I’m a simple girl. Give me a good cup of coffee or a surprise sale on cheese, and I am happy as a clam. Would I love to travel the world? Sure. But I am really quite content tickling my children and booking camping trips to exotic locations like… Eastern Oregon.
Another thing that always gets me excited is learning new skills. I dream about sitting in front of a piano or a sewing machine and producing something that actually sounds or looks beautiful. Until then, I have my sights set on a more familiar and comfortable setting: my home. Specifically, my yard and kitchen.
One goal I have for myself each year is to make or grow more food from scratch and buy less in a box from the grocery store. I love the independence that comes with crossing off one more item from our grocery list. My husband covers the handyman territory, with trips to Home Depot replacing calls to Mr. Fix It.
Chicken broth, frozen produce, fresh kale, artisan bread, ricotta cheese, roasted chickens, cocoa brownies, dried fruit, homegrown garlic, and homemade ice cream are a few of the things I’ve added to my domestic toolbelt in the last several years.
Now all of these things rarely, if ever, find their way onto my grocery shopping lists. See! I told you it was exciting.
This year my goal is to stop buying boxed crackers and cereal, in favor of making my own from scratch. My husband and I are also itching to join the Free Chicken Movement. I can just picture myself gathering eggs in my own backyard. I’m still trying to decide if that romantic image merits dealing with chicken poop.
Here are five things I consider when I am debating making or growing vs. buying:
Quality. I am a big believer in creating things at home. I like cooking from scratch and watching my husband create from scratch. If we can do a better job than we can afford to buy, it makes sense to do it ourselves.
If you are pals with Chef Boyardee, we can still be friends. Just humor me, though. Try making small changes. Start with pancakes or bread, soup or cookies. I guarantee, you will taste the difference.
Priority. At this stage of my life, laundry detergent is not a big deal to me. I know I could make my own, but for now I am happy to dip out of my stockpile. Those of you who deal with allergies or sensitivities in your home are on top of this one.
Time. Many of you work full-time. Some of you are students or single moms or juggling a dozen different balls at any given moment. Time is at a premium. It might not make sense for you to pick blueberries in July or to can salsa in September. Don’t worry about everyone else; decide what works best for you.
On the other hand, we also make time for the things that are a priority to us. Make some new goals; then make the time to accomplish them.
RELATED: Canning for Beginners (how-to and FAQs)
Cost. I can make better roasted chicken, artisan bread, or chocolate ice cream than I can buy in the store for the same price point. Easy decision. If I can make something from scratch and save money over the closest competitor, I’m all over it.
However, I can get boxes of cereal or crackers from the grocery store for dirt cheap with coupons. Ack! What do you do? I personally just got to a point where I wasn’t satisfied with the commercial product anymore. Does it cost me more time to make food from scratch? Usually. More money? Sometimes.
Note: My numbers guy worked out the math on Kate’s favorite whole wheat bread. Check out the comments section of her post for a cost breakdown.
Value. As in, if I make my own buttermilk ranch dressing, will anyone actually eat it? Or will they push their salad around their plates, longing for happier times in the Hidden Valley? I can dream of feeding my children homemade mac n’ cheese or healthy oatmeal, but if they refuse to eat it, I haven’t really gained any ground.
Leave a comment! What are items you now create, grow, or make (or want to) at home instead of buying in the grocery store?
Anyone out there have their own chickens? Any words of wisdom for us?
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I make our peanut butter and jam. And all meals and baked goodies are from scratch. I don’t make bread although I have a fantastic recipe I just need more hours in the day.. I do try and can, freeze, dehydrate whatever I can to save money and give my family better quality food.
On most things, it might cost a bit more initially, & yes, it takes more time (unless you also add in the time to go to the store & back, as well as time in store). However, when considering health benefits, quality, & long term $ savings, it is well worth the time, effort & $ to do as much of your own stuff as possible.
Regarding the ownership of chickens, including the chicken poop, if you are not frequent travelers, it’s totally worth it. Our chickens are uphill from our gardens, so when it rains, the fertilizing benefits of chicken poop are amazing. Our soil used to be pretty dead, & we had to use a lot of soil amenders, even with raised beds. Once we got chickens, the soil everywhere in the path of the runoff became fertile & lush. And let’s not forget the deliciousness of those fresh, beautiful eggs.
I forgot to mention that making your own laundry soap is soooo easy!
Great article.. Sometimes it is not about price, but knowing where your food came from … and getting your own eggs is completely worth it, but just start with a couple hens, or it will get crazy. Have a super week!
All of these comments are so wonderful! My husband was raised on Stouffer’s, Chef Boyardee’s, and McDonald’s so the switch to real food has been a little stressful for both of us but we’re getting there! We eat croutons straight out of the bag around here and my husband could polish off a $7 Costco huge bag in 3 days. I had been throwing away the heels of my bread and then came across a Pinterest post about saving the heels in the freezer and making croutons with them. It only takes like 20 minutes and a week’s worth of heels gives us a weeks worth of croutons after 🙂 We live on a military base in the middle of a big city so the growing/raising options are limited but we’re planning for our future when we get out of here and can get a place where we make the rules and this post is so helpful!
