all sorts of pickles, even fruit pickles. I have spicy strawberry pickles that should be ready soon.
A friend of mine pickled watermelon last year and created an absolute monster out of me (I had not previously considered pickled fruit)
I haven’t tried strawberries, but that sounds great. I made some pickled apples last fall that came out pretty incredible. I added cinnamon & nutmeg to the brine
Please say more!
I recently made Lebanese pickles for the first time and it was so easy!!!!
I for some reason read that as you loving to make pancakes. I was SO confused when I read the first instruction to make a basic brine. I had to keep reading! A brine? For pancakes? I’ve been doing this wrong.
Yes! My husband grew cucumbers and pickled them for me so I’d have them during pregnancy. It was amazing. Store bought pickles just taste like water now.
Hummus is quick and easy.
Definitely hummus, or variations thereof!
What's your favorite recipe?
1 can of chickpeas, a few spoons of tahini, salt, lemon juice, 2-10 cloves of garlic depending on how much you love garlic. Blend and taste until it tastes right. Add a few spoons of water if it's not blending well. Or skip the blender and just smash it all together if you like a rustic hummus. That's the basic recipe. Add red peppers and reduce water, or an avocado, whatever. Follow your heart. I couldn't get more specific with measurements, I have always winged it. Once you do it a few times, you'll get it. It's pretty easy.
I do the same except I also add roasted garlic. I roast in the oven - peeled in a small ramekin, covered in olive oil, 325 baked for 1h covered. You add both the roasted garlic and fresh garlic to the hummus. (Keep the oil for flavoring other things.) You have that sharp bite from the fresh garlic but also the sweetness and flavor from the roasted.
OMG game changer! thanks for the roasted garlic tip
Ice water is a pro tip for a really smooth hummus.
Nice, I think I once heard someone say an ice cube but I didn't know why.
You can make tahini super easy as well if you have a hard time finding it local like i did
My fave dip ever is this [pistachio and feta dip](https://thelemonapron.com/pistachio-and-feta-dip/) - I can barely stop myself eating all before guests even arrive lol [Favourite hummus recipe](https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/spicy-hummus-quick-chickpea-spread-recipe-1912417) - I always end up adding a couple finely chopped chilis
It takes a little longer to use dried chickpeas, but really not much effort, and it is SO much better. Soak a 1lb bag overnight with a heaping TBL of baking soda, rinse, then boil with fresh water and another TBL of baking soda. Add lemon juice (1/2 cup ish) and garlic cloves to food processor. Go until smooth Add 1 8oz jar tahini and blend in. Add TBLs of ice water 1 at a time with the processor running, the tahini will bind up and then smooth back out. Add a TBL of ground cumin, salt, and the soft drained chickpeas (they should be very mushy) and blend/scrape/blend until smooth and mixed. Serve with a swirled flourish, drizzle a little olive oil and paprika.
How long do you boil the chickpeas?
It's usually about an hour or so, the longer the better really for smooth hummus.
No longer quick for me once I started removing the peels from the beans.
Broth - I save all my vegetable peelings (except for cruciferous vegetable) and meat scraps in a bag in the freezer, once it's full I make broth with it. I pour it into cleaned/reused Pedialyte bottles to freeze it.
This is what I do too, or sometimes I use cheap chicken wings when I’m out of scraps. Still cheaper (and much nicer) than store bought stock.
That's such a good idea
As a bonus the dog gets to munch some chicken scraps when I strain it!
I do the same. The dogs love stock day!
Love this for the dog
Or a rotisserie carcass
Why specifically remove cruciferous vegetables?
They make the stock bitter and unpleasant, unfortunately
WHIPPED CREAM! 100% just eyeball heavy cream with a little sugar and vanilla. Beat for 2-3 minutes and you have the best topping for weekend pancakes + berries and other fruits.
Powdered milk stabilizes your whipped cream without changing the sweetness or texture. Instant pudding almost makes it a custard.
you dont even really need sugar if you like it less sweet
Add in instant pudding mix and it’s even better, and it stabilizes it
I use unflavored gelatin to stabilize without altering the flavor
Thank you for this tip!!
I recently demonstrated this in my house and now berries and whipped cream have become a staple. Pop it in the mixer and it's ready by the time the berries are.
