# Gone Homemade and Cannot Turn Back...



## crunchy_mama (Oct 11, 2004)

What recipes/ foods do you now make homemade that you cannot stand store bought now?

I had lost my good sausage supplier. This forced me to get off my tail and make my own. First I started w/ a recipe- blech- it didn't turn out at all. Next I just improvised w/ what I thought sounded good. Now I make b-fast and pizza sausage- yummy and super easy!

I accidently bought some premade sausage from the local butcher instead of ground pork(this is the little local guy so packaging is very plain and hard to distinguish). We went ahead and ate it as we cannot afford to just throw away food. Oh, my - my homemade stuff is infiintely better w/o a nasty aftertaste!

How about you?


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## staceychev (Mar 5, 2005)

Chicken stock. I roast a whole chicken at least twice a month and make stock with the carcass in a crock pot afterwards. It's so much better than store bought, it's not even funny. In a pinch, I'd still cook with store bought if I had to and if the recipe didn't call for much, but I'd never use it as a base for a soup!


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## Alyantavid (Sep 10, 2004)

Broth/stock
tartar sauce
most prepackaged meal type things (my kids can't have them because of allergies, so I make my own)


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## cristeen (Jan 20, 2007)

Mac & Cheese. DH used to live on the boxed stuff. Once I started making it for him though, now the boxed stuff tastes about as good as the box it comes in.

Sausage is something I keep meaning to attempt, but haven't yet.


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## Solose (May 10, 2008)

beans-I still use canned once in a while but now that I've had homemade I can definately tell the difference.

any kind of baked sweets


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## jocelyndale (Aug 28, 2006)

Salsa verde for enchiladas. I do still buy storebought, but making it with fresh tomatillos is *amazing*.


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## fruitfulmomma (Jun 8, 2002)

Quote:

tartar sauce
This one for me too. It is one of the earliest things I learned to make for myself and it tastes sooo much better than store bought.

Also, fresh popcorn made on the stove with olive oil, real butter, and salt.


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## mama2be11 (Mar 31, 2008)

Any kind of soup or stock

Popcorn

Baked goods









Actually, pretty much anything.


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## siobhang (Oct 23, 2005)

bread
stock/broth (chicken, beef, turkey, veg)
cookies and cakes
tomato sauce
baked beans
clam chowder
oh, heck, pretty much everything


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## lil_earthmomma (Dec 29, 2006)

I can't stand commercial salad dressings. Blech.

Packaged soups of any kind taste funny to me now, as well as smoothies. I love my green smoothies so much that now I can't enjoy an orange julius type smoothie any more. It tastes so sweet and fake-ish!


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## Magelet (Nov 16, 2008)

pasta sauce! (so big time on this one)
soups/stocks
salad dressing
mayonaise
beans


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## Drummer's Wife (Jun 5, 2005)

Tortillas!


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## crunchymamatobe (Jul 8, 2004)

Veggies and soups! I can taste if they've come out of a can instantly, and they just taste wrong to me now. I especially hate it when we are out for a meal and I can tell one of the ingredients in a dish has come from a can.

I am a total sucker for bottled salad dressings, though. Ranch dressing at home?! Anyone got a recipe that doesn't involve buttermilk (which is nearly impossible to get in the UK)?


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## LauraLoo (Oct 9, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *CrunchyMamaToBe* 
I am a total sucker for bottled salad dressings, though. Ranch dressing at home?! Anyone got a recipe that doesn't involve buttermilk (which is nearly impossible to get in the UK)?

You can make a buttermilk substitute very easily:
http://frugalliving.about.com/od/con...ermilk_Sub.htm

As for us -- Any baked goods and breads, and especially salsa. I could never go back to store bought salsa - ever.


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## staceychev (Mar 5, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *fruitfulmomma* 
Also, fresh popcorn made on the stove with olive oil, real butter, and salt.

Totally!


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## crunchymamatobe (Jul 8, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *LauraLoo* 
You can make a buttermilk substitute very easily:
http://frugalliving.about.com/od/con...ermilk_Sub.htm

I have done this for baking/cooking, but do you think it would work 'in the raw'?


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## allnaturalmom (May 31, 2006)

Bread!







:


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## LauraLoo (Oct 9, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *CrunchyMamaToBe* 
I have done this for baking/cooking, but do you think it would work 'in the raw'?

I can't say that I've tried it, but I would bet that it would work. If you try it, just make a very small amount (like a 1/4 recipe) and test it out. And then let us all know if you liked it....