We have been making or growing the majority of our food for the last 10 years. I have NEVER bought meat from the grocery store since I have been married as my husband is a hunter and we raise our own pork. Our garden was a 20 x 40 space that produced more than we could eat even with 5 children to feed. Over the years we have determined there is money to be made at our local Farmers Market selling our left over produce. Now that our children are grown and we are emptynesters we are no longer tending such a large garden. We are still hunting because the cost is substantially cheaper than buying in the grocery store. We will always have a garden because the benefit of growing your own will always outweigh visiting the grocery store.
Having chickens is a wonderful experience. The poop is a minor item to deal with. Plus it is great for the compost pile! Careful because it is very strong.
Being able to go to the coop to retrieve your very own fresh eggs and to have a chicken to eat, that you know what it was fed, is a HUGE deal! And then there’s the chicks! Don’t get me started! Enjoy : )
Ive done a lot of cooking from scratch in the last couple of years, we’re trying to cut out processed food, I feel it’s cheaper but more importantly healthier. The bonus is that I have the time now that I’m retired, I couldn’t imagine doing it when I had 3 grown boys living at home, hats off to anyone who is managing that! We have always done DIY we don’t pay anyone to do something we can do ourselves & I’ve always sewn & done craft. We haven’t really downsized the size of our house but after moving twice in recent years we no longer buy stuff because we just want it either. We’re trying to downsize our belongings & live a simpler life.
I have a small “salsa” garden because I LOVE homemade salsa, I also have two grapevines, and planted beans this year so I can can green beans vs buying them at a store…I long for the day we can move out of an HOA and into a place where I CAN have chickens. We would love to do more living off the land and less going to the store. As it stands now we do a fair amount of hunting and fishing to supplement our freezer.
Don’t think of the chicken waste as poop! its fertilizer for the garden.
Kate, thanks for these thoughts. RE: chickens, may I vote that the poop is worth it? Think of it as free compost for your garden and yard. We have ten chickens, 6 acres, and a plethora of eggs. I love it. RE: toolbelt of foods – I learned how to make yogurt this spring, and love having a huge tub of it ready for the week.
thanks, Emily! FLNW has inspired me to do so much! Because I’m dairy-free and casein/milk powder is used in stuff you’d never imagine. I now make my own taco seasoning, liver pate and sorbet/coconut milk ice cream. Recently canned applesauce for the first time from the FLNW post, and it turned out delicious! Hardly added any sugar. Learning to can has become a new passion. And the no-knead bread is a weekly thing now.
I know you said thanks to Emily but this is so awesome to hear that the recipes are helping. I just had to chime in. 🙂
Where can I find a woman like this?
Anyone ever made some successful maple pancake syrup at home? I would like to start making my own. There are almost none that DO NOT contain HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) or other ikky add-ins plus the prices in the store are astronomical for this item! And I’m almost out of the one I have now… so it’s high time I get a move on this. It would be idiotic for me to spend another whopping $7-10 on this again. I made Mini baklava rolls for the holidays, and had extra syrup. And well I used some of that last time on my pancakes and to my surprise it was pretty darn good. It was basically water, sugar, honey and pinch of cinnamon, so I figured it can’t be too hard to make some homemade pancake syrup. TIA 🙂
Hi Mae!
Growing up on a farm, the way we made maple syrup was to tap maple trees in the spring when it’s warm enough for the sap to run during the day and cold enough that it freezes at night. You hammer the spigot into the tree and hang a lidded bucket on it to collect the sap. Check it regularly and switch out buckets when they’re full. All you need to do is boil the sap until it’s the consistency you want-don’t add anything:-) If you keep boiling it longer, you get maple sugar.
Yes it’s amazing how many types of flavors compliment pancakes… from honey on buckwheat to agave on a doughy stack, my favorite thus far though is the glaze that usually accompanies baklava; It is heavenly. How unique that you had a maple tree in your backyard — Thanks for sharing your fond childhood memory.
if you are looking for a variety of flavors for pancake syrups the stay at home chef blog is a really good place to start. My personal favorite topping for pancakes is and waffles is citrus curd. I’ve made lemon meringue waffles before and they are TO DIE FOR.
Mae, I know you can make it with maple flavoring. Same basic thing – sugar of some sort, or honey, a pinch of sea salt, water, whatever else you’d like to add. I sometimes make berry flavored syrups the same way using some frozen berries I have on hand. The real maple syrup is super expensive. I might have to look into growing a maple tree here in the PNW and see if we can actually tap it.
Would love to hear about crackers from scratch!
Laura, if you or your kids like the Cheez-it or Goldfish style crackers in the store, these crackers I make frequently- they are DELICIOUS! The only problem is that we eat them too fast! The post is at:
http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/high-five-recipes-crispy-cheese-crackers
Have a good day!