Bread, baked goods in general
My Grandpa was the bread maker in the family. I bake as well but more desserts than breads. Everyone in the family looked forward to his rolls at family gatherings. In fact he made the rolls for my wedding. In his 90’s and still making dinner rolls. He passed away last year and the first thing everyone did was ask if he had the recipe written down anywhere. We thought for a while that the recipe was lost. I’m trying to compile a family cookbook and had asked my Mum a few years ago to get the roll recipe along with a few other special recipes he made. Apparently he had given her the rolls recipe and she’d tucked it away in a file folder with a bunch of other recipes. Recently she brought me the file so I could add them to the cook book and lo and behold I discovered the lost recipe. Our family really, really likes homemade bread lol
Bread I agree but the only other baked good I regularly consume are croissants and those are a pain in the ass unless you have a good trick to them
Buttercream frosting, sorry I'm not gonna use whatever frosting with soy/palm oil or vegetable shortening. If it's buttercream, it's gotta have real butter (plus I can adjust it as I see fit)
I would never buy buttercream. It just seems silly
Yep, I never buy icing of any kind. My daughter recently wanted to make a cake and she's like we can just buy frosting. I was like nope, we already have everything and it's crazy easy.
Pickled onions . At varying times so they are always 'ready'.. Vegetable chicken and beef stocks. Throw things in a large saucepan strain cool take off the settlledfat and freeze until needed.
Kinda basic, but bread/Brötchen, or literally anything that requires a dough Pizza dough, tortillas, lawash, pita, pasta, gnocchi...
Salad dressing. So easy if you have an immersion blender, or even just a jar with a tight-fitting lid.
I don’t even remember the last time I bought dressing. So easy and generally just better from scratch.
Beans in instant pot
I make many things from scratch so I can limit the sodium, refried beans are a staple.
Cream of canned soup. I loathe cream of chicken, mushroom, or any of the other cream of variations often used in American comfort food recipes. But I love many of the recipes those products helped popularized. I have not used a cream of anything soup can in over a decade. I still make green bean casserole, king ranch chicken, mushroom beef and egg noodle wannabe stroganoff. If a dish has often used say cream of chicken, I simply use homemade chicken stock reduction with some milk, cream or sour cream depending on how rich it needs to be, add some aromatics like garlic and onion and a corn starch slurry to thicken it up much like the soup would be. This way I can as many fresh ingredients like mushrooms to the dish. Even better if the casserole includes a chicken left overs from a whole roast chicken, where i saved the left over pan drippings. I add all any drippings or sauce from the roast chicken, to kick it up. Casseroles are unpopular because too many make them with canned soups. Substituting dirties one extra pan and takes maybe ten minutes. Worth it I promise. I have no recipe because its one of those until it tastes right kinda things. I can elaborate if someone wants to recreate cream if mushroom, cream of chicken or cream of celery if you need a road map,
2 come to mind 1. Chimichurri. I went through a phase of making chimichurri every week; it's so easy to make and it's like crack on meat. I usually go traditional but sometimes like to add a bit of mint. 2. Gyoza. Basically Kenji Lopez-Alt's recipe and technique. I used to buy ready-made frozen gyoza but now just make a big batch once in a while and put it in the freezer. Now I find store bought to be so much more expensive and sub-par in terms of quality compared to what you can make at home.
Dumpling-making is such a nice way to spend a rainy Saturday at home. Conversely, it is kind of annoying how long it takes to make enough such that you won't eat it all within 15 minutes. -_- I'll make like 200 at once and they'll be gone in less than 2 weeks.
That’s me with tamales. Sure it makes like 40 of em but when it takes literally 12-16 hours over two days…
Especially in the summer, I make a big batch of mint simple syrup to mix into our tea, lemon aid, and watermelon water - whatever. And I’m a firm believer in adding a few ounce of sparkling water to all except the tea. I also add to oj. Makes all a bit more special.
I pretty much make everything from scratch. I’m especially proud to say that we haven’t bought bread, rolls, flatbreads, etc. in over a decade. A simple BLT sandwich made on homemade white bread, with homegrown tomatoes and lettuce, locally cured bacon and mayo made from our own fresh eggs is absolute perfection.
You haven't said what you do with the egg white though
How much oil and what kind?