I've also done a ranch recipe that's sour cream and mayo - which I dilute down with milk to make it flow better. I like the buttermilk recipes better.


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## vbactivist (Oct 4, 2006)

Pancakes,
baked goods (everytime I make a cake, I;m like, why did I ever use a box mix before???)

I'd like to make my own catsup...


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## zinemama (Feb 2, 2002)

granola


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## Magelet (Nov 16, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *CrunchyMamaToBe* 
Veggies and soups! I can taste if they've come out of a can instantly, and they just taste wrong to me now. I especially hate it when we are out for a meal and I can tell one of the ingredients in a dish has come from a can.

I am a total sucker for bottled salad dressings, though. Ranch dressing at home?! Anyone got a recipe that doesn't involve buttermilk (which is nearly impossible to get in the UK)?


why don't you make your own? if you can't find it, can you find a dried culture? upon googling "buttermilk culture uk" I found several sites that will ship a dried culture internationally. once you have a culture going, its very easy to maintain it (using one batch to culture the next), and you can make small amounts. It turned out lovely making a 1/2 pint jar (reduced fat milk, and just 1 spoonful of cultured buttermilk. whole is good too, but I had reduced fat, which I don't like to drink uncultured.)


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## lil_earthmomma (Dec 29, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *CrunchyMamaToBe* 
I have done this for baking/cooking, but do you think it would work 'in the raw'?

You can make real butter milk with cream and a food processor!

http://www.kayotickitchen.com/

Check out her method for easy butter under condiments.


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## LemonPie (Sep 18, 2006)

Most baked goods--cookies, cakes, pies, quickbreads (though I have yet to find a from-scratch brownie mix that as good as boxed
















Soups


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## Cekimon (Feb 3, 2008)

hamburgers! I don't make my own buns, but we've been making our hamburger patties homemade for about four years now. I will never buy those frozen or pre-made patties every again!!!

We got a recipe from this book and modified it slightly. now i used grass-fed organic beef and my homemade BBQ sauce. when we first started doing this recipe we'd use regular ground beef and bottled BBQ sauce (with HFCS). Now I make my own BBQ with organic ketchup and other ingredients. It's YUMMY.

We also do our hamburgers like salad bar with various toppings available .... so I'll grill some onions, mushrooms, have slice avocado out, etc for people to build their own burgers. i don't always do this but we do it if we have company and they love it.


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## Cekimon (Feb 3, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lil_earthmomma* 
You can make real butter milk with cream and a food processor!

http://www.kayotickitchen.com/

Check out her method for easy butter under condiments.











that's an awesome blog!!!


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## Cekimon (Feb 3, 2008)

can someone share their tartar sauce recipe? I'd like to make it for myself and share with my mom who says she can never find a good kind in the store. she says she likes the bottled kind in the cooler section but can never find it. i'm sure homemade is much better! thanks!


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## JTA Mom (Feb 25, 2007)

Hamburger buns--no falling apart like store-bought
Bread
Pasta Sauce


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## Alyantavid (Sep 10, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Tiger Lily* 
Most baked goods--cookies, cakes, pies, quickbreads (though I have yet to find a from-scratch brownie mix that as good as boxed

















I'll have to post mine. Its amazing.


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## Alyantavid (Sep 10, 2004)

Brownies:
Melt together:
1 cup butter
8 tbsp cocoa

Cool. Add:
4 beaten eggs
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp vanilla
salt
chopped nuts

Cook at 350 for 30 minutes. You can frost or not, they're good either way.

Tartar Sauce:
1 cup mayo
2 tbsp sweet pickle relish
1 minced dill pickle
1 tbsp minced onion
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp seafood seasoning

Mix well. Its better if you mix it and let it sit in the fridge for awhile.


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## fruitfulmomma (Jun 8, 2002)

My recipe for tartar sauce is a base of mayo (I use Hellmans/Best Foods because I can not figure a good recipe out for homemade.) and then a tbsp. or so of horseradish, pickle juice, and mustard. I like it kind of spicy but you can adjust it for your own tastes.


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## crunchy_mama (Oct 11, 2004)

Cool you guys have me got to thinking more! I hate canned soup now as well- blech- nasty! It is so nice to avoid the hcfs= msg- preservatives- colors etc in everything!


