Cooking from Scratch

[mommytoavery]

For those of you who cook from scratch, what is your definition and how do you do it? I have looked into traditional foods and it just isn't for us. But I would love to start cooking from scratch. However, does this mean not using any cans of things. We eat a lot of tomatoes so I used canned organic ones when I can't get fresh organic ones on sale. Do you ever use things like tortillas, tortilla chips, etc. Just trying to get ideas on how to cook better around here. We used to eat out 10 - 15 times a week - I know a lot. We are down to about 1-2 a week. And last week I made pumpkin pie from an actual pumpkin (not a can) and the crust was from scratch not premade from the store and it turned out really good. This gave me some much needed confidence.

[cristeen]

From scratch is pretty much the same as whole foods in my book. It means when you look in my pantry or fridge, you don't see food, you see ingredients. I keep cans of tomatoes, coconut milk, beans, etc., in my pantry, I buy tortillas and bread, but I don't buy frozen burritos, or toaster pastries or cans of soup. I buy steel cut oats and brown rice instead of instant oatmeal packets and rice-a-roni. I make my own mayo, salad dressings, peanut butter, and even jams so that I can control what is in them.

That's what "from scratch" means to me.

[lil_earthmomma]

I agree that canned tomatoes still qualifies as "scratch" cooking. I mean, what do you have to actually grow the food for it to be truely from scratch?

I like that TF encompasses all sorts of ideals, and you don't have to embrace them all to consider yourself TF. I don't have anything fermenting in my kitchen, but I still consider my kitchen practices to be traditional in many ways.

[Drummer's Wife]

While I prefer for everything to be fresh (we don't do canned anything at this point) I would still say with something like tomatoes, or beans - it's cooking from scratch... canned cream of mushroom soup, however, is not homemade if you add milk and warm it up, yk?

Start slowly. Choose certain foods to cook completely from scratch every week, and learn as you go. We do make our own tortillas at this point, but still buy bakery bread most of the time.

Biggest thing would be to stop buying anything pre-packaged or dinner-in-a-box type of stuff. Nothing instant, or dehydrated powder in a packet.

I really try to stay in the perimeter of my grocery store and buy milk, eggs, cheese, meat, and fresh produce. I also buy brown rice, and boxed pasta (though I have been really wanting to make my own.) Then I have no choice but to cook from scratch, and/or eat whole foods as is.

[katelove]

I second that, tinned products count as "from scratch". I like to cook from scratch as much as possible. For me this means using base components to make the finished product, so tinned tomatoes to make pasta sauce counts but adding a few extra veges to a bottled pasta sauce doesn't.

[noobmom]

I mostly cook from scratch, but that doesn't mean we don't have prepared food in the house too. Some days I'm too tired/late/hungry and a frozen pizza is just the thing for dinner. Other days I make the dough, the sauce, slice veggies, grate cheese, the whole nine yards, and make homemade pizza. Whatever works that day!

I use some canned products, but generally they are single food-type items (i.e. the ingredient list only include 1-2 things on it: canned tomatoes, beans, coconut milk. And of course I use things like butter that I could in theory, but don't choose to.

I wouldn't get too hung up on the exact definition of cooking from scratch. I rarely use the term anyway. And you'd be surprised what the general population (not MDC) considers "cooking". Going from eating out 10-15 times a week to 1-2 is really great already. Just continue doing what you enjoy (and makes you feel healthier) and you'll find a happy medium for yourself and your family.

[mommytoavery]

Okay so if I am making hamburger stroganoff and it calls for cream of mushroom soup - what do I do? I would love to not have to use the canned stuff, but I wouldn't know where to start on making my own. Does this just take time to learn or do you guys substitute a lot of ingredients or maybe I just need a new cookbook???

[Drummer's Wife]

Originally Posted by mommytoavery

Okay so if I am making hamburger stroganoff and it calls for cream of mushroom soup - what do I do? I would love to not have to use the canned stuff, but I wouldn't know where to start on making my own. Does this just take time to learn or do you guys substitute a lot of ingredients or maybe I just need a new cookbook???

Here's an easy recipe (I'm making it tomorrow) but you can certainly use stuff like canned soup for convenience. I was just comparing canned soup to canned tomatoes from a homemade perspective.