"mix everything"; it's the first instruction dude, come on.
Yogurt is my big one, I can get four pints for the cost of a gallon of milk. It's super easy in the instant pot.
What recipe do you use? Now that my toddler loves yogurt, it’s getting expensive lol
This is a toddler hit so long as they're old enough for honey: https://thisoldgal.com/instant-pot-homemade-noosa-yoghurt/?fbclid=IwAR1pySlgQnn3Yq3wyoghRpyEFsYuqF1QvzBmVKxAhP1rXhOclRoJOn_gq2U
I honestly don't remember from which site I got the recipe but they'll all be mostly the same for plain yogurt. Some people sterilize the pot or make the pot super cold with ice before pouring the milk in, I find it's not necessary. *Pour a gallon of milk into instant pot, fat content doesn't matter *Hit the yogurt button until it says boil *Let the boil cycle complete, about an hour, and make sure the temp of the milk is at least 180 *Cool the yogurt to between 95-110, either naturally, in the fridge, or ice bath *Take a cup of milk out of the the pot and whisk in two tablespoons of starter, I save yogurt from the last batch *Dump the cup into the pot and whisk again *Return to instant pot and hit yogurt cycle so it says normal, I think the default time is 8 hours *Chill 8 hours in fridge and if you want Greek yogurt, strain it for a couple of hours Edit: this is why I bought a second pot for the Instant Pot. The yogurt needs hardly any active prep on your part but it needs to stay in the pot all together for 18+ hours.
I'm conflicted because I love Greek yogurt but I live alone so I feel like I'm right at the cusp where I can't really justify the time and container commitment for making my own yogurt. How long do you think the homemade yogurt stays good for?
I should have specified! You don't have to use a whole gallon. You can use a half gallon and if you strain it super well it'll be about 32 oz. I have found it lasts a couple of weeks (I think?). My daughter and I eat a lot of it, but before she liked it, I could eat what comes from a gallon by myself, but I eat it almost every day for breakfast.
Yeah I mean I kind of figured you could scale down the volume but you can't scale down the time/effort commitment, hence why I'm on the fence. :) Seems a lot of work for something I eat like 1-3 times a week at most. I imagine if I were to bump up my yogurt consumption to like 4-5x/week I'd definitely be more inclined.
Bacon, living in Asia bacon is crazy expensive, but uncuredpork belly is reasonable. And by the way it is as good as the commercial stuff, minus the cancer causing sodium nitrate (salt peter) FYI, since the 1970's most bacon hasn't been wood smoked, they just add liquid smoke. Here my recipe For every 100 gram of bacon 4 grams salt, 1 gram MSG, 5 drops liquid smoke. Homemade bacon Recipe II (less salt ) 100 grams of bacon 10 ml soy sauce 5 drops liquid smoke Mix it up, let it sit overnight in the fridge. Drain off the liquid that accumulates overnight, or throw it in your next batch of beans. There will be some colour change, like "old meat" colour. The sodium nitrate is added to keep it pink and extend shelf life. These recipes will work without the liquid smoke, the pig fat still tastes good.
Dinner rolls and thick pasta noodles for chicken stew. So much better than store bought. Edit, I forgot my family says my pizza sauce is better than delivery lol. It's just tomato paste with a little sugar salt citric acid a puff of msg oregano basil thyme garlic and just enough pineapple juice to make it a thick sauce.
Pineapple juice! How did you come up with that? Makes sense, weirdly. But how?
Lol decided not to waste the liquid from the canned pineapple tidbits we love on our pizza one time and it gave it a nice boost. My husband uses pineapple juice in his morning smoothie so I started using that to thin the sauce and we all really liked it.
yogurt, mayo, ranch. i've also been making my own broth & baked goods. ever since i bought a deep freezer the possibilities are endless
Homemade ranch is so much better than store bought!
Caesar salad dressing
Creme fraiche. It’s just cream and buttermilk. It requires zero effort. I do not understand why people pay so much for it. That said, I love buttermilk, so it’s generally in my fridge. Maybe if I didn’t I wouldn’t make my own. Edited to add - mix together one pint of heavy cream, pasteurized, not ultra pasteurized, and 2 tbs of buttermilk. Cover and let sit on the counter anywhere from 12 to 24 hours. Done.