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## Thalia the Muse (Jun 22, 2006)

Oh gosh, lots of ones that people have mentioned:

Baked goods -- cookies, pancakes, biscuits, teabreads, cakes. I mean, I'll eat the ones from a good bakery where THEY make it from scratch, but not the supermarket kind.
Pizza crust
salad dressing
pasta sauce
Soup
Veggie burgers -- the commercial ones are revolting
Roast turkey for sandwiches
Pesto

I have made my own mayo, noodles, stock, yeast bread, and beans, but I'm far too lazy to rely entirely on homemade for these! I have not yet attempted cheese, yogurt, tofu, bagels, or canning, but kind of want to try all my hand at all of them except the tofu.


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## AFWife (Aug 30, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Drummer's Wife* 
Tortillas!

YES! I've made my own a few times and had homemade several (half of my DH's family is Mexican so there's ALWAYS homemade tortillas at gatherings...even the restaurants make them fresh)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Cekimon* 
hamburgers! I don't make my own buns, but we've been making our hamburger patties homemade for about four years now. I will never buy those frozen or pre-made patties every again!!!

This too! I can't imagine the frozen ones anymore

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Alyantavid* 
Brownies:
Melt together:
1 cup butter
8 tbsp cocoa

Cool. Add:
4 beaten eggs
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp vanilla
salt
chopped nuts

Cook at 350 for 30 minutes. You can frost or not, they're good either way.

Saving this!


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## verde (Feb 11, 2007)

Pesto

chocolate chip cookies, actually most baked goods

pasta sauce


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## rainyday (Apr 28, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *vbactivist* 
Pancakes,
baked goods (everytime I make a cake, I;m like, why did I ever use a box mix before???)

I'd like to make my own catsup...

How do you make pancakes not from scratch? Are there frozen ones or something?

For me, definitely cakes and brownies. I have a couple of easy cake recipes, and now I can't understand why anyone would use a mix. And brownies are so easy that I really don't get why people use mixes!

Tortillas. I do still buy them sometimes, but I much prefer fresh, homemade ones.

Actually, whenever I walk through a regular grocery store, I'm always surprised at all of the mixes and cans of things that are so simple to make. Powdered chocolate chip cookie mix? Really? How tasty can something like that be?


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## fruitfulmomma (Jun 8, 2002)

Quote:

How do you make pancakes not from scratch? Are there frozen ones or something?
Yes, just like the frozen Lego's waffles but they are pancakes instead. My mom always buys a huge bag of them for my kids when we go down there. I don't know... they come out kind of rubbery but the kids like them. I would never buy them myself though.


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## LauraLoo (Oct 9, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *rainyday* 
Actually, whenever I walk through a regular grocery store, I'm always surprised at all of the mixes and cans of things that are so simple to make. Powdered chocolate chip cookie mix? Really? How tasty can something like that be?

Well, powdered mix choc. chip cookie mix probably does taste better than Chips Ahoy in a bag.....so it's all relative.

But I agree, there are some things that are really quite simple and taste 2 million times better.... I mean, I've made my own pasta sauce for almost 20 years. I wouldn't dream of ever buying Ragu.


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## fruitfulmomma (Jun 8, 2002)

Quote:

I mean, I've made my own pasta sauce for almost 20 years. I wouldn't dream of ever buying Ragu.
Oh, that too! I make our own and it is so easy I just don't see any reason to pay 2 or 3x as much for a canned version.


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## rhiandmoi (Apr 28, 2006)

Sad to say, but my husband prefers the taste of jar sauce over homemade, because it is sweet. Even though I neutralize the acid in the tomatoes with baking soda, and I've added extra tomato paste, and sugar. He just likes that HFCS flavor of Prego sauce. And it has to be Prego, none of the others work for him.

So basically, we just don't eat "spaghetti and red sauce" that often because I don't like the Prego sauce. Actually, I also prefer homemade noodles, and I don't make them that often. So we just don't eat that much pasta.


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## LauraLoo (Oct 9, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *rhiandmoi* 
He just likes that HFCS flavor of Prego sauce. And it has to be Prego, none of the others work for him.

What a bummer.


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## Smokering (Sep 5, 2007)

My family was never big on packaged foods - growing up, it would never occur to us to make cakes or mac and cheese or whatever from a packet - so I'll go with things my once-mainstream DH has been "converted" to.









Homemade wholemeal bread. He can barely stomach bought white bread now - he still goes to Burger King occasionally, but he only eats 1/4 of the bun because it's "not healthy". He's the logical type, my DH.