I got three chicks last summer, and just got my first egg on December 15th. I get 4-5 eggs a week from the one hen–the other two are taking their time about laying. I built a run that fits exactly within the confines of my raised bed. Built it mostly out of free, repurposed, leftover wood and hardware cloth. They hung out in there after everything was harvested, and I put them out there on days when it’s not pouring. They till up the garden, stirring in their own fertilizer. I also add the straw and shavings from the cleaning of their coop. There is also a run below their coop that I’ve not yet cleaned. They stir it up, and the straw is composting itself. When I’m ready to plant this spring, I’ll clean it out, and they can start a new pile going. I let them run free in the yard a lot as well. They weeded an entire side yard in three days! That was a benefit I wasn’t expecting! I may grow some broilers this spring, depending on how much freezer space I have, and what arrangements I can make for butchering.
I also make homemade ice cream. I wish I could afford to use organic cream, but that’s just not in my severely underemployed budget right now. I buy the cream at Cash N Carry–WAY less expensive than the little cartons in the grocery store. I got a recipe on line for vanilla malted milk ice cream–YUMMY!!!!!!!
I’m going to try to can my own enchilada sauce soon, and to can more of my produce this summer. I may have to write about that experience…depending on how it turns out. I’m adding another garden bed (where the chicken run was kept while the garden was growing) for lettuce and other produce. I didn’t get enough tomatoes this summer to can anything.
Would you share the malted milk ice cream recipe please?
No chicken tho I wish we had chickens maybe this spring. I love canning some of my favorite items are pickles, salsa, soups, and esp peaches there is nothing like going to the orchard picking the peach off the tree and canning them that day. I try to can or dry most of our excess from the garden. We do make our own laundy soap with fels naptha, borax, washing soda, you can put a gew drops of essential oil (like lemon) to add a little scent. I love all the great comments on this post and I am going to try out making some of the other ideas posted here.
Wow, all the great information. I started reading, because I wanted to talk about my chickens then lost my train of thought, thinking about making yogurt, granola, and tortillas. I WILL be making tortillas this weekend.
I have 8 chickens and love. It is not really cost effective, but you will never eat a store bought egg again. In the winter we are still getting 2 doz a week, the work is minimal, and the poo you get used too. I’d rather clean after them, then my dogs poo. LOL.
Oh, and you never have to throw away any kitchen scraps again. Between chickens and the dogs, I never throw food away
HOMEMADE CEREAL? Someone earlier in the post said they make their own homemade cereal. Do any of you make cereal besides homemade granola? Would love to have more options. Thanks!
Love this post and all the ideas! Thanks ladies! I have made the 5 min bread and I loved it but would always have the leftovers go to waste but I love the idea of putting the preformed rolls into the freezer to save time for later! Curious how you all go about doing dried fruits and what kinds you have made? Would love to make healthy to go snacks for the kids instead of pretzels or graham crackers..
I make my own corn tortillas, which I also use to make my own tortilla chips. Finally bought a tortilla press on our last trip to Mexico — making tortillas is now a breeze. Also make enchilada sauce and salsa. I cook black beans, mash to freeze and then defrost to make refried beans. I also make all of our baked goods, including breads and hamburger buns. I have even made crackers with a couple of Martha Stewart recipes. Ever made your own marshmallows? My grandson loves them!
It’s not really that hard or time consuming. I am 50 years old, I am a single mom/grandmom, I work full-time, care for a 26 y/o son with cerbral palsy and am raising my 3 y/0 grandson. If I can find the time, so can you 🙂
Wow! Yes – I agree if you have time – I do! I am betting you have some inspirational stories – but mostly – THANK YOU for all that you do on a daily basis 🙂
Another added benefit for making your own products/food from home is that a lot of processed foods contain preservatives that our bodies don’t know how to digest…therefore, our bodies STORES them in the fatty parts of our body adding to the bulk haha. I read this, but when I actually experienced this…switching from coke (oh how I love theeeee) to izze or virgils (too stinking expensive, but I haven’t gotten my soda stream yet :), my body began to show the results!
I lost over 30 lbs. over the past year and a BIG part of that was cutting out drinks with high fructose corn syrup in them. By carbonating my own filtered water I can have my fizzy and drink it too. Ha!
We raise our own ladies and I would never change that. We let them free range in fall and winter mostly so they can mix up the dirt in our garden (I put down manure every year), and their poo will fertilize as well. In the spring and summer they are kept in a caged area with their coop. This way they stay out of my garden and don’t disturb my seeds. This also works well because during this time of year we are outside way more than winter and the poo has already vanished. In our dull dreary months the ladies seam happier to Rome and we get more eggs as well. It’s a seasonal thing but keeps it simple and the girls happy.
I plan to can my own refrained beans and spaghetti sauce this year.
After a visit to the Portland Grill last weekend, I realized I had got to stop “paying” for bread pudding. Believe it or not it was not cooked through. And I have once paid $14.99 for this stuff at the Pike Place Market (Matts @ the Market-upstairs).
The last recipe I made was an eye-opener… simple, delicious and incredibly affordable (I used $0.99 organic french bread, from New Season’s that I let get stale)… and tasted a-world-apart better than those 5-star restaurants.