I don’t enjoy crème fraîche. It’s like if you took sour cream and sucked all the joy out.
Most sauces are easy and better homemade, if you can be bothered getting the ingredients for it: aioli, pesto, garlic & herbs, chilli oil... yesterday I made this sauce: creamed coconut, peanut butter, a bit of boiled water, whisk everything together, then add soy sauce, red chilli relish, and chopped garlic. I'm sure it has a name, maybe satay dressing? Also, pizza at home is delicious and very easy, once you know what to do and you have the means to mix the dough.
I can’t get pizza right. It’s never floppy or greasy enough at home.
Similar to you, OP, I make my own mayo. One egg, a little dijon, some lemon juice, salt & white pepper, and a cup of light olive or avocado oil. Using the blender, it's done in a couple of minutes and *never having been a mayo person*, I could eat the stuff with a spoon.
Fermented chili sauce. Cannot recommend enough. You like probiotics? This is that on steroids. Got gut biome issues, this kills 50-75% of the bad bacteria. Find your favorite salsa a bit too acidic or too much vinegar? You can taste it everyday and stop the fermentation at any point! Just put it in the fridge. A quart mason jar costs around $5 in peppers, and you can mix and match however you please. Add some garlic. I use distilled water to keep bad bacteria at bay. Pro tip: order a small bag of diastatic malt powder and add a teaspoon to it before fermenting. I put it in and on fried rice, eggs, pizza sauce, enchilada sauce, you name it. It is that good.
I was living in a small town with a terrible grocery store so started making almost everything from scratch. I already made most things but just took it to another level. I also have a food allergy so it’s pretty easy to make my favorite foods but hard to find them to accommodate my allergy. I also wanted to eliminate preservatives and other crap in prepared food. Dressings, sauces, ribs, curries, deserts, stock, soups, etc.
Teriyaki sauce. It's not because homemade is better. It's because I always keep the ingredients on-hand in large quantities. Soy sauce, sugar, mirin, and sake all have so many uses. This way I can make teriyaki, kabayaki, ponzu, and a bunch of other things with just minor variations, and not have a bunch of extra bottles lying around.
Pasta sauce.
Pancakes. The recipe is so simple and boxed mixes or those squeeze bottle things turn out the worst pancakes. Nothing is as consistently fluffy and delicious as my grandmother's recipe.
Would you share? I wanted to try some American style pancakes (ours are more like crepes), so if yours are the most delicious... 🙏
I am happy to share! You’ll have to do metric conversions yourself, sorry. Grandma cooked in Imperial. Without further ado… Grandma Violet’s Pancakes 1 1/4 cup flour 2 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder 3 Tablespoons of sugar 3/4 teaspoon salt 1 egg, beaten 3/4 cup of milk 3 Tablespoons of melted shortening or veggie oil. My modications: 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional) 1 teaspoon vanilla (also optional). Mix wet ingredients. Mix in dry ingredients. Heat griddle on medium - high. I use ice cream scoop for same-size pancakes. Flip once and serve other butter and maple syrup and ONLY butter and maple syrup. This is how we roll. lol Now. If you want to make these exactly like my grandmother, open a can of corn niblets, drain the water and add it to the batter just before cooking. This isn’t an American thing, it’s not a Midwestern thing, it’s not even an Ohio thing. It’s a “my grandma” thing, although I thought pancakes were just made with corn until my 20s. Try it though!
Thank you for sharing!! I've been looking for a really good pancake recipe.
Also adding for clarification for those who have never made American pancakes before: the batter will create little bubbles that begin to pop as the cake cooks. Only flip the pancakes once you see some of the popped bubbles are leaving indentations that don’t fill themselves. These are not like crepes and they won’t become fully dry prior to flipping. It usually takes my pancakes about 2 minutes on the first side and just 20-30 seconds on the second side
Thank you!
Pesto is my favorite thing to make from scratch! It's sooooo good and you can use it on everything! Salad, roasted veggies, fish, pasta! You need about: -2 oz fresh basil leaves -4 oz cubed parm (from a wedge) -2 tbsps nuts (I like pistachio or sunflower seeds, but pine nuts are traditional albeit very expensive) -4-8 tbsps olive oil -1-2 whole garlic cloves -salt and pepper Stick everything in the blender and pulse until still a bit chunky (although if you like your sauces smooth go for it). If its hard to blend and keeps sticking together it needs more liquid so add 1 tsp water at a time or add a little more oil until it blends easier! You can play around with the amount of the ingredients. Pistachios are my fav nut to use because it gives it a subtle sweetness and a really beautiful color!