Muffins! For a while at work he was buying muffins for morning tea at $4 each - yikes! Then I found out and was all "Dude, who do you think you're married to?" and started making and freezing quadruple-chocolate muffins. He prefers them over the bought ones.







I do wish he'd mix up the quadruple-chocolate flavour a bit, but whenever I suggest banana or blueberry or something equaly outlandish he gets scared and begs me to keep making the chocolate ones.

Custard - it took me a while to refine DH's tastebuds enough that he noticed the difference between real and custard-powder custard. I'd just about given up when he went to his parents' for dinner and complained that his mum's custard tasted fake. Bwahaha!

Chocolate mousse - homemade chocolate mousse and the powdered add-milk-and-beat-for-three-minutes stuff are not even in the same genus. DH LOVES my chocolate mousse. Which makes me happy.









As for me, I made tomato sauce from homegrown cherry tomatoes last year... and WOW, it was amazing. I had to stop myself eating the whole batch with a spoon - so rich and sweet and tangy and flavoursome! Unfortunately tomato sauce uses up a whole heap of cherry tomatoes - an ice-cream container of the fruit made about 1/4 cup of sauce... so going back to the bought stuff was a sad necessity. I'm planting extra tomato plants this year, though!









I also vastly prefer homemade ice-cream to bought, but we don't have an ice-cream maker and I haven't quite figured out the texture issue. So DH prefers bought for its scoopability. We don't eat it very often though, because it tastes fake to me now.

And after buying jelly (jello) for the first time in months, I have definitely gone off the mysteriously lurid, nothing-natural-about-whatever's-in-this-red-powder packet stuff. I tried making some from scratch with mandarin juice and it wasn't awfully successful (too tart), but I'd like to try it with real grape juice. Anyone have any homemade jelly tips?


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## transformed (Jan 26, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lil_earthmomma* 
I can't stand commercial salad dressings. Blech.

LOL - you mean "soybean oil." Me too. I keep trying....cause i dont always have time to make stuff...actually I'll still make good seasons italian if I dont have time to make anything really fresh. mmmmmm. msg.









And Mayo is made out of soybean also. (And all this time you thought it was egg!)

I want to learn how to make mayo!!!


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## LauraLoo (Oct 9, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *transformed* 
LOL - you mean "soybean oil."

OMG. When we found out that ds has a soy allergy this past fall, I thought that the world was going to cave in. Soy is in everything. But now that I'm making almost everything from scratch - slowly but surely - it all seems so easy.

Just google for mayonnaise recipes -- use the olive oil ones.....yummy!


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## jldumm (Sep 6, 2006)

mmm made cheese saucefor chips... like rotel plus velveeta. so good.
and pitas, love fresh pita bread


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## AlwaysByMySide (May 4, 2007)

bread
waffles
anything that I used to make from Bisquick...so much better when you use the real ingredients.


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## transformed (Jan 26, 2007)

salsa. from real whole fresh ripe tomatoes.


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## Magelet (Nov 16, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Smokering* 
And after buying jelly (jello) for the first time in months, I have definitely gone off the mysteriously lurid, nothing-natural-about-whatever's-in-this-red-powder packet stuff. I tried making some from scratch with mandarin juice and it wasn't awfully successful (too tart), but I'd like to try it with real grape juice. Anyone have any homemade jelly tips?

add palm sugar? or perhaps pair a tart geletina with a sweet creamy (coconut milk and cream or whole milk) gelatin topping. but so they don't mix (and look pretty), let the fruit bottom layer set first.


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## vbactivist (Oct 4, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *fruitfulmomma* 
Yes, just like the frozen Lego's waffles but they are pancakes instead. My mom always buys a huge bag of them for my kids when we go down there. I don't know... they come out kind of rubbery but the kids like them. I would never buy them myself though.


and actually there is pancake mix that you just add water or an egg to. That's how I my parents always made them. And then in whole food for the whole family Iread how easy it was to just make my own flour part, and was like huh, why would anyone buy pancake mix? BNut people do









here is the mix I am talking about

http://www.auntjemima.com/


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## LemonPie (Sep 18, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Alyantavid* 
I'll have to post mine. Its amazing.

Looks delicious! I'll give them a try. Somehow I don't think DH will complain if I make a pan of brownies


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## LemonPie (Sep 18, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *rainyday* 
How do you make pancakes not from scratch? Are there frozen ones or something?

Well, there's the Krusteaz Mix that only requires water.

