Anyone cook everything from scratch, no boxed or processed foods at all?

[kimmar067]

...Dessert was rice pudding made with rice, milk, sugar, and an egg. I guess that was more natural than a box of Jello.

....jello is NOT natural. [ ]

 

[LisaR]

I was just thinking back to my thread asking the vegetarians/vegans what they are cooking for the holiday.
one poster, I think it was LisaR said she doesn't use anything prepared or in a box, everything from scratch.

so for anyone who cooks like this, what about bread, do you make all your own bread, rolls, wraps etc?
how much time do you spend preparing meals?
and what is your grocery bill like?

what do you do in a pinch when you need a fast meal?

I think I could save some money on groceries and eat healthier but it seems so overwhelming to never use anything prepared or from a box.
for instance salad dressing, pasta sauce, even granola bars and bread.

most of my family eats a vegetarian/vegan diet.

I can't say "everything" but 99%. I have things that come in a box or container like rice pasta, mustard, oat milk, etc. I do not have anything like Mac N Cheese, frozen prepared meals, jarred sauces, etc. My feeling is that I shouldn't have to read the label because there shouldn't be much to read. If it comes with a packet of seasoning, some type of sauce, or other things added, I don't buy it. My boxed tomatoes contain only tomatoes. My frozen veggies are just the veggies themselves. That is what I mean when I say everything from scratch. I'm not milling my own corn or harvesting my own sugar cane.

I do make my own salad dressing, granola, tortillas, pasta sauce, pancake batter, and lots of other things. I do it for health reasons and I also do it because I truly enjoy cooking most of the time.

 

[VBsHustla]

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[honeydiane1953]

I stay at home so most everything here is from scratch. It just tastes so much better. Mother used to make instant potatoes. When I learned how to make them form scratch I couldn't believe the difference. I even fry french fries from scratch. My family is spoiled.

 

[Jedana]

No, I still use boxed pasta and occasionally canned soup. Oh, and sauce for stirfrys, sliced bread/buns, etc. I use bottled salad dressings, mayo, ketchup, etc. We don't do a lot of boxed/canned items--too much salt.


I do make my own spaghetti sauce.
I prefer to make my own soups, chilis, stews, chicken/beef stock, etc.
I can make bread, I just don't do so very often.
I make my own versions of Rice a Roni, Mac n cheese, etc.
I Oven fry potatoes (uses much less fat) instead of buying frozen or cooking in oil.

Once I find a pasta machine I like (and can afford), I'll probably start doing my own pastas as well.

Cake mixes are one thing I wont' give up. Frostings, yes, but I can't do a cake without a cake mix to save my life.

 

[emer95]

I'm much better than I used to be, mostly because of this food blog, Annie's Eats. Today's post is perfect for this topic:
http://annies-eats.com/

I still use boxed pasta, and we do eat boxed cereal. I don't have any goals to be 100% from scratch or anything like that, but I do think we've become healthier than we used to be, and that's good enough for me.

 

[mombrontrent]

I am also a vegetarian although the rest of my family isn't. I am really surprised by all the people here who cook so much from scratch. I cook alot from scratch and people I know think I'm nuts for all the time and effort I put into it but it does taste so much better. I don't know anyone else in "real life" that cooks like I do except for my best friend. I will never buy another jar of pasta sauce or salsa again, nothing compares to homemade. I'll make my own BBQ sauce and salad dressing but not mayo, ketchup or mustard. The only cans in my pantry are tuna (my Dh takes for lunch), tomatoes and beans (although I also use dried beans). I do buy pasta, bread products, and I even have some boxes of KD in the pantry but it is the "smart KD" made with veggies. I make my own broth but I will also buy the organic kind in a carton as well. Homemade rice a roni tastes 100x better then the boxed kind and is just as quick and easy to make. I use lots of grains such as barley, quinoa, bulgar, different rices ect. I use lots of fruits and veggies and like to buy organic when possible. I will buy granola bars, crackers, corn tortilla chips, pretzels and such for my kids lunches and I even buy the occasion tub of icecream or bag of chips. I'm not looking to totally deprive my family