Though I must admit my first attempt at making it was a bust–so I didn’t try again. For what was to be 8 years! Boy was I missing out. Now I’m ready to try my hands at other varieties: pear, espresso, ginger, whiskey, walnut, cheese or mushroom–who knows maybe I’ll just try them all. 🙂
My lesson learned? Just b/c your first try at making something isn’t pleasing, don’t give up. The taste of homemade is just too amazing and for the money you’ll save… well its just too invaluable not to give it a try.
And as if making homemade bread pudding wasn’t inspiring enough for me, Kate has posted her favorite bread recipe for all to be tempted with. That should further lure me into making my own bread too. 😉
SOOOO true!! 🙂 I leave the bread pudding to my husband – I save bits of bread in the freezer as we never can finish anything 🙂
Hey I’m gonna have to give your yogurt recipe a whirl Annie… my other half has been gently hinting about making this at home for many years now. You make it sound so easy–especially since I don’t have a crockpot, or at least one bigger than a 2 cup capacity. 😉 And no your post was not too long–I appreciate your research!! Thanks to all of you for sharing your excellent yogurt tips!! I printed them all out to help me along the way of making this long awaited fun recipe! btw–my favorite yogurt flavor is usually lavender… so I’ll have to throw some of that in to customize it 😉
Let me know if you need help or run into questions…opaque1997 at the google one
I love this post. It seems more and more of us are going back to our “roots” or surprisingly the rest of the world lives, freshly homemade goods. This is my own personal quest too. I am not satisfied with believing companies have my families best interest in mind when their products are LOADED with all kinds of extra ‘preservatives’ and other junk that aren’t good for our bodies. My goal this next year is to try to eat seasonally. To enjoy the seasonal veggies and fruits and buy as much local as I can (well whatever I don’t grow). I canned a lot this year and will can even more next year. There’s a healthy pride that comes from knowing these skills and being able to provide your family with wholesome food that originates from your backyard!! :). Oh and I’m jealous cause apparently Portland has a year round farmers market…lucky dogs!!! Thanks for such a great post. I think it’s high time for a food revolution. Let’s get crazy and start making our own food and not relying on box companies or foreign countries feed our families!
I agree Kala! All the boxed and processed stuff was created for the bigger, faster, better and I-WANT-IT-NOW mentality. It seems we are all waking up and realizing that the convenience is not really all that convenient. I read something funny the other day on one of those inspirational quotes on Pinterest: “Organic food. Our Grandparents called it food.” 🙂
Thanks for your thoughts! I’m really not domestically-minded and frankly I don’t enjoy cooking. But I have tried making and freezing more soups because I’m just not willing to pay $4.99 for a quart of deli soup when its really not great and the canned soup can’t compare. Problem is, since I’m not the best cook, so my soups don’t always turn out great. I try to use what I have on hand to modify a base recipe and sometimes things get a little crazy. But I’m trying and I give myself credit for that. Keep up the great posts and I’ll continue to be inspired to keep trying!
Figure out a good stock and soup can be fairly easy. I work in a restaurant more than full time so I don’t like spending time making stock. I find kitchen basics to be a good stock without icky stuff in it. Its 2.50ish a quart at Walmart, Also better than bullion is a good condensed stock. I use them together a lot. Both also have lower sodium than most. Keep bay leaves around, you can get big ones at costco for cheap. Worchester is always a good addition. Find a base group that you think is yummy then start mixing your starches or produce. My soup always has onion garlic celery( carrot). Yes I pay for my stock but it gives me time to make yummy produce filled soups. My mom taught me that squirt of ketchup can rescue some bland soups it’s a little tomato, vinager, sugar. I wouldn’t squirt it split pea or anything. HTH sorry tht was so long.
One way to add some flavor, nutrition, and ease is to add some baby food to the soup base. There are always deals posted for cheap baby food and it had usually two ingrediants (i.e.carrots and water). Pureed carrots add some flavor, color and added vitamins and no one will know either. 🙂
I love this post! I quit working about a year and a half ago and the combination of beginning to coupon with making much more “from scratch” items has cut our grocery bill substantially. Here are the things that I never buy anymore: salsa, tortillas, soups, biscuits, cookies, many breads, microwave popcorn and most crackers. I bought a Whirly Pop and now make Kettle Corn to die for with just oil, sugar, salt and popcorn. After all the comments, I’m now inspired to make yogurt – we’re big yogurt fans at my house.
I really feel like most times I really do save a substantial amount of money by making it myself. I still love to coupon to fill in the gaps and feel like the combination of the two can make for some incredible savings.
I’d love your tortilla recipe / method.. its another item we go through a lot of – though my husband likes the big burrito ones…
3 cups of flour
1/2 cup of shortening
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 cup of hot water
Mix together. Make into small balls and roll into tortilla shape. Cook on dry griddle (no oil). I always double the recipe (makes about 16 tortillas that way).
Everyone who has these absolutely loves them! The recipe comes from my sister’s mother-in-law who was from Mexico so I’m thinking they are pretty authentic. At my house, no one likes store bought tortillas anymore so we only use these!