While it takes more time to make the soup portion, I think it tastes much better, and you know all of the ingredients. Canned soups are often really high in sodium, and may have stuff like MSG in them.

[Magelet]

I'd definitely say that different people define it different ways.

For me, canned tomatoes, canned coconut milk, storebought ketchup, these things feature in my cooking, which I would consider usually from scratch. Canned beans, canned soups (such as cream of mushroom) would to me, render a meal not made from scratch, nor healthy nor suitable for eating, for the second (thought that's my opinion). Sometimes we buy bread, sometimes we make it (but bought bread is always similar to bread we could make at home, not processed bread). I'd like to make tortillas, but haven't gotten to it yet, so when we (rarely) eat them, we buy them. We almost never eat mayo, because I haven't made a suitable product, and won't buy it because I don't like the quality. Ketchup, fish sauce, hot sauce, and soy sauce are essentially the only condiments I buy, instead of making, I think. salad dressings we make.

I personally wouldn't buy tortilla chips except as a very rare treat, but I would happily make them from storebought (or homemade) tortillas. (like mayonaise, this has to do with the type of fat in them). I will use things like canned pumpkin for thanksgiving pies(though I'd definitely like to try it from real pumpkin, pumpkin soup from real pumpkin is amazing), but essentially the only canned items in our pantry are tinned fish (sardines and anchovies) and various forms of canned tomatoes.

For me, making from scratch is a balence of health and taste, vs conveince and price. Yes, it is slightly healthier and tastier to can my own tomatoes from heirlooms in season, but until I have a big garden, it is far too expensive. So I use canned tomatoes, and try to avoid BPA in all other aspects of life. I live in a place with abundant produce and mild seasons, so there is something seasonal year round. I feel no need to buy frozen or canned corn or green beans, when I can buy cheap fresh corn in summer, and cheap fresh kale in winter, and such. There is so much seasonal produce that few things do I feel a need to have stored. Hopefully someday when I have a garden, I can put more things up, but for now, the delights of year round seasonality work in my favor.

If you are starting out with from scratch cooking and are new to it, I would HIGHLY recommend getting yourself a copy of "the joy of cooking". the older the better, but a new copy is what I have and it works fine too. It has recipes for EVERYTHING (including cream of mushroom/cream of anything soup). Well, it has recipes for most everything from a western/european centric view, with some samplings from other cultures. It is a wonderful reference.

I must say though, it really interests me, I can't figure it out. For some reason, this seems to be the biggest thing, for people starting from scratch cooking is what to do about cream of mushroom soup, and I've never made a recipe in my life that called for it. I'm not sure I've ever even seen one. Maybe its having different cookbooks and family recipes? There are plenty of cookbooks out there with great from scratch cooking.

I particularly like "the art of simple food" (more method than recipe based, but amazing), "the san francisco ferry plaza farmer's market cookbook" (seasonally organized, every single recipe I've made from it has been a HUGE hit, phenomenal!), as well as of course the joy of cooking as a reference book. Being a foodie, I have many many more cookbooks on my shelf, but those are some of my all-time favorites. You simply can't go wrong with those three.

[katelove]

If I had a favourite recipe(s) that called for cream of mushroom soup I would probably do one of two things (and maybe both these things). Either, keep some tins in the pantry and use them (we all need shortcuts sometimes) for those recipes. Or, find a recipe for C of M soup on the internet, make a big batch and freeze it in recipe size portions. Apparently if you put stuff in ziplock bags and lay them in a baking tray they freeze in nice flat shapes and you can then stack them up to save space.

I have only done this with stock and tomato sauce so far but it could work for many things.

[velochic]

To me, cooking from scratch is using ingredients as close to their natural form as possible. That means in the summer, we use fresh tomatoes and in the winter, tinned/canned tomatoes. In the summer, fresh corn, and in the winter frozen or canned corn. I sometimes grind my own wheat, but mostly purchase flour in bags.

So, for me, authentic 100% scratch cooking is only from single ingredients. I wouldn't go so far to say flour is not cooking from scratch, but if you can grind your own, it's healthier. A can of soup is definitely not scratch cooking. Making the soup, then using it, is. Perhaps I'm a bit of a literalist. Breadcrumbs from a can is not scratch, but baking the bread and making your own is. These are the reasons I cannot say that I cook 100% from scratch. I'll make breadcrumbs from store-bought bread. I use lipton's onion soup mix, ketchup, and store-bought saltine crackers in my meatloaf.