I have some pancake mix on hand, but it requires eggs, oil and milk. I didn't know that when I bought it or I wouldn't have bothered. But I do make whole-wheat pancakes from scratch. A friend gave me a recipe to make them with whole wheat berries in the blender and they come out sort of nutty. YUM. With fresh blueberries, DOUBLE YUM.


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## rhiandmoi (Apr 28, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Smokering* 
I also vastly prefer homemade ice-cream to bought, but we don't have an ice-cream maker and I haven't quite figured out the texture issue. So DH prefers bought for its scoopability. We don't eat it very often though, because it tastes fake to me now.

Haagen Dazs has a new line called 5 that only has Milk, Cream, Eggs, Sugar and the flavoring in it. They have Ginger, Mint, Chocolate, Vanilla, and a couple other flavors.


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## transformed (Jan 26, 2007)

I use the "add water" kind of pankackes.


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## Magelet (Nov 16, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *rhiandmoi* 
Haagen Dazs has a new line called 5 that only has Milk, Cream, Eggs, Sugar and the flavoring in it. They have Ginger, Mint, Chocolate, Vanilla, and a couple other flavors.

I eat bryers only, if I don't make it (no ice cream maker atm) because it has just milk, cream, sugar and strawberries, though I read online they now have something called "tara gum"? well its still better than most ice creams.

I realize that isn't the point of the thread. I'd love to make ice cream, but practically, don't see any real way of making it without an icecream maker. shaking plastic bags is fun when you're 8. not so much as an adult.


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Smokering* 
As for me, I made tomato sauce from homegrown cherry tomatoes last year... and WOW, it was amazing. I had to stop myself eating the whole batch with a spoon - so rich and sweet and tangy and flavoursome! Unfortunately tomato sauce uses up a whole heap of cherry tomatoes - an ice-cream container of the fruit made about 1/4 cup of sauce... so going back to the bought stuff was a sad necessity. I'm planting extra tomato plants this year, though!









Do you mean you're going back to buying tomato sauce, or buying tomatoes?

I've never cooked from raw tomatoes, but I've never bought sauce, either. I use plain canned tomatoes and add whatever I need for the sauce.

I still have lots of things I'd like to switch to homemade, but it's not going to happen for a while. I need to organize this place better, but I also need more room. I haven't been making my own bread since we had the baby, and I'm looking forward to feeling up to doing that again. Storebought doesn't taste as good, isn't as healthy and is _way_ more expensive.


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Magelet* 
I eat bryers only, if I don't make it (no ice cream maker atm) because it has just milk, cream, sugar and strawberries, though I read online they now have something called "tara gum"? well its still better than most ice creams.

You still have real Breyers? I've been finding it hard to find for the last few years. The Breyers in the stores now is full of the same stuff as all the others.


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## fruitfulmomma (Jun 8, 2002)

Quote:

You still have real Breyers? I've been finding it hard to find for the last few years. The Breyers in the stores now is full of the same stuff as all the others.
They have one called All Natural here in the States. The two we got both have Tara Gum in them. I really don't have a clue what that is. I guess it is better than some brands but I prefer my Haagen Daaz. FYI, the Five Chocolate is the exact same ingredients as the original.

I have made my own ice cream a couple of times and it was fair but the maker I had gotten was old and broke pretty quickly. I would like to get a new one and experiment.


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## rainyday (Apr 28, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Tiger Lily* 
Well, there's the Krusteaz Mix that only requires water.

I have some pancake mix on hand, but it requires eggs, oil and milk. I didn't know that when I bought it or I wouldn't have bothered. But I do make whole-wheat pancakes from scratch. A friend gave me a recipe to make them with whole wheat berries in the blender and they come out sort of nutty. YUM. With fresh blueberries, DOUBLE YUM.

Oh, yes, Krusteaz! I had that sometimes when I was growing up. I'd forgotten about it! I guess that means I've really gone over to the homemade side for pancakes - I'd forgotten about the mix I've actually eaten!


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## rainyday (Apr 28, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *rhiandmoi* 
Sad to say, but my husband prefers the taste of jar sauce over homemade, because it is sweet. Even though I neutralize the acid in the tomatoes with baking soda, and I've added extra tomato paste, and sugar. He just likes that HFCS flavor of Prego sauce. And it has to be Prego, none of the others work for him.