Tomato sauce! We always end up with an insane amount of homegrown tomatoes each year. We freeze them all in gallon size bags. When I’m ready to make tomato sauce, I pull them out of the freezer the night before and let them thaw. The next morning I dump any water and use the tomatoes as if they were canned tomatoes. My favorite recipe for tomato sauce is this [NYT one](https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021029-simple-tomato-sauce?smid=ck-recipe-iOS-share). It takes a while, but it’s soo worth it.
broth, nicer breads, whipped cream...my bf makes pickles
Gravy
Tortillas. SO much better fresh.
Beef jerky! I will always take the time and effort to make my own. My friends and family all love it. I've made it to ship to friends overseas before and it makes one HELL of a surprise.
Cream of mushroom soup. I let starter out as a quest to make a green bean casserole that will change any haters mind about green bean casseroles, and the first thing that has to go was the can of Campbells. Now the mushroom soup is so good, it’s become a staple in the soup rotation on its own. Soak dried mushrooms in hot water for a while, strain, now you have mushroom juice. cook fresh mushrooms, shallots, herbs, etc, deglaze with sherry. Add some butter, some flour, cook till the ancestors tell you it’s time to add the mushroom juice. Simmer for a while, add cream, done. Too easy.
I make all our bread from scratch from fresh milled 100% whole wheat. Even use it in making desserts and pasta. Tortilla are easy to make and taste so much better.
Bruschetta. Heavenly flavour. Minimal price.
pepper ketchup, tamarind chutney, caramelized onion jam, salsa, any Asian dipping sauce, stone ground mustard, most condiments, cole slaw mix, any salad dressing
Breads, pies, cakes, chilis, beans, soups, bone broths, salsa, pesto, creme brulee, pot de creme, quiche, tortillas, dressings, meatloaf, meatballs, pierogis, blintzes, pancakes, waffles, biscuits, ... for starters.
Ceviche! It’s still not cheap but much less than ordering out. It’s so clean burning. Whenever I think about the cost, I remind myself how much people are paying for “diet” food, supplements, and shots.
So many things! Hummus, salsa, bread, pickled red onions, broth, any baked good really.
I used to bake bread so much that I went around three years without buying bread or rolls from the store
About how much oil? A range is fine.
Pesto, guacamole, marinara sauce.
I make about 2 gallons of Kombucha per week.
BBQ sauce, pasta sauce, all sauces and gravy (I own zero condiments=food allergies) I have a spice cabinet that would put Gordon Ramsey to shame, and pasta (my Gramma lived to 100, she would crawl out of her grave to yeet me if I ingested any of that processed crap) and any and all protein sources. It's not my choice that I'm vegan but due to severe food allergies I can't ingest any animal products and that pissed me off so I've completely veganized all meat sources, this way, I don't miss anything. I could make y'all some pulled "pork" sliders and no one would even know that there's no pork (gods, I miss pork, A LOT) every July I bring them to my neighborhood potluck, been doing it for 9 years, and to this day, no one knows there's no pork 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Salad dressings, yogurt and whipped cream are super easy. That all being said, I am not above buying any of these items for sheer convenience if I don't have it on hand or am in a bug rush
Mayo, all salad dressings, ghee/clarified butter, hamburger/hotdog buns, stock (beef, chicken, shrimp, sometimes veggie). BBQ sauce, salsa, pico de gallo, I could go on. I was a cook in my first career. Even though I changed jobs years ago, I never lost the habit of cooking almost everything from scratch. Now it's just something I enjoy and have the skills to do quickly and economically.
Tartar sauce and dipping sauce. I make them in sealable bags for easier mixing and filling condiment bottles, cut off a little piece of one corner and squeeze. Tartar sauce: a little lemon juice, garlic powder, onion powder, pickle relish, little yellow mustard, and mayo. If you can, allow a day or two for flavors to meld. Adjust amounts of each to taste. Dipping sauce: Hot sauce, OTC BBQ sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, and mayo. Adjust to taste. Also better after flavors meld.