I think you have to find your happy medium. For us, we are 99% all-natural, and 80% from scratch because we like to eat things like all-natural potato chips, pretzels, ice cream, crackers, store-bought yogurt. So, I won't typically use something that has preservatives or artificial anything, but it might be a ready made product. Entrees and sides are almost always scratch, though.

The one exception is this beef roast the whole family loves and something I grew up with my non-cooking mother making... roast in a crockpot with cream of mushroom soup poured over. We only eat this about once every two months because my mom has high blood pressure and the "healthy" versions of this soup are just not up to snuff for her. This is literally the ONLY thing we eat with C of M soup in it. When mom is gone (she lives with us), I'll probably never make it again. I just cannot get over how unhealthy that stuff is.

[crunchy_mama]

I agree w/ the idea that it means that we have ingredients and not prepackaged meals- meaning when dh looks in the cabinet he says- there is nothing to eat- but I know there are tons of meals that could be made!

[velochic]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mama

I agree w/ the idea that it means that we have ingredients and not prepackaged meals- meaning when dh looks in the cabinet he says- there is nothing to eat- but I know there are tons of meals that could be made!

We keep tons of fruits and cleaned chopped veggies on hand so the dh and dd cannot make this complaint.

[Alyantavid]

I mostly cook from scratch. We do buy bread, tortillas, chips, some frozen and canned things.

I raise my own food as well and preserve that so that helps, but I don't have any issue using canned items. We can't do the cream of whatever soups anyways because of allergies, but I think the homemade versions are much.

[noobmom]

Originally Posted by mommytoavery

Okay so if I am making hamburger stroganoff and it calls for cream of mushroom soup - what do I do? I would love to not have to use the canned stuff, but I wouldn't know where to start on making my own. Does this just take time to learn or do you guys substitute a lot of ingredients or maybe I just need a new cookbook???

If your cookbook has recipes calling for cream-of-mushroom soup, then yes, you need a new cookbook!

It's very easy to sub for a cream-of-whatever soup. You basically want a bechamel sauce. Melt a couple of tablespoons of butter in a small pot. Add an equal amount of flour and cook for a few minutes until it's golden tan. Then slowly whisk in about two cups of milk. Cook it until it's as thick as you need.

If you want it to be a mushroom (like for beef stroganoff), add some sliced sauteed mushrooms and onions. But in 99% of the cases for those cream-of-whatever recipes the "flavor" of the soup doesn't matter anyway, so you don't have to needlessly complicate things. BTW, this is basically the base for making mac-and-cheese also. After you make the bechamel you would start adding handfuls of grated cheese to make the cheese sauce. Truly, the cream-of soups were used to substitute for making a bechamel sauce, not the other way around.

Here's a link to an exact recipe, if you prefer:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/m...ipe/index.html

[seashells]

I started cooking by using those kinds of recipes (calling for a can of cream-of-mushroom soup, for example). And then I went to the next level. I don't judge those who use prepared ingredients as part of their cooking; I'm happy to see people cooking at all (which I define as anything that requires any assembly, for example throwing a microwave pizza in the oven isn't, but meaning green bean casserole with a can of cream of mushroom soup is, imho).

As far as canned single ingredients (beans or crushed tomatoes or whatever) I consider them as part of scratch cooking. My personal holy grail is local eating, and if I only ate fresh food year round I'd either starve or have to eat food from Peru and New Zealand in winter (which I'm just not down with). Preserving food is part of tradition, and preserved foods are part of scratch cooking. I grant you that I personally prefer to soak and cook dried beans myself, and freeze them in portions for use, than using canned beans with their additives ("to preserve color") but I'm not above using a can of beans in a pinch either. A can of crushed, stewed or pureed tomatoes are part of scratch cooking, imho, though a can of Ragu isn't. The ultimate being that you canned them yourself, which I don't think is realistic for everyone in this society. (I haven't gotten there yet, myself, but I think I will get there).

