Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most treats, like cookies, pie, cupcakes or cake. I don't buy boxed treats like that for my kids because 1) they're gross, and 2) my daughter loves baking with me so it's a double treat when we make something. I also make a lot of really gelatinous bone broth that gets frozen and used in place of stock in cooking. (Thank you Costco for starting to carry chicken feet!)

I cook all beans from dried, not canned. This isn't a health thing it's a cheapness thing.

I keep failing at getting into sourdough but I would like to be that kind of person. My starters all die.

Mostly I cook all meals from scratch, not convenience meals and only rarely (2x/month) takeout or something. But I'm not making my own yogurt or kombucha or anything.

So I do a lot of dried beans (I'm also kinda cheap), but have had poor outcomes a few times. I don't do a good job of keeping track of how long they've been sitting, and it really makes a difference. They definitely get too old/dry to cook up nicely after a while, even after an overnight soak. Any tips for that, other than paying attention to age?

I make bean burgers from scratch, and for that, I use canned. It's a texture thing.

My tip is to use an Instant Pot! I set it for 35 minutes for almost everything (canellinni, navy, pinto, small red, kidney, black) and only once have I had to stir it up and put it on for another 5 minutes because they weren't fully cooked. But I don't think that was an age issue so much as I threw in a ham bone and it shifted the water level so some beans weren't fully covered. Back when I made them on the stovetop I feel like I was always waiting another 10 minutes, another 10 minutes, another 10 minutes.

Anonymous wrote:I recently saw an Instagram reel where a woman was bragging about being an "Ingredient Household" and I went down a rabbit hole to figure out what that meant and it seems to just mean . . . she has groceries? And makes meals from them? It was pretty confusing and made me think that there's no baseline anymore. There are probably people being raised only eating eggs from their own backyard and also people being raised eating only food that comes to them courtesy of Johnson & Johson and the four middle aisles of the grocery store.

I make most meals from scratch - pasta sauce, roux, almost all of the stuff listed above. Past that, is it considered "from scratch" now to boil your own eggs, peel your own garlic, and chop your own vegetables? Because I know you can buy all that stuff at step 2 now. But I would feel clinically insane to brag about making my own hardboiled eggs "from scratch". To me that's just . . . how you get a hardboiled egg.

Once of the things that struck me most about the state of groceries during the pandemic was that pre-made foods were wiped out. TV dinners, canned soups, those bags of mixed frozen seasoned veggies you throw a chicken breast into. Also dry pasta. It really illustrated for me how many people simply don't know how to cook, or aren't equipped to. (Very important to note that owning the full range of equipment and having reliably functional kitchen appliances is a privilege not available to all.)

When I think of cooking from scratch, I think of the ingredient list on the alternative. Like bread. That is a four-ingredient product: flour, yeast, water, salt. Pepperidge Farms white bread lists: ENRICHED WHEAT FLOUR (FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), WATER, SUGAR, SOYBEAN OIL, YEAST, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: WHEAT GLUTEN, SALT, CALCIUM PROPIONATE AND SORBIC ACID TO EXTEND FRESHNESS, MONOGLYCERIDES, WHEY*, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, SOY LECITHIN.

I'm motivated by the avoidance of extra, non-essential ingredients that make food shelf-stable. Shelf stability is a good thing sometimes! Sugar and salt are great preservatives! But I don't want so much in my diet day in and day out.

Cookies. Chocolate chip cookies are so easy to make.

Anonymous wrote:Most treats, like cookies, pie, cupcakes or cake. I don't buy boxed treats like that for my kids because 1) they're gross, and 2) my daughter loves baking with me so it's a double treat when we make something. I also make a lot of really gelatinous bone broth that gets frozen and used in place of stock in cooking. (Thank you Costco for starting to carry chicken feet!)

I cook all beans from dried, not canned. This isn't a health thing it's a cheapness thing.

I keep failing at getting into sourdough but I would like to be that kind of person. My starters all die.