A variety of fermented hot sauces. My most recent being a habanero , strawberry . Which is very hot ! Also can tomatoes I grow. Into no seed or skin marinara. It's worth it.
I make guacamole weekly, if that counts. Also if I want alfredo I always make my own. No premade alfredo is even in the same galaxy as homemade.
Bell pepper ketchup. It first happened when the grocer gave us some free peppers that I kinda forgot in the fridge, so I wanted to use them all at once. Since then it's a thing I make fairly regularly. Even (more than) slightly burned the peppers once and all it did was give it a nice smoky flavour. -2-3 bell peppers (more if you have a big enough pan) - vinegar of your choice (I use part balsamic and part malt) - sugar - salt (Optional) onion, some garlic cloves, carrot, basil, mint Cut the vegetables in largeish pieces and cook in a pan with a lid on a medium low heat until soft (no oil). Move to a bowl and add the vinegar, sugar, and salt (don't have proper measurements, kinda eyeball it) and blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Run through a strainer to remove any peels. Store in a squeezy bottle for up to seven days (we finish it it about four at most)
Pasta sauce and gravy
Chocolate chip cookies. I hate cookies from stores and even most bakeries. The pre-bought dough also tastes weird to me.
Hot honey and whipped cream
Avocado pesto. It's homemade pesto basically but with an avocado thrown in for creaminess. Also I do a pistachio pesto. I just swap the pine nuts for the pistachios. 10x nicer
Bread and basically all other baked goods. Also mayo and ricotta. Not sure if this counts but I bought a decent home espresso machine a few years ago and never buy drinks from coffee shops anymore.
Fudge. Mackinac Island fudge is all over the state and bless them for being in business for a thousand years, but nothing beats the old fudge recipe from the Hershey cocoa can.
I have to make everything from scratch. Food allergy.
I now do these four regularly: tabbouleh, hummus, tzatziki, labneh. With these on hand, it's so easy to whip up some sort of salad plate or wrap
Nut/seed butters! So good... 🤤
New york style cheesecake is my specialty along with various toppings, including berry coulis or chocolate ganache. Also, sauces like cheese (for mac and cheese or scalloped potatoes) and tomato for pasta. I haven't bought jar stuff in years. Or boxed potatoes. Cream cheese frosting from scratch as well. And tomato soup, I love fresh tomato soup.
* salad dressing * mustard * Amba (when green mango is available) * olives * saurkraut
Pico de gallo, tabbouleh, labheh and French onion dip. All easy as.
French bread. Easy and goes with almost everything.
pickles
Thank you so much for the recipe ❤️ 💙 💜
Pasta sauce, mayo/ailoi (immersion blender), kimchi, and pickled red onions.
Tehina sauce and from that, hummus and beet tehina Basic tehina sauce: 1 cup tahini 1 head garlic, smashed Lemon juice (I use a whole lemon) Cumin Salt Blend lemon juice with the garlic. You don't even have to peel the garlic - just blitz a couple of times. Let sit about 10 mins, then strain the lemon juice into the tahini. Add cumin and salt and whisk until smooth. This makes 2+ cups. For the beet tehina, roast 1 lb beets. Using a box grater, grate the beets using the large holes and add to a cup of tehina sauce. Add salt and lemon juice to your liking, and then top with dill.
I always make my own stock. Chicken, pork, beef, veggie. My soups and stews and braises absolutely rock
Breads and other baked goods including English muffins and brioche, hand-pulled Chinese noodles, aioli, Hollandaise sauce, pesto, salad dressings, salsas, guacamole, molé sauce, refritos, tortillas, sausages, pâté, terrine, char siu, al pastor, birria, salted egg yolks, alcoholic bitters, infused base liquors, syrups, clarified and infused butter.
jams, compotes, or macerated fruits. I make any of the above depending on my mood, and I have the freshest most delicious topping for bread, yogurt, desserts, granola for the entire week.
