I make these:
Cinnamon sugar
Brown sugar
grated cheese
Italian seasoning mix
garlic salt
gravies
Rather than buy them.
I have made or make irregularly:
bread
yogurt
ice cream
some sauces (zhoug, chimichuree, pesto, etc.)
What do you make that I don’t? What’s worth it to you or not?
Some of what I make is due to having a garden. From this I make salsa verde, sometimes jam. And I dry chilis (aka pepper flakes) or roast them and purée (aka chili paste), or dice and freeze them. I also dry herbs when we grow them (basil, oregano, rosemary, tarragon, sage). Rosemary is very prolific, you can probably get a lifetime supply in one year. We have horseradish so I have made my own ground horseradish. I roast surplus tomatoes to make “tomato sauce”, which I freeze. I dice some excess tomatoes and freeze them. Excess zucchini is grated and frozen.
Otherwise I always make cookies from scratch. No purchased dough or dry mix.
I make my own taco seasoning mix, because the spices are in my cupboard already, and a taco seasoning packet may or may not be. It also means that I can cut the salt way way down - we found the packets were very salty
I make spice blends. Eg. chili powder, fajita seasoning, curry powder, etc.
I also garden, so jams, jellies and pickles.
This is apple country, so I buy anywhere from 20-40 pounds of “deer apples” in the fall (or just use what’s given to me) to make applesauce, apple slices (for the freezer), apple jelly, etc.
We love our tomato products here. Last year I went through half a bushel of Roma tomatoes and it wasn’t enough. This year I’m talking to a local farmer/supplier re: buying a full bushel. I make basil tomato sauce (a pasta sauce), diced tomatoes, antipasto, and salsa. We are almost out of it all. I just discovered a lone cup jar of salsa in my canning cupboard yesterday. That’s the end of it.
I make my own canned chickpeas and beans for chili, hummus, black bean burritos. I make a Mexican corn recipe to toss into chili.
This year I made my own Dijon mustard, but it’s hardly worth it cost wise. The store stuff goes on sale dirt cheap. I may not make it again.
I make my own granola. It’s cheaper than buying and I can adjust the recipe however I want.
I used to bake bread, but Hubby complained it was either “too heavy”, “too crusty”, or “didn’t fit in the toaster”. I’m thinking I might go back to making small loaves for me, and let him have his junk store bought bread.
I make my own muffins too. Usually I make confetti squares or Rice Krispee squares once a month for Hubby, instead of him tossing them in the cart when we grocery shop.
We have retired blueberry farmers in the family who supply us with wild blueberries every year through their connections. We use those on muffins, jams, cake, on cereal, with granola and hm yogurt.
My sister grows a boatload of basil, which I make pesto with, dry, freeze, etc.
She grows a lot of greens too. I’m struggling with what to do with 10-8 oz. bags of frozen Swiss chard. Hubby has decided he doesn’t like it. I’m thinking of ways to disguise it.
I’ve made grape juice and apple juice in the past. But we don’t drink those juices normally, so I haven’t continued.
Those are some things I do.
The store bought ones are revolting - they taste like chemicals to me.
When I have lots of apples, I prep them (peel, core) and cook them with spices for apple crisp / pie filling.
I make my own granola too, but we go through swaths of time where we don’t eat granola.
I make tons if soup, usually chicken or vegetable. Yummy. I love soup. Hubs is less enamored with soup.
Soup? I see it put in soup a lot - like wedding soup. Otherwise spanakopita or quiche / frittata?
I used to put it in quiche, but he’s rebelling. Soup is definitely doable. I could also dry it and grind it up for greens powder to throw indiscriminately into recipes. But that’s a lot of work and energy to use that many greens. I’m thinking soup is my best best.
Smoothies?
beans from dried, so much cheaper and yummier than canned
yogurt is something I used to make, but I haven’t done it since I replaced our oven. There have been a number of sales on yogurt, and not on the milk. When that flips, I’ll go back to making it myself (I have an instantpot now which I’m told will be useful)
I make my granola. I make stock, soups & stews. I make red sauce (btw, this is a great place for freezer greans @PinkTutu ), butter chicken sauce. I make pulled pork. I make picked red onions. I discovered a while back that it is possible to purchase cooked rice, so I’ll say that I make that from dried as well.
Energy bars!! They are so expensive but so useful to me as someone who exercises 1-3 hours a day.
This is a recipe I use often but I also include protein powder sometimes .
I regularly make:
I sometimes make:
I almost never make:
I don’t use garlic salt/cinnamon sugar/juices.
Applesauce, jam, granola. I froze a lot more green beans last year than I thought - they just keep appearing in the freezer.
I buy spice blends in the big commercial sizes if it’s something we use a lot, like Italian seasoning and taco seasoning. I think that cheaper than blending them myself.
I’ve made cheese and tofu from scratch, just to see how, but I don’t do it often.