Mostly I cook all meals from scratch, not convenience meals and only rarely (2x/month) takeout or something. But I'm not making my own yogurt or kombucha or anything.

So I do a lot of dried beans (I'm also kinda cheap), but have had poor outcomes a few times. I don't do a good job of keeping track of how long they've been sitting, and it really makes a difference. They definitely get too old/dry to cook up nicely after a while, even after an overnight soak. Any tips for that, other than paying attention to age?

I make bean burgers from scratch, and for that, I use canned. It's a texture thing.

I recently saw an Instagram reel where a woman was bragging about being an "Ingredient Household" and I went down a rabbit hole to figure out what that meant and it seems to just mean . . . she has groceries? And makes meals from them? It was pretty confusing and made me think that there's no baseline anymore. There are probably people being raised only eating eggs from their own backyard and also people being raised eating only food that comes to them courtesy of Johnson & Johson and the four middle aisles of the grocery store.

I make most meals from scratch - pasta sauce, roux, almost all of the stuff listed above. Past that, is it considered "from scratch" now to boil your own eggs, peel your own garlic, and chop your own vegetables? Because I know you can buy all that stuff at step 2 now. But I would feel clinically insane to brag about making my own hardboiled eggs "from scratch". To me that's just . . . how you get a hardboiled egg.

Anonymous wrote:OP, thanks for posting--I started doing yogurt a few months ago and have been meaning to see if anyone has pointers for getting a smoother texture? Mine is good, will never go back to the grocery store stuff, but is a bit lumpy.

Also do granola sometimes. Where do people source nuts, since they can be $$$ and I am cheap? I typically do Trader Joe's but should perhaps try Costco.

Definitely no homesteader here, though. Zero desire to ever make pasta from scratch, and plenty of other processed stuff in this house.

I think the yogurt texture relies on controlled temperature. We've fcked up a few times and ended up with lumps (acceptable but not ideal) or graininess (unacceptable, total waste of ingredients.)

I get the nuts and seeds in the no-brand plastic tubs from Giant. Pecans, pepitas, slivered almonds. I did the math once, and my homemade tastier, healthier granola comes out to be about 20% cheaper ounce-per-ounce than pre-made. So I'm not retiring on my granola savings or anything. But it's got what I like! And no chemical additives.

Girl, same on the no homesteading. If I'm ever slaughtering my own chickens, something has gone terribly wrong.

Anonymous wrote:Pizza dough, takes almost no effort in the stand mixer. Same with no-knead bread- literally just stir the ingredients together with a spoon and put plastic wrap on the bowl and come back in a couple of hours to shape it and throw it in the dutch oven and bake. I don't make sandwich bread or anything, but if we want a crusty loaf of bread to go with dinner it's super easy. Caveat for both of these obviously is that I work from home so the timing for the rise, etc isn't a problem.

Pancakes and waffles. Baffles me when people use the mix for these. It's literally just flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, eggs, butter, milk. And with the mixes, you still add the eggs and a liquid of some kind so what are we really saving time on here by using the mix?

Chocolate chips cookies, also super easy and store bought ones are always kind of gross IMO.

Things like pasta, granola, yogurt- I'm never going to make these from scratch, not worth it, too time consuming.

Will just add re: yogurt as OP said, it's almost all passive time. I get it going in the morning on weekends or WFH days virtually every week. Minimal effort.

OP, thanks for posting--I started doing yogurt a few months ago and have been meaning to see if anyone has pointers for getting a smoother texture? Mine is good, will never go back to the grocery store stuff, but is a bit lumpy.

Also do granola sometimes. Where do people source nuts, since they can be $$$ and I am cheap? I typically do Trader Joe's but should perhaps try Costco.

Definitely no homesteader here, though. Zero desire to ever make pasta from scratch, and plenty of other processed stuff in this house.