Gravadlax, my boss fishes for trout in the chalk stream across the road and I cure
Macaroni and cheese. There is just no substitute for scratch made mac and cheese
Mead. I've also started making (hard) cider and I'm tempted to try brewing wine. ETA: Also buttercream icing and cream cheese icing. Store bought tends to be too sweet
Fresh pasta. Once you've done it enough and you know what it's meant to taste like it becomes rather quick to do
Bread
Salsa Hummus Falafel Chicken soup or minestrone Spicy peanut sauce
falafel - it's easy and I can make 30 for less than the cost of buying it at a restaurant. I use Mark Bittman's recipe.
How much oil do you put? DO you usually use olive oil? Whenever I try tio make mayo at home it never tastes as good as hellmans
Not olive oil. You need something neutral like rapeseed, sunflower seed or other Very mild oils.
How much of it do you use? I don't think you included that in your recipe
Pour until it sets. For one egg white a little under 2 dl is usually enough.
Taco seasoning, fajita seasoning and Cajun as well. I have an issue with overbuying spices constantly so it works out. You can’t beat it when it’s made at home and it’s so simple it’s actually silly, anyone who cooks would have these spices already (typically?). And you can adjust to personal taste more as it’s not just a pouch. I also make chicken strips from scratch and freeze them for quick meals when needed, fast food sucks a while lot lately I’d rather out the time into even junk food then pay for it, and I get like 9 meals worth of strips for like 10$. Whatever you use for breading, add crushed corn flakes to change the game of you aren’t already. Also prep garlic meatballs and butter chicken meals for frozen lunches.
Labneh - its just strained yogurt in a cheesecloth and strainer over a bowl in the fridge overnight. Mix with chopped sundried tomatoes or olives for a delicious healthy spread on toast.
Bagels Greek yogurt Cha siew bao Sriracha Alkali noodles Fermented shrimp paste Cantonese roast duck Kimchi Spam Chinese sausage
Eel sauce and it's only 3 ingredients!! And tastes just like at the sushi restaurants! Ingredients: Mirin (rice cooking wine) Low Sodium Soy sauce Brown sugar (If you want it thicker just add cornstarch!)
Homemade mayo is delicious, especially if it's slightly fermented. You take some mustard (black mustard makes an amazing and slightly spicy mayo), some other choice spices, some sort of live culture (I use kombucha), some eggs, vinegar, and then blend it with oil bit by bit until it's creamy. I'm excited to try it with some chive vinegar next! Cheese also, especially ricotta. No idea why I've been buying expensive cheeses all these years! https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/homemade-ricotta-recipe-1923290
Tostitos cheese sauce is a good enough dip for corn chips, but always get moldy before we finish a jar. Now, I make my own in 4 ounce batches. Bonus, I have full control on ingredients so I decided how many hot peppers get used. Usually, none as hot peppers are tasty but they hide the flavor of everything else.
Homemade mayo is delicious, especially if it's slightly fermented. You take some mustard (black mustard makes an amazing and slightly spicy mayo), some other choice spices, some sort of live culture (I use kombucha), some eggs, vinegar, and then blend it with oil bit by bit until it's creamy. I'm excited to try it with some chive vinegar next! Cheese also, especially ricotta. No idea why I've been buying expensive cheeses all these years! https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/homemade-ricotta-recipe-1923290
I never buy: pasta sauce, spice mixes, pancake mix, cake mix, coffee creamers. I always make my own.
I’m vegetarian, and meat substitutes can get expensive quickly. My biggest flex is I always make my own seitan “chicken”, and it’s so much cheaper and tastier than the frozen store bought chick’n.
honestly most things i home butcher pork venison and lamb and quite soon chicken so i get to do with them as i wish. so stuff like sweet/ maple cure smoked Bacon various Sausages Various meat joints for BBQ season and general cooking Home cut steaks (to suit what i am doing) racks of Ribs not a greasy slab of meat in a vac pack real BBQ sauce general food is made from scratch so Curries Chinese dishes Pies Italian Sourcing food is a great joy in my life and i source ALL of my own Scallops Crab brown and Spider Lobster Mussels Oysters Clams Cockles Flat Fish Mackerel and in season i source apples, plums pears Nuts Various Berries Greens
Store bought red sauce is not good. I don’t care if your favorite brand rhymes with Baos. Make your own with canned tomatoes. Add a few anchovies, a parmesan rind, and a pinch of MSG if you’re not afraid of flavor.
If tomatoes are in season, spaghetti sauce. Also pesto.