How long do you cool them cause we go threw torttias like water in this house
If you mean how long do I keep them, I keep them usually for a couple of days. They are honestly always gone by then so I’m not sure how long they would actually last. If we have leftovers, everyone loves to either warm them and put a little butter and salt on them or else put some shredded cheese on them and microwave them for a snack.
If you mean how long I let them cool before we eat them, we like them warm so we eat them right away!
Hope that helps!
Thank you! I just made some winter enchiladas with smaller tortillas and renewed my desire!! 🙂
what is everyone’s favorite yogurt receipe? i’ve never made it homemade but i think i would like to try.
See my above long winded reply 🙂
I use a yogurt maker, actually I use two.
1St heat up milk to 190 degreeF. I do this in the microwave and then cool it in a water bath to about 110 degree F. Put in the yogurt starter, normally plain yogurt or some from a previous batch. I then put it in my yogurt maker for around 10 hours give or take. I normally do this at night after dinner. When I wake up I turn it off. I then strain the yogurt with a jelly bag for about 3 hours or so. The yogurt loses a lot of mass when you strain it. I find a jelly bag works great, because it’s easy to get the yogurt out and I can wash it and reuse it. You can add flavorings, sugar, or whatever.
Sidenotes: I like to cook my yogurt with vanilla beans and then split them before incubation. When microwaving most times there is a film on top of the yogurt. Make sure to get it off. You can add nonfat dry milk to help thicken the yogurt. I find that I don’t have to do that when I strain it. Yogurt can be forgiving on timing with incubation, straining, whatever. If you strain to long you get a sort of cheese yogurt.I use 4 oz jelly jars for the kids and I have some glass jars that came with my yogurt maker for the adults. I like adding about a tablespoon of jam to the bottom of my jars and then adding yogurt. My kids ask have their own flavor preference. So I make a few jars of each flavor that they like. Vanilla ~ vanilla extract, sugar (could be white, agave nectar, whatever), yogurt. Honey ~ honey. Jam ~ jam, vanilla, yogurt.Key lime pie ~ lime juice, vanilla, a little sugar.to help the kids know their flavorings I added a drop or so off food coloring. Green~ key lime pie, honey ~ yellow.
Trial and error. Search the internet. That’s how I found out how to make yogurt, flavorings, and tips.
I make a double batch at least twice a week if not more. If I’m too tired to make it in the evening I do it in the morning, turn it off and refrigerate the yogurt overnight and strain it the next day.
It does taste different than store bought. With my kids I had to and still am weaning them off lots of sugar in the yogurt. They are used to gogurts and such.
Good luck and have fun with it.
I use my crockpot, see post above 🙂
I have been making more and more things from scratch this past year. Greek yogurt with a yogurt maker, beef jerky, more snacks for the kids like fruit roll ups, granola, energy balls, 5 minute artisan bread, getting eggs from a Co worker, buying a quarter of cow, canning, dehydrating, freezing, homemade vanilla, etc.
It is a lot of work and can get tiring sometimes, but when people and my kids ask why haven’t I been making something and they want me to make it I feel good. Who knows how long it will last and what new things I’m going to learn, but I’m going to enjoy it until
I don’t.
Perfectly stated!!
What a wonderful post! Thank you Emily!
I use my breadmaker for pizza dough and just bought a food-dehydrator and am starting to experiment with it. I bought a yogurt maker, but have not had much success making yogurt. Does anyone have tips on making yogurt? I’m not sure how to flavor it and it was too runny.
Runny is normal – I do not use a yogurt maker – I read about 400 posts on yogurt and basically its heat the milk, cool the milk – add the yogurt keep it warm.
I use a lodge stock pot (coated cast iron) – I use a full gallon of milk (whole milk is a bit easier – but I use 2% sometimes) – I then add powdered milk (enough to make a quart) to the milk (yes powdered milk to milk) – I then heat the milk to 190 and hold it there (or close to there) for 10 minutes. I stir it on and off – and I almost always scorch the bottom of the pan.. I just do 🙂
I then fill my sink with ice water – and transfer the pot to the ice water – I cool it to 120. Take it out and put on counter. I then take about a cup of the milk / milk mixture and mix it with about a 1/2 cup of yogurt (Normally I use Fage and I use the whole single cup) – then I take that little mixture and mix it into the remaining milk.
I put the lid on it – then wrap it in two bath towels and through that wrapped pot into the cold oven (or slightly warm if I cooked with it) then close the door and leave it overnight (so.. roughly 10 – 12 hours).
I then line a colander with coffee filters (count them and remember your count) – and then dump the whole pot into the colander – I then put a small piece of tupperware in the lodge pot – and put the colander on top (rise it off so it doesn’t sit in the weigh that drips off). Saran wrap on top and in the fridge for another 10-12 hours.
I then take the yogurt out of the colander into a bowl (remove the coffee filters – counting to make sure you have them 🙂 ) and add sugar (normally just under a cup) a dash or two of cinnamon and a hefty dash of vanilla. Or purred fruit… wala 🙂
Sorry thats a bit long!