So basically, we just don't eat "spaghetti and red sauce" that often because I don't like the Prego sauce. Actually, I also prefer homemade noodles, and I don't make them that often. So we just don't eat that much pasta.

I wonder if he could be slowly weaned off of it - first a sauce that's almost all Prego, but a little homemade, and then slowly over time keep increasing the homemade amount, all the while keeping that Prego jar sitting on the counter...


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## rainyday (Apr 28, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *fruitfulmomma* 
Yes, just like the frozen Lego's waffles but they are pancakes instead. My mom always buys a huge bag of them for my kids when we go down there. I don't know... they come out kind of rubbery but the kids like them. I would never buy them myself though.

Wow.

I do generally make extra pancakes and freeze them, and they reheat fine - they're not as good as fresh, but they're nice for weekday breakfasts sometimes.


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *fruitfulmomma* 
They have one called All Natural here in the States. The two we got both have Tara Gum in them. I really don't have a clue what that is. I guess it is better than some brands but I prefer my Haagen Daaz. FYI, the Five Chocolate is the exact same ingredients as the original.

I have made my own ice cream a couple of times and it was fair but the maker I had gotten was old and broke pretty quickly. I would like to get a new one and experiment.

I haven't made my own, except once as a kid. I want to pick up one of the ice cream making balls, so I can get the kids to roll it all over the floor. They'd probably have a lot of fun, and we'd get homemade ice cream out of it.

DH made chicken alfredo from scratch tonight. That's something I've been meaning to try forever, but never got around to. Soooo yummy.


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## Smokering (Sep 5, 2007)

Aww, you're all naming ice cream brands we don't _have_ in NZ!









Quote:

Do you mean you're going back to buying tomato sauce, or buying tomatoes?

I've never cooked from raw tomatoes, but I've never bought sauce, either. I use plain canned tomatoes and add whatever I need for the sauce.
Buying tomato sauce. I'm talking about the thin, smooth ketchupy stuff. Pasta sauce (lumpy with onion and maybe bell pepper in) I make from canned tomatoes. I go through SO many cans of tomatoes it's ridiculous... I keep meaning to freeze tomatoes from the garden, but somehow there are never enough. And I don't like to buy fresh tomatoes from the supermarket, because they're expensive and ridiculously pale and anaemic-looking.


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## pishajane (Dec 27, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Smokering* 

Muffins! For a while at work he was buying muffins for morning tea at $4 each - yikes! Then I found out and was all "Dude, who do you think you're married to?" and started making and freezing quadruple-chocolate muffins. He prefers them over the bought ones.







I do wish he'd mix up the quadruple-chocolate flavour a bit, but whenever I suggest banana or blueberry or something equaly outlandish he gets scared and begs me to keep making the chocolate ones.


Ooh, please share the muffin recipe??







:
I'm looking for a good recipe but i just can't find the ONE.
Also, the tomato sauce recipe if you have the time! Thanks!!


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## jjawm (Jun 17, 2007)

Yogurt.
Buttermilk (I use my kefir instead)


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## transformed (Jan 26, 2007)

Storm Bride;14212562
DH made chicken alfredo from scratch tonight. That's something I've been meaning to try forever said:


> nummy! and easy!


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## Smokering (Sep 5, 2007)

pishajane: I didn't use a recipe for the tomato sauce, just kinda winged it. Let's see... I washed an ice cream container's worth of cherry tomatoes and whirred them up in the food processor, then tipped the revolting-looking sludgy foamy pulp into a sieve and drained it into a saucepan. I really squashed as much juice out as I could, but there was a lot of stuff left over (but I wanted a really pure, fine sauce with no flesh or seeds - not the most efficient, really). Then I added a slosh of white vinegar, a few whole cloves, some salt and a big spoon of brown sugar. And I just cooked it down until the juice thickened and reduced. Cherry tomatoes are a LOT sweeter than regular ones, so bear that in mind. I overcooked the mixture once and made tomato jam by accident - but you know, spread on homemade wholemeal bread it was delicious!

I'm not convinced my recipe for quadruple chocolate muffins is THE chocolate muffin recipe either, but DH really loves it. Here you go:

1 3/4 c plain flour
4tsp baking powder
1/4 c cocoa
1/2 c sugar
1/2 cup chocolate chips (white, milk or dark)
75g butter
2 eggs
3/4 c milk
Turkish Delight chocolate (Cadbury), or Caramello or whatever you fancy

Sift flour, baking powder and cocoa together; add sugar and chocolate chips and stir with a fork.