 

[LisaR]

I mostly do, too. I'm a whole-plant-food only vegan as well. I eat rice, beans, oats, sometimes pasta, tomatoes, low sodium organic vegetable broth, applesauce, frozen fruit, and frozen vegetables that come in boxes or packages, but all of those (excluding the broth) literally have the one ingredient. I also consider the type of packaging I buy when it comes to these things. Other than that, my diet consists mostly of sweet potatoes, potatoes, lots of greens, fresh vegetables, and fresh fruit. I will eat bread, but only when I make it. So I end up eating it about 4 times per year. Making granola bars, sauce, salsa, salad dressing, etc. is second nature to me by now. I like making all of those, actually. It's fun to experiment with those!

I think it's actually far cheaper to eat this way. Those boxes of food and frozen items seem really expensive to me. I buy almost everything at Whole Foods and eat almost completely organic (the only things I'll eat that aren't organic are: oranges, avocados, bananas, and sometimes sweet potatoes), and I feel like I spend WAY less on groceries than some of the people I know who tell me I'm nuts to spend money at WF and on organics. We spend about $120-$150 a week for 3-4 people, depending on who's home at the time.

If you are interested, give this a try for a broth replacement:

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/01/chickenless-soup-for-cold.html

Scroll down past the soup recipe (which is also good) to the Chickenless Seasoning Blend. You can leave out the salt. I make up a container full and just use it as needed which is often.

I also can my own broth. I make up a huge batch and pressure cook it in quart jars. I don't use it often because I find the blend above pretty much works in everything.

 

[Katy Belle]

I cook a lot from scratch, but certainly not everything.

A funny story... A few weeks ago we had a super busy Saturday, which started with my oldest son needing a ride to wal mart at 5:30 a.m. I shopped while he did his National Honor Society service project. I bought frozen french fries and frozen popcorn chicken.....which I NEVER do. I thought it would be easy and a TREAT. Well, we ate it for lunch and no one liked it at all! My boys told me how happy they were that i was a good cook and they didnt have to eat frozen food!

 

[npmommie]

I want to cook more from scratch; I'm pretty confused about how to go about it though and what qualifies as "from scratch." Dinner, for instance, was mac n cheese. The macaroni pasta was boxed, the cheese was shredded cheddar in a bag, and I used a can of evap milk. 2/3 items were from the center aisles, but it wasn't from a box, so I'm not sure where it falls on the "natural" scale.

This is how I feel too, because when you check the ingredients on the cheese, there are some funky ones. I try to stick with the organic cheese, if I can.

I stay at home so most everything here is from scratch. It just tastes so much better. Mother used to make instant potatoes. When I learned how to make them form scratch I couldn't believe the difference. I even fry french fries from scratch. My family is spoiled.

LOL, I make mashed pot from scratch, but my dh loves instant potatoes, omg the horror!!

I'm much better than I used to be, mostly because of this food blog, Annie's Eats. Today's post is perfect for this topic:
http://annies-eats.com/

I still use boxed pasta, and we do eat boxed cereal. I don't have any goals to be 100% from scratch or anything like that, but I do think we've become healthier than we used to be, and that's good enough for me.

thanks for the link, the bread and roll recipes are just what I am looking for!

I cook a lot from scratch, but certainly not everything.