I
Thanks for the tips!
See my post above on the crock pot method too. Very interesting Annie! Glad you found something that works for you 🙂
I love this post! We cook mainly from scratch, although I buy a few things here and there (mainly crackers, pasta sauce, yogurt). I am inspired to other posts to try making my own yogurt now, though! I make chicken stock in the slow cooker, make all my own soups, cookies, salad dressings. I have made some cheese and am working my way towards bread. I highly recommend reading “Wildly Affordable Organic.”
It took me twice to get the yogurt right and I never could get the crock pot method to work – so if you don’t succeed try again 🙂
Yes and sometimes if your yogurt doesn’t set in eight hours (see my post above), then you have to give it a few more hours.
I grew up just like Marci. We had it all growing up in E. Oregon. Not only chickens for eggs, but fryers as well. We had cows, pigs and a veggie garden bigger than anything I’ve had here in Portland, and it produced much more and longer than here in the W. Oregon.
Because I did have chickens I have to say I would not rush out to do that again. Yes the eggs and chickens are way better than you can get in the store, but the work…..
More than anything I miss the beef. Not grass fed, but a blend of both.
I cook most meals from scratch. My meals usually consist of fresh meat with seasonal veggies. I still buy lots of cereal and some crackers, but have tried to eliminate the HO and HFCS from the packages.
I feel like I am feeding my family better now than I ever have. There are some things that I agree are too much work, so I buy them in smaller quantities or eliminate them.
Having grown up on a farm in eastern Oregon, we had it all. Our own chickens, cows, pigs, etc. so living off our land and garden along with canning was something my family always did. I think I rebelled a bit because I couldn’t wait to get away to the big city where they have restaurants that you don’t drive through! It is funny how things come around. Since having kids and our own home, I’m going more and more back to my roots. My mom was up for a big canning session for me a several of my girlfriends and we started with applesauce and pears. I’m a big freezer but canning was just fun and not as hard or scary as I thought it was going to be. We don’t eat out that much and both my husband and I like to cook but I haven’t tackled bread or yogurt yet. I’m excited to try the bread recipe and would love a good yogurt recipe if anyone would like to share. We only buy the plain kind and add our own flavorings or use it in place of sour cream (or in the words of my son whipped cream). Thanks for the post!
Best chicken how-to book ever “The Small-Scale Poultry Flock” by Harvey Ussery. You will never fear chook poops again!
My bread routine is a combination of Jim Lahey’s ” No-Knead Bread” and “Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day” by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. Lots of possibilities.
I use a crock pot to make granola. The recipe was in an Oregonian article a couple of years ago.
I bought a Soda stream last fall. I don’t use the syrups as they are too sweet. I’ve experimented with juices (pomegranate needs a little Stevia) and Mio flavors.
Don’t be afraid to PLAY!
Could you share your crock pot granola recipe?
Thanks 🙂
Please be aware: This is NOT a crock pot recipe you can leave for several hours. Other than that it is very easy and easy to modify to your family’s taste!
5 cups old fashioned oats or a combo of rolled grains like Bob’s Red Mill 5 grain cereal
1 teaspoon cinnamon (or 1/2 tsp ginger or…)
1/2 cup Honey (experiment with other sweeteners too)
1/3 cup oil or unsalted butter (I’ve used canola for a neutral taste or butter when I crave fats)
1/3 cup blanched slivered almonds or a combo of raw nuts and seeds
Mix grains with spices and nuts in slow cooker. You only want the pot to be half full so it is easy to stir. Warm the fat and sweetener together until they blend well. I use the microwave for approximately 30 seconds (or the melt stick o’ butter button if you’ve got a fancy one). Add the warm fat and sweetener to grains and stir very well. Set cooker to low and vent the cover with a wooden or silicone utensil to release moisture. Condensation bad, dry and crunchy goood!
The first time you do this you will have to keep a close eye on your crock as they each have their hot spots. Stir every 20-30 minutes and cook for 2/12 to 3 hours. When granola is golden brown (mine was a little TOO brown the first time) scoop out onto a baking sheet and let cool for several hours or overnight. Store in a sealed container and enjoy. The original recipe said to wait until the last half hour to add dried fruit, but I just add what sounds good to my bowl of granola and yogurt each morning.
Started by preserving food in my freezer. Then finding recipes and making freezer meals my family enjoys. Canned for the first time this summer: applesauce and pears. Sometimes I make homemade rolls, dough, bread (different seasons have different time constraints). My goal this summer was also to use/preserve most of the produce our garden produces. Made a huge improvement from last year. We buy organic milk, but would like to buy raw if I can find a better price point. I make my own laundry detergent. Goals are to continue to grow in these areas and would love to work homemade bread into my weekly routine! Looking forward to your next post. ( :
What recipe of laundry detergent do you use? And have you had good luck with it?
Great post! I’m underemployed at the moment, and I’ve been able to take the time to learn how to make so many things from scratch.