Most treats, like cookies, pie, cupcakes or cake. I don't buy boxed treats like that for my kids because 1) they're gross, and 2) my daughter loves baking with me so it's a double treat when we make something. I also make a lot of really gelatinous bone broth that gets frozen and used in place of stock in cooking. (Thank you Costco for starting to carry chicken feet!)

I cook all beans from dried, not canned. This isn't a health thing it's a cheapness thing.

I keep failing at getting into sourdough but I would like to be that kind of person. My starters all die.

Mostly I cook all meals from scratch, not convenience meals and only rarely (2x/month) takeout or something. But I'm not making my own yogurt or kombucha or anything.

Agreed re chocolate chip cookies. I make a double batch of dough and freeze most of it in parchment wrapped logs. So easy to pull out a stick of dough and slice it up.

About mixes for waffles and pancakes... it's the measuring for me. The time it takes to pull out each dry ingredient and measure the half teaspoon of this and tablespoon of that is not nothing. I'm more likely to just skip it than to buy a mix, but I get it.

Anonymous wrote:I am not as fancy as the rest of you but here are things I make from scratch that my mom and MIL think are bizarre:
Waffles
Roux/bechamel(i.e no canned cream soup)
All pasta sauces
All sauces in general like gravy, curry
All baked goods (I.e. no canned frosting, no pillsbury cookies)
Mashed potatoes
Potato salad (not from the grocery store deli)
Pizza crust
Naan

I should have added roux/bechamel to my list above. It is so easy to make. Same with gravy. Like, just pour the drippings in a pot, and soften some butter in the microwave, dump in some flour, smoosh it up with a whisk, and then whisk it into the drippings on the stove top. Done.

Pizza dough, takes almost no effort in the stand mixer. Same with no-knead bread- literally just stir the ingredients together with a spoon and put plastic wrap on the bowl and come back in a couple of hours to shape it and throw it in the dutch oven and bake. I don't make sandwich bread or anything, but if we want a crusty loaf of bread to go with dinner it's super easy. Caveat for both of these obviously is that I work from home so the timing for the rise, etc isn't a problem.

Pancakes and waffles. Baffles me when people use the mix for these. It's literally just flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, eggs, butter, milk. And with the mixes, you still add the eggs and a liquid of some kind so what are we really saving time on here by using the mix?

Chocolate chips cookies, also super easy and store bought ones are always kind of gross IMO.

Things like pasta, granola, yogurt- I'm never going to make these from scratch, not worth it, too time consuming.

Anonymous wrote:The Michelle’s granola is so good I don’t want homemade.
And the Icelandic yogurt I get from the farm — or even better the stuff at the farmers market is so good that I don’t see it worth making at home. Maybe if I had more time and less cash like my 20-something relatives I would.
My retired siblings are always making stuff from scratch …. Because they have endless time. If I make scratch pasta that basically means the yard work will not get done or the house won’t get cleaned or whatever.

Where do you buy Icelandic yogurt from? I eat lots of Siggis and would love to try some locally.

My husband makes a lot of fruit jam but that's just a garden thing. When you have 4 pounds of figs you need some ideas.

During covid I learned to make tortillas because the store kept running out of them and my then toddler was obsessed with them.

I generally prefer to make "sundried" tomatoes (it's just a low oven thing) if I need them because the store ones are too salty.

My husband and both work so there's very little I won't buy but if I'm having a slow week I'll prep some stuff (hummus, breakfast muffins, egg bites, etc.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are your tips on homemade pizza
Kids enjoy making it but it always kind of bad

With kids we always just use store-bought naan, and then top with homemade sauce. I don't like the commerical pre-made pizza crusts-- they seem to have a lot more sugar and other additives than naan.

Pizza dough is pretty easy, not as finicky as sourdough bread. But you do have to let it rise a bit, so plan at least 2 hours in advance.

I do the "no kneed" sourdough and sometimes use the same recipe for pizza crust. It's just as good with AP flour as bread or 00 flour according to my kids.

I also like the NYT pizza dough recipe.