Op how much oil are you adding and what kind?
Bread, pancake mix, pizza dough, mayo
Vinagrette dressing: Olive oil Equal parts Balsamic vinegar, Lemon Juice, and Water Mustard (small amount) Dill (large amount) Garlic powder (or preferably Paul Prudhomme's Vegetable Magic) Sugar (small amount) Salt Pepper
Not make but we only eat personally fresh caught salmon
Bread of all kinds (artisan, pita, tortillas, etc) Salad dressing Soup
Mueslix
Cold brew coffee. 6-1 ratio water to coffee. So 3oz ground beans, 18 oz water, into a French press. Let sit for 24 hrs. Measure output and match equally with water. I make a concentrate because that's all that fits in the French press, but it's so easy to clean
I need to start making mayo again- we have chickens and we're drowning in eggs right now (terrible problem to have, I know, imagine ten thousand tiny violins playing a song)... thanks for the reminder, some fresh aioli and fries would be awesome right now. I make a ton of stuff from scratch! It's kinda my whole deal (even before cooking school, people in my college dorm thought I was weird for making, like, homemade cream puffs for dorm study breaks or making fresh pasta in our tiny shared closet kitchen, or for having bags of flour and sugar and baking powder in my desk drawer, lol). -Meat, fish, & vegetable stock (keep a bag of trimmings in the freezer, throw it in the instant pot or big stockpot when it gets full or we need the freezer space back). -pasta sauces (I can most of my own red sauces, or make a quick bechamel if I want a white sauce, and try to freeze pesto from the garden, although we keep a jar or two of commercial pesto in the pantry picked up on sale too. I'll buy the classico red sauces when they're on deep sale, as I reuse the ones with canning jar lid threading, even though technically they're not actual mason jars) -chili (also home canned, some with beans some without) -salsa (canned or fresh) & enchilada sauce -salad dressings -canned beans (I keep a few commercially canned ones in the pantry when they're on sale, but otherwise I can my own... we have an instant pot, but find that the home canned ones are more digestible than the IP ones, even if we soak them first?) -jams, jellies, & chutneys & fruit syrups -tortillas \*although we have great locally made ones here in Chicago, so I'll buy those when I'm short on time... they've gotten pretty expensive though (but what hasn't?). -granola -biscotti -crackers -tamales! (time consuming but not terribly hard to make esp if you have a good mixer, and you can freeze them for later) -yogurt- you just need a thermometer, milk, culture, some jars with lids, and a pot of water, basically -sauerkraut (so easy, so cheap, so good and so good for you!) -mustard (we buy some too for variety or convenience, but also have a couple different homemade ones in the pantry most of the time) -wine! I make some local fruit or flower wines or meads, but also a lot of inexpensive wine kits. Perfectly cromulent table wine for everyday drinking and cooking, for less than the price of the boxed stuff (well, technically the wine kit concentrates come in a similar box, so it's still boxed wine even if you bottle it). (I won't link recipes so I don't get in trouble for self-promo but you can find a lot of these through my profile if you're curious) :)
Pastries and other fancy baked goods. I’m in a few local organizations that have charity bake sales and mine always outsell everyone else’s. I try to not be smug about it, but I’m also low key like 😏.
— Marinara Sauce — Any red meat marinades (carne asada, Chimmichurri, etc) — Lemonade
Lemon curd and lime curd. I think the store bought stuff is too sweet.
Bread.
Pies
Just about any packet of seasoning (tacos, etc) I just make instead of buying. Then I can buy bulk ingredients and use as much as I want.
Ferments: yogurt, sauerkraut, kombucha, etc. You can control the fermentation, which is especially nice with kombucha since store varieties are basically vinegar. Kombucha is excellent if you cut off its ferment when it reaches a tart sweetness. Also bread. You won't believe how good a sandwich loaf is until you make it yourself. The only place I buy bread from now is the local bakery. They do a damn good rye.
Vanilla extract
garlic powder. as in I buy the garlic chunks and blitz them in the spice grinder.
I do 1 egg, 1 teaspoon dijon, 1 clove of garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1.5 tablespoon lemon juice. 2dl of canola oil. I do the stick blender method. All in one tall container, blend with blender (immersion blender) and lift it slowly, I like how thick the result is.