Pie crusts are no longer my nemesis! I will never again have to buy a pie or, worse, a Pillsbury frozen crust! I’ve been making tarts, pot pies, galettes, and turnovers by the dozen. 🙂
Bread – tried the 5 minutes a day bread and it was just okay in the taste:effort ratio. If I really need to save money, it’ll do, but I’ll stick with my $5 Groupon deals for Franz bakery.
Dessert – I discovered this cake recipe: http://neartonothing.blogspot.com/2011/08/chocolate-cake.html and it is now my go-to recipe for a delicious but easy dessert. Everyone raves about it. Check out the rest of the “cake series” for easy fillings and decorating ideas. I used to have to buy a fancy cake or settle for a 9×13 plain cake with canned frosting on top for homemade.
Beans and Cream of X soup – I will never buy canned beans or soup again. So easy, so cheap.
As for chickens: I used to live with them. They weren’t mine but they were on the property where I lived and I helped out when the family went out of town. They weren’t that much work, and the poop didn’t seem that bad. But we were on 7 acres and only had 10 chickens. So maybe it just got scattered around so much it wasn’t noticeable? If it was a nice day, the chickens got let out in the morning to forage and we’d collect eggs. Then in the evening, we’d call them in to the coop to eat their chicken feed. At dark, they’d all get settled on their roosts inside a metal/wood enclosure and all that had to be done was close the door on them. This kept them safe from the bobcats and coyotes that roamed.
I would love to hear how you make yoru beans and cream of soup.
This past year, making food from scratch became a bit of a challenge and competition for me. Several of your posts inspired me, like the time I wanted to climb on the roof and yell to the entire neighborhood that I actually made my own hamburger buns! We’ve just been either doing without (no crackers, chips, etc) or making our own. A store-bought cookie would almost never make its way into our house. I figure if I’m going to use the calories, I want it to be GOOD.
It’s such a fantastic feeling knowing my kids are eating something that I made from scratch, knowing every ingredient that went into it. We’re definitely not even close to 50%, but I figure the more we try and the more we challenge ourselves to do, the more it will become habit.
I too am on the yogurt train – and the last few months I’ve been VERY happy that I did. I do mine on the stove and then wrapped in towels in the oven – then strain – so a batch takes me .. oh maybe 30 mins hands on time and 24 – 36 hours total. I love knowing my husband eats it – its much healthier, I like it more (I make it thick like greek which I always hated paying more for) and I add powdered milk – which increases the protein and calcium and since I’m trying to get pregnant….
My recent facination is with home made laundry soap – the dry kind takes 5 minutes (or as long as it takes to shred the soap bar) and I’m hearing it works beautifully. I’m also looking at home made dishwasher soap – but thats mostly because I’m fed up with the prices! 🙂
I’ve tried home made bread – time after time – my hubby just doesn’t like the results..
I have struggled and struggled with homemade laundry soap. It never seems to get my clothes clean or odor-free. I’d love tips for making it work!
Humm.. I haven’t even made it yet – but I’m very interested in what you’ve done / not done.. as I’ve been set up for a challenge to make my g/f with 3 kids detergent and let her try it out (I have a pretty decent amount of stock – but she is always looking to save money) Another friend said she does the dry.. washing soda, borax, and phelps napa.. I’ve seen some recipes that add oxi clean.. we could take this offline – or here 🙂
opaque1997 at the google email 🙂
How do you make home made dishwasher soap I would live to do this I run my dishwasher at least once a day and would live to be able to make my own. I don’t wanna pay the price of it and it’s ne’er to cheap with coupons.
I’ve not done it myself but this is what I found :
http://ladywiththeredrocker.wordpress.com/2011/09/02/diy-dishwasher-detergent/
I have tried different bars of soap (Fels Naphtha, Ivory) and using more of the soap, washing soda, and borax mix. I have added vinegar to cut odors and hydrogen peroxide to cut stains. After trying these different things, we just went back to regular store-bought detergent. I was tired of washing things five times and still seeing stains, and my husband was tired of his clothes smelling like a mixture of vinegar and body odor.
We do have super-soft water.
Humm.. ok well thats good to know – I’m nervous but hopeful…
H Jennifer,
I have had great success with the powder version of homemade laundry soap
using Zote soap bars. I use one big 14.5 bar plus two cups of borax and 2 cups of washing soda. The last batch I made I added oxy clean which I found on sale and added just 1 cup to the recipe above. Use your food processor to
grate the soap, then add the S blade and mix 1 C. soap, 1 C. borax, 1 C. soda, and 1/2 cup oxi clean till it is mixed and ground down to a real fine powder and repeat. Next mix it all in a bowl and put into a sealed container to keep out the moisture. Use up to 1/2 C. per load, less if small loads or not heavily soiled. The Zote has a light fragrance or you can also add essential oil to the detergent.
I have had urban chickens for over 15 years, way before it was a cool thing to do. I calculate that the cost of the same egg, grass fed which makes all the difference in taste, is about the same as what I can get it elsewhere, 50 cents ea. So I just keep them now because they are fun pets. More entertaining and work than fish, but less than cats and dogs.