Melt butter, add eggs and milk, and mix lightly into dry ingredients.

Fill muffin tins good and full. Poke a piece of Turkish Delight chocolate (or whatever) into the tops; sprinkle tops with extra chocolate chips. (The original recipe says to put a teaspoon of raspberry jam in as the filling, which is good too, but DH prefers chocolate. Of course.)

Bake at 200C for 10-15 minutes.


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## pishajane (Dec 27, 2006)

Thanks so much Smokering! The muffins sound great - something my dh is sure to love too








And i'll try the sauce when cherry toms are back, it sounds delicious, and so much nicer than the heinz stuff!


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## AFWife (Aug 30, 2008)

I used the brownie recipe given in this thread and OH MY GOD!!!! I now refuse to ever buy a mix again! The brownies were fudgy and soft and perfect!


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## Alyantavid (Sep 10, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *AFWife* 
I used the brownie recipe given in this thread and OH MY GOD!!!! I now refuse to ever buy a mix again! The brownies were fudgy and soft and perfect!

I'm glad you liked them! I grew up on these and have never understood how people can eat boxed brownies.


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## Juvysen (Apr 25, 2007)

I make my own pizza sauce, but it's from canned tomato paste, water, oil, garlic and spices. I guess that's sort of semi-homemade. I've been meaning to try making my own tomato paste, but uh, i don't use a lot at a time and it seems like a lot of energy/time to do.

I make pizza dough from scratch.

I make cookies from scratch - store cookies are just not as good.


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## LemonPie (Sep 18, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Alyantavid* 
I'm glad you liked them! I grew up on these and have never understood how people can eat boxed brownies.

Do you bake them in a 9x9 or a 9x13?


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## AFWife (Aug 30, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Tiger Lily* 
Do you bake them in a 9x9 or a 9x13?

I think it just depends on how thick you want your brownies...I made mine in a 9x9 (I think...it was square...) but I like them really thick and really fudgy...


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## cristeen (Jan 20, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *fruitfulmomma* 
My recipe for tartar sauce is a base of mayo (I use Hellmans/Best Foods because I can not figure a good recipe out for homemade.)

Mayo is actually pretty easy - I make it a couple times a month usually... gonna go make some tonight for burgers. Once i committed to removing soy from my diet, making mayo became a priority (I was a mayo fiend, could use a quart in 2 weeks). Now I don't care for the taste of the jarred stuff at all.

1 egg yolk, 1/2 tsp prepared mustard (I use dijon), 1/4 tsp salt in a food processor. With the motor running drip in 1/4 c oil. By the time the oil is gone, you should have a very thick mayo that holds it's shape, if you don't you went too fast and need to start over - save this batch and you can add it back in later. Add 1 tsp each vinegar and lemon juice, then slowly drizzle in 1/2 c oil (if you have a failed batch, you can add it now, too).

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Cekimon* 
Now I make my own BBQ with organic ketchup and other ingredients. It's YUMMY.

I'd love a good BBQ sauce recipe - particularly one that wasn't full of sugar... most of the recipes I've found are about half ketchup (HFCS) and half sugar.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Alyantavid* 
Brownies:

That looks very similar to my recipe, only I use unsweetened chocolate instead of cocoa.







:

I also try to make my own jam during fruit season. This year I think I've managed to make enough to get us through to next year. I can only handle the store-bought stuff if it's the boutique/imported stuff that's handmade, and that's just so expensive it's not worth it.

Ice cream - I make my own most of the time, with either honey or maple as sweetener. I do occasionally buy it, but only if I can find brands without HFCS, and usually only for occasions where I'll need more than a quart.

I have started making soda. And while I haven't perfected my recipes yet, it is so much better than most store-bought sodas that it's ridiculous.


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## JustVanessa (Sep 7, 2005)

hummus
pancakes
mac n cheese
mushroom soup
meat sauce
alfredo sauce
salad (cannot stand bagged salad anymore)

the list goes on and on


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## ALittleBitCrunchy (Jan 8, 2005)

Most of mine are convenience/snack foods as the kids want to eat some foods and I refuse to let them eat the storebought. Instead, I make these things for them









Granola bars. I'm still using up some Bob's Red Mill granola that I bought cheap once upon a time, so not every batch is completely homemade, but they taste much better already!

Fruit leathers. I love the consistency of a fruit/yogurt blend and can't imagine why people buy Fruit Roll Ups.