[sunnysandiegan]

Originally Posted by seashells

I started cooking by using those kinds of recipes (calling for a can of cream-of-mushroom soup, for example). And then I went to the next level. I don't judge those who use prepared ingredients as part of their cooking; I'm happy to see people cooking at all (which I define as anything that requires any assembly, for example throwing a microwave pizza in the oven isn't, but meaning green bean casserole with a can of cream of mushroom soup is, imho).

As far as canned single ingredients (beans or crushed tomatoes or whatever) I consider them as part of scratch cooking. My personal holy grail is local eating, and if I only ate fresh food year round I'd either starve or have to eat food from Peru and New Zealand in winter (which I'm just not down with). Preserving food is part of tradition, and preserved foods are part of scratch cooking. I grant you that I personally prefer to soak and cook dried beans myself, and freeze them in portions for use, than using canned beans with their additives ("to preserve color") but I'm not above using a can of beans in a pinch either. A can of crushed, stewed or pureed tomatoes are part of scratch cooking, imho, though a can of Ragu isn't. The ultimate being that you canned them yourself, which I don't think is realistic for everyone in this society. (I haven't gotten there yet, myself, but I think I will get there).

Most of what seashells said is how I feel about the subject.

Getting started is often the hardest part. Use whatever works until you are comfortable, then you can take it to the next level. Going from eating out 10-15 times a week down to 1-2 is awesome progress! Pat yourself on the back!

We live in an area where we can get fresh food year-round, so preserving isn't "necessary" for our lifestyle. We are still progressing towards a more whole foods way of eating. Our food is a mix of whole foods, single ingredient cans/bags of package foods, and not so whole food items. The percentage of whole foods has gone up substantially and the percentage of "not so whole foods" has gone down substantially; while the percentage of singe ingredient packaged foods has stayed essentially flat. The greatest changes for us have been the types of food and where we purchase food.

[Ola_]

Originally Posted by cristeen

It means when you look in my pantry or fridge, you don't see food, you see ingredients. I keep cans of tomatoes, coconut milk, beans, etc., in my pantry, I buy tortillas and bread, but I don't buy frozen burritos, or toaster pastries or cans of soup. I buy steel cut oats and brown rice instead of instant oatmeal packets and rice-a-roni.

This is how we do it as well. I use fresh ingredients when available but I certainly have canned ones also. I'm sure growing my own food would be the ideal, but at the moment we are not able to do that save for some herbs that I grow on my windowsill.

[mamadelbosque]

Another yeah that for sea shell. If your looking for a good, basic, simple cookbook so that you can learn to really 'cook' try Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything". It is such a great book, with recipes for most basic western/american meals, and practicly everything I've ever made from one of his books (I have HTCE, HTCE: Vegetarian & The Best Recipes in the World), has turned out wonderful. Several of his recipes are now standard fare around here

As for me... I buy mostly ingredeints and definetly include canned tomatoes in scratch. And I use store-bought pizza sauce cause' I like it and haven't (yet) found a recipe for pizza sauce I like enough to permeantly sub for it... Someday! And I definetly still buy mac'n cheese, hotdogs, frozen pizza, chicken nuggets & tater tots for the occasional lunch once or twice a week.

[seashells]

Originally Posted by mamadelbosque

As for me... I buy mostly ingredeints and definetly include canned tomatoes in scratch. And I use store-bought pizza sauce cause' I like it and haven't (yet) found a recipe for pizza sauce I like enough to permeantly sub for it... Someday! And I definetly still buy mac'n cheese, hotdogs, frozen pizza, chicken nuggets & tater tots for the occasional lunch once or twice a week.

Yup. I consider myself a scratch cooker, but you will still find in my fridge:

- Tortillas (I can make my own from flour, but mine turn out heavy and yucky, so I'm happy with buying tortillas)
- Mayonnaise, soy sauce, ketchup, mustard
- Frozen pizza for DD to eat in a pinch (I can and do make my own totally from scratch pizza too, though)
- Cheese, including the orange-colored shredded cheddar cheese. I don't love orange color but the $% companies charge you almost twice as much to omit it, go figure. Making my own mozzerella is a project I intend to undertake, but I haven't yet.
- Some canned refried beans - I don't use them too much but sometimes? sure.

I don't make my own butter or sour cream. If I bake chocolate-chip cookies, you can bet the chocolate chips will come out of a bag. Ultimately I don't think there is a hard line for scratch cooking, it's a continuum, and you're on it