Beware that once you start with eating the fresh, grass fed eggs (free lawn mowing!) then you may not be able to go back to the “yucky” store bought, caged or cage free, organic or non-organic eggs. The closest thing to the bright, sun-orange yolks that I can find at a regular store, is Eggland’s best.
One side note on chickens for parents, they are pretty fragile, especially when young, so be prepared for an overhandling death with chicks and young kids. You can buy them full grown but their necks and legs are still pretty fragile so be prepared to watch your kids closely around them if they are rough with pets.
This was a fantastic post! I’m in the same boat. I’m tired of commercial products, so over the years I’ve learned how to make whole wheat thins, dry onion and beef soup mixes, taco seasoning, and so much more. I homemake all my meals, use fresh ingredients (including herbs, this makes such a difference) and make my own foamy soap. I’m purchase mostly organic, and that’s because after raising chickens, geese, ducks, turkeys and having fresh eggs, you realize the chicken they sell in the store, looks and tastes nothing like home grown. Chickens are made to roam, eat grass and be outside. They aren’t suppose to have as much meat or fat on them as they do. Same goes for milk, organic is the way to go. It’s not just the hormones, it’s the chemicals that have been sprayed on the grass and so much more. Our kids are going through puberty at a much younger age now. Don’t think it doesn’t have anything to do with processed food, fast food and the hormones and chemicals used in food. Organic is the way to go withfresh fruit and veggies. Our farm had lots of fruit trees but we never sprayed them, just pruned and they were delicious! There is such a difference in making homemade food versus buying commercially, and once you try it, you’ll never go back….EVER! Thanks for sharing!
Last February my family took on the challenge of 27 free range chickens, we love it. The chickens have such great personallities not to mention the fantastic eggs we get.
I make homemade yogurt. Super easy with a crockpot as long as you have a timer (and thermometer until you know your crockpot well enough). It costs WAY less than the store containers (about $2.40 for 1/2 gallon of vanilla yogurt – more if you go with organic or raw milk and depending upon what sweeteners (if any) you use). Added benefit – I know what is in it and that it has no additives. I can make it thick like Greek yogurt or thinner like Yoplait depending upon how or if I strain the whey (also usable in pancakes, smoothies or any recipe calling for buttermilk). My kids can add fruit or homemade jam or granola… it’s bliss!
And, I just crossed storebought bread off my list too!
So funny, I was just going to input this one! We love making our own yogurt in the crockpot. We just add honey. It is seriously so easy people. Warm milk in your crockpot on high (we do 10 cups of milk which makes the yoplait consistency yogurt for us that lasts about a week) until it reaches 185 degrees (for us, that is three hours in the crockpot), then let it cool to 110 degrees (another 2-3 hours) wrap in towel (or we put in our crock pot insulated carrying case) for 8 hours and its plain yogurt! We add honey and my husband says it tastes as good as ice cream and it’s just milk & honey! If you want greek, you do the same and then strain the end result (before honey) in cheese clothe and the whey that drains through can be added back in to make a different consistency, or just eat as is after straining. Curious to see if your process varies Beth. Thanks for letting me bounce off your comment 🙂 I would love your bread recipe…I keep going through trial and error with mine…but it’s only been error!
Ummm, I totally forgot about adding the yogurt starter, haha, oops! After your milk has cooled to 110 degrees, take out 2/3 cup of the milk and add 1/3 cup plain yogurt starter (doesn’t matter if it is greek or not) and whisk them together in a bowl. Then, whisk that mixture into the whole crock pot w/ remaining milk and wrap in towel/case. We just save 1/3 cup yogurt from each batch before adding honey to make our next 🙂
We have chickens and they are so worth it … fresh eggs daily and my 3 year old loves them … the poop is a little icky but we use eco-friendly biodegradable wood by-product in the actual coop and clean it out every week or so (which can be used in flower beds or the garden as fertilizer). We have had our ladies since last spring when we took the leap with day old chicks! Such a joy to have and to know that the chickens are being treated ethically and I know that they are not getting any hormones (we feed orangically)
I myself do not own chickens but have family that do
Chickens—they are work, not a lot, but work. Keep the cage clean and only let the them run around the yard every once in a while. Other wise you will have poop every where, unlike a dog that can be scooped up. Chickens will also eat there own poop OFTEN. Hence the reasoning for the cage and why farmers keep the birds in a raised floor cage.
My goal this year is to try my hand at canning my own tomato sauce.
What is your homemade ice-cream recipe? That sounds good.
We use Alton Brown’s for chocolate: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/chocolate-ice-cream-recipe/index.html (Decrease to 5-6 egg yolks.)
I can’t find a link to our vanilla recipe, but Martha’s version looks close: http://www.marthastewart.com/348250/homemade-vanilla-ice-cream (Swap vanilla extract for vanilla beans.)
The vanilla is a great base for banana, berry, or any other add-ins.
Also, I have heard great things about this book: http://www.amazon.com/Jenis-Splendid-Ice-Creams-Home/dp/1579654363/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327011324&sr=1-1
Enjoy! (And don’t count the calories…)