Sherbet and ice cream. We have an ice cream maker so this is an easy one for us.

Pancakes. We used to use a mix. We're currently stuck on cornmeal pancakes - yum!

Tarts. In response to a desire for PopTarts I make toastable tarts with wheat pie crust.

I really, really, really want to make crackers but first attempt flopped and I need to talk myself into trying again. I'm also working on finding recipes I really like for cookies, brownies, cakes, etc. I would love to get rid of mixes for those!


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## riaketty (Jul 26, 2007)

Tortillas, enchilada sauce, gravy, all seasonings (italian seasoning, chili seasoning, etc.), all chili (the canned stuff tastes like dirt). Just about everything else.


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## PaytonPlace (Feb 27, 2008)

Salsa
Any sauce that we cook with (gravy, tomato sauce, alfredo, peanut sauce, etc)
Popcorn on the stove
Biscuits
Baked goods like cookies, cakes, all desserts
BBQ sauce
salad dressings

I love homemade bread but don't have the time to make it regularly. I wish I had a bread machine so I could just dump everything in there and let it do the work.


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## kimiij (Jun 18, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *rhiandmoi* 
Sad to say, but my husband prefers the taste of jar sauce over homemade, because it is sweet. Even though I neutralize the acid in the tomatoes with baking soda, and I've added extra tomato paste, and sugar. He just likes that HFCS flavor of Prego sauce. And it has to be Prego, none of the others work for him.

So basically, we just don't eat "spaghetti and red sauce" that often because I don't like the Prego sauce. Actually, I also prefer homemade noodles, and I don't make them that often. So we just don't eat that much pasta.

That's really interesting. I thought that it was just my weird taste buds, didn't realize there was HFCS in it.

I have stopped eating jarred spaghetti sauce because I can't stand the sweet taste. That's how I started making my own spaghetti sauce!


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

You know...I don't think I've ever actually used tomato sauce for anything, except spaghetti and chili. I do make butter chicken, which involves a tomato-based sauce, but it's certainly nothing like what I usually think of as "tomato sauce".


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## LauraLoo (Oct 9, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ALittleBitCrunchy* 

Fruit leathers. I love the consistency of a fruit/yogurt blend and can't imagine why people buy Fruit Roll Ups.

(snip)

Tarts. In response to a desire for PopTarts I make toastable tarts with wheat pie crust.


I would love your recipes for these!


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## transformed (Jan 26, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *cristeen* 
Mayo
1 egg yolk, 1/2 tsp prepared mustard (I use dijon), 1/4 tsp salt in a food processor. With the motor running drip in 1/4 c oil. By the time the oil is gone, you should have a very thick mayo that holds it's shape, if you don't you went too fast and need to start over - save this batch and you can add it back in later. Add 1 tsp each vinegar and lemon juice, then slowly drizzle in 1/2 c oil (if you have a failed batch, you can add it now, too).


yea!







: I am making this now! I had to kick dd off the computer to come get the recipe LOL because my cookbook says "refrigerated egg product"

hell no.

LOL.

do you add the lemon/vin no matter what or just if it fails?


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## Adamsmama (Oct 24, 2003)

Bread
bagels
tortillas
chicken broth
any type of muffin or baked good
spaghetti sauce
frosting


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## Adamsmama (Oct 24, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ALittleBitCrunchy* 
Most of mine are convenience/snack foods as the kids want to eat some foods and I refuse to let them eat the storebought. Instead, I make these things for them









Granola bars. I'm still using up some Bob's Red Mill granola that I bought cheap once upon a time, so not every batch is completely homemade, but they taste much better already!

Fruit leathers. I love the consistency of a fruit/yogurt blend and can't imagine why people buy Fruit Roll Ups.

Sherbet and ice cream. We have an ice cream maker so this is an easy one for us.

Pancakes. We used to use a mix. We're currently stuck on cornmeal pancakes - yum!

Tarts. In response to a desire for PopTarts I make toastable tarts with wheat pie crust.

I really, really, really want to make crackers but first attempt flopped and I need to talk myself into trying again. I'm also working on finding recipes I really like for cookies, brownies, cakes, etc. I would love to get rid of mixes for those!

Would love your fruit leather and tarts recipe!!!


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## cristeen (Jan 20, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *transformed* 
do you add the lemon/vin no matter what or just if it fails?

Only if it doesn't fail. If it fails, scrape it out and start over. Then proceed with the vinegar/lemon juice.


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