A funny story... A few weeks ago we had a super busy Saturday, which started with my oldest son needing a ride to wal mart at 5:30 a.m. I shopped while he did his National Honor Society service project. I bought frozen french fries and frozen popcorn chicken.....which I NEVER do. I thought it would be easy and a TREAT. Well, we ate it for lunch and no one liked it at all! My boys told me how happy they were that i was a good cook and they didnt have to eat frozen food!

this is my problem, my kids love chicken nuggets, I try to stick with the more natural brands frozen, ( bell and evans, Ians), I have tried to make them from scratch several different ways, they hate it, they prefer the frozen.


so the biggest things I don't cook from scratch are frozen chicken nuggets, patties,etc, and bread.
right now in my freezer are frozen chicken patties, frozen gardein brand faux burgers, and frozen french fries. ( I usually make my own french fries, but felt lazy!)
If I could master chicken nuggets and bread so everyone would like them that would be good.
and since we eat a ton of pasta, I think I will try to make my own sauce. I buy sauce at BJ's. their house brand, and I think the only ingredients are tomatoes, olive oil, and spices. thats it. so not bad.


we do eat boxed cereal too, that is not natural.
salad dressing, I do make it sometimes, but I have been hooked lately on the Boathouse Farms yogurt dressings, they are so good.

I have made mayo in the past , its kind of easy. but I do buy it now. I should make it again.

I am starting with bread and chicken nuggets

 

[OceanAnnie]

You guys would really like the book, Make the Bread, Buy the Butter. The author has a great sense of humor and made all sorts of things from scratch. As the title suggests, she walks you through making things (with recipes and suggestions) from scratch and rates the difficulty and hassle factor. I was surprised by some things, such as marshmallows, others not so much. It's a fun read!

ETA- I have cut down on boxed and processed foods. It's a work in progress at our house.

 

[Dancind]

More and more from scratch here, for the same reasons as MzDiz. I am really gluten intolerant, and sugar messes me up too. So I try very hard to stay Primal, but have a family that likes treats. OK, I do too. So I've been learning to make ice cream, cookies, etc without wheat or sugar. It's been interesting.

Funny how the reasons here are all over the map. Vegans and Primal eaters are pretty far apart. But I guess we all like food that tastes good!

I kind of love that a lot of great French recipes can fit into my eating plan, but they do take a while to make.

 

[jsmith]

Im curious how you can make ice cream at all on a primal/paleo diet-dairy is NOT in any way shape or form Primal-its totally an agricultural product and i cant imagine anything made only with eggs resembling ice cream.

 

[dngnb8]

most of my family eats a vegetarian/vegan diet.

If youre mostly rabbits, I would suggest par boiling your veges before storing. Boil in salted water for about 3 min, then submerge in ice bath. Dry, then freeze. This will allow fast cooking

 

[lillygator]

anyone willing to share their recipes? especially the pasta sauce and condiment ones?

I try and do a lot from scratch...

 

[npmommie]

my favorite pasta sauce recipe came from the Earthbound Farm Food to Live By cookbook. I made it last summer and it was so good.
http://books.google.com/books?id=y_...wfO97WPAg&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

I keep taking the cookbook out of the library, I may have to splurge and buy it. Its really a good cookbook.

and the mayo recipe I have used is from an old book The New Vegetarian Cookbook ( prob about 20 yrs old at least!)

1 egg at room temperature
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups unsaturated oil like safflower or peanut
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

put the egg salt and 1/4 cup of the oil in a blender. blend it slow, and when it is fully blended slowly pour in 1/2 cup of the oil, while the blender is still going. then add the lemon juice and apple cider vinegar. add the last 1/2 cup of oil very slowly continue to blend til it thickens. store in refrigerator.
makes about 1 3/4 cups.

 

[Goofyluver]

anyone willing to share their recipes? especially the pasta sauce and condiment ones?

I try and do a lot from scratch...

My favorite...we double the recipe because I like more sauce.

http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/01/tomato-sauce-with-butter-and-onions/

 

[npmommie]

My favorite...we double the recipe because I like more sauce.

http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/01/tomato-sauce-with-butter-and-onions/

some of the recipes on there look so good I will be using this site for sure!

 

[Diznygrl]

I am really surprised by all the people here who cook so much from scratch.

Yeah, well I think it's a bit skewed. Mostly only the people who DO cook from scratch will feel inclined to answer this question.

So I'm going to go against the grain and say HELL NO! Yeah, I cook things from scratch but you'll still find plenty of boxes and cans in this house.

 

[VBsHustla]

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