Foods we buy but no longer make from scratch (ingredient, organic, fast food)

[fleetiebelle]

I almost always make iced tea out of tea bags, but I would never bother to make mayonnaise, pie crust, spaghetti sauce. I know people who go on and on about making broth and stock, but it's a lot easier to pick up a can or one of those giant juice box thingies.

[Shira_k]

I pretty much make *everything * from scratch. I'll list the things that I *don't * make from scratch :
Bread (I can make it, I just don't).
Yogurt (used to make it but stopped)
Mayonnaise
Pickles and olives (used to brine my own)
Granola bars
Occasionally deli meats/chicken /turkey
Ummm, I think I make everything else from scratch, at least 95% of the time.

Make my own tomato sauce, salad dressing, hummus, cook beans from scratch and freeze, baking (rarely bake but when I do), chicken stock...

[rrah]

I definitely make iced tea at home.

I occasionally make most of the things on the list with 2 exceptions: pie crusts and cake. I use boxed mixes for cake.

[Katiethegreat]

I don't mill my own flour,I guess I just meant processed food like krafts Mac and cheese etc and other things you see in the supermarket.
I don't venture into the supermarket much though.

Originally Posted by Cantabridgienne

You completely live off the land? That's impressive. I don't know how to make my own sugar or flour, for example. I know how to make butter but it's not practical for me to make it all the time (ditto mayonnaise). I wouldn't have the first idea how to make soy sauce or Sirracha or fish sauce.

[hotzcatz]

We've grown some 'hull less' oats and are going to try flaking them for oatmeal, but so far they're not dry enough to come out of their hulls. I think we still have some learning curve on making oatmeal. We do have a nifty little hand cranked 'flaker' though, so once we get the oat groats, we'll be able to smash them into flaked (aka 'rolled') oats for oatmeal. But, we generally buy bulk rolled oats for oatmeal, it's inexpensive and doesn't have a bunch of odd things added to it like the instant oatmeal packets. I'm hoping the fresh oats taste better. If they do, then we will grow more.

Tea is generally brewed in a teapot from either leaves from the yard (mint, mamaki, lemon grass, red hibiscus, etc.) or from dried loose tea we get from the bulk jars at the health food store. Much less expensive than tea bag tea. Don't like the pre-brewed teas, they taste nasty. Sodas and colas are even worse for tasting nasty. Way too many chemicals in them.

A friend of mine does wonderful things with kombucha, she's going to give us the whatever it is that lives in a jar that you put sweet tea on to make kombucha so we will be able to make our own. She will add coffee or ginger or other tasty things to hers.

Mayonnaise is really easy to make and can be adjusted depending on what it's going to be used for. If it's going into a fruit salad, I'll use orange oil as part of the oil in the recipe. If it's gonna be for meat sandwiches, then a bit of toasted sesame oil makes for a nice mayo. You can also add wasabi instead of the red pepper. That adds interest. But, most of the time the mayo is made around here.

Right this minute, there's a roast chicken carcass being boiled for soup. There'll be egg noodles to go with, but I haven't made those yet. Probably add some sage to the noodles since that goes well with chicken.

Bread gets made a couple times a week. The currant loaves had kombucha added as part of the water to make the bread. As well as sourdough starter as a flavoring and conditioner. Makes for an interesting flavor to the bread.

We make a lot of our own foods around here, a lot of it is to keep the food costs down since we're in a really high cost of living area, so that's a big part of why. Also the flavor is much better if you make it from scratch.

[Hedgehog_Mom]

One advantage to making everything yourself is that you know how to do it if it ever becomes necessary. I would love to use more packaged foods. I'm kind of burned out on cooking and I don't have anything to prove to anyone, so I'm all for using shortcuts and convenience foods. But I can't use them anymore between my allergies and my daughter's allergies. I'm lucky that I already know how to make most foods. In the allergy groups I belong to, there are always newly diagnosed people who have no idea how to cook anything, and I imagine that's a huge adjustment for them to make.

[Ed Ferris]

Does using instant tea and coffee qualify as "making your own"? Sun tea is the traditional Texas iced tea -- just suspend tea bags in a large container of water and leave it out in the sun all day.

[steiconi]

I have made nearly everything listed except tortillas.
I sometimes buy premade piecrust, sometimes make my own.
Biscuits and tea, spag sauce, dressings, guac--all so much better homemade, I never buy them. I also don't use cake mixes, but brownie mixes taste better than scratch.

[joyeaux]

Funny how timely this thread is in my life!
We just hosted my sister's 50th birthday party. I told my food blogger friend how I surprised myself with all the "heat & eat" and "employ & enjoy" dishes I served straight from TJ's (Trader Joe's). What a different way to go for me. But between my age & current bad health, it was the sensible choice. Of course, the cake was made by a NY CIA certified pastry chef friend, so that was homemade at its best!

[Tallysmom]

I can't make biscuits to save my life...and the ones from the fans are gross. All that stuff has a chemical signature that makes them taste alike..biscuits, crescent rolls and cookies....metallic.

But I do cook. I make my own spaghetti sauce because we really don't like onions. That's also why we don't like a lot of frozen foods.... I make pie crust. It's easy.

I have small teapot, so I make a pot...two cups. Only in the winter....