Cooking from Scratch - Page 2

[lil_earthmomma]

My quick solution for recipes that call for can of whatever soup (blech)

is to add cream cheese blended with some sour cream, garlic powder, onion powder and other spices to taste. This is quicker than making a bechamel, and gives really nice flavor and mouth feel.

[Thalia the Muse]

Stroganoff is easy to make from scratch (assuming that storebought sour cream and egg noodles count as "scratch" and canned cream-of soup doesn't).

Here's a classic one: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/fo...roganov-105587

[Magelet]

ETA: Disregard this!! I just found out that foods which list annatto can contain msg. so even if annatto has been used as coloring for a long time, modern cheese which lists annatto may contain msg. which is sad, because it is so much cheaper.

the weston a price shopping guide lists tillamook as a "good but not best" food though. does that mean its msg free? (I don't worry about naturally occuring glutamates, only manufactured ones)

[CHoney]

I'm just starting to cook from scratch too. So far I've cut out prepackaged frozen foods, like seasoned chicken breasts, and frozen lunches and dinners.
I think using canned tomatoes and beans are ok. I like using whole foods as much as possible.

I still buy organic soup broth too, because I haven't tried to make my own yet.

To me, cooking from scratch means cooking with as natural ingredients as possible.

My new favorite cookbook is an old LLL cookbook from the 80s that uses whole foods, and everything is cooked from scratch. Any whole food cookbook would have lots of ideas and healthy new recipes for you to try.

It sounds like you're doing great!

[elanorh]

I think that Alton Brown's cookbooks would be a really good reference/'text' for people who are learning to cook from scratch, too.

There aren't as many recipes as in The Joy of Cooking, because the recipes are essentially a 'master' recipe or two which is intended to teach a method of cooking (or baking, in the second book).

I agree that canned fruits and vegetables incorporated into a recipe (or frozen fruits or vegetables) are still 'from scratch.' We are mostly from-scratch at our house (along my definition, anyway ) - we do sometimes buy and use organic stock for recipes, and we do buy storebought crackers and chips but organic versions. DH is a snack fiend, so I could never get away with getting rid of pretzels/chips/candy bars. We grow and can or freeze much of our own food, other than what we buy via our CSA. We make our own bread ....

We don't make our own pasta, sausage, etc. yet. But do make our own jams/jellies/canned fruits/pickles/tomatoes. I'd love to start making my own mozzarella and experimenting with cheese making, but since we have allergies in the house - it's one of those items which is farther down on my 'to learn' list.

And I regret to say, I have yet to convince dh that homemade spaghetti sauce is better than storebought, canned sauce. It's what his mother used. I have convinced him that it's at least better with tomato paste added to it. I have an awesome spaghetti sauce recipe that I love, but dh prefers the canned stuff. He also likes spaghettios. So, we do keep some 'convenience' foods around (frozen pizza and spaghettios for dh). But that's about it .... I don't really use the 'box of this, can of that' sorts of recipes.

I think though, that sadly, for many people, 'box of this, can of that' is 'from scratch' cooking anymore.

[katelove]

^^^ It's hard to let go of those childhood things. My brother and I both still love, and regularly eat, Kraft processed cheddar cheese. The sort that comes in a blue cardboard box and doesn't need refrigerating 'til it's opened We grew up in a very isolated area and it was hard to transport and then store cold foods so that's what we had. Now I am all grown up I love lots of different cheeses, sheep's milk fetta nom nom nom, but the old Kraft is still a favourite standby. So I have some fellow feelings with your DH

[BetsyS]

One of my childhood guilty pleasures is cool whip. I love the stuff. I do limit it to once a year, but I could eat it every day. I make do with whipped cream, but it isn't the same.

[Storm Bride]

I've only skimmed the replies.

I cook from scratch, mostly. I call it "from scratch" if I use canned coconut milk, tomatoes, beans, etc. Occasionally, I'll use some canned fruit (not often - one or two recipes).

DH and I have a couple of back-up recipes that use canned soup. We don't make them very often. They're kind of a "didn't take anything out of the freezer, and am completely uninspired and we need to eat soon" thing. So, we keep a can or two of soup in the pantry - but that's not cooking from scratch, imo.

I do use packaged tortillas. I know I could find a recipe and make my own, but I have a small kitchen, and not a lot of counter space, and that just sounds like a lot of work. I also buy salad dressings. I'd like to make my own, but we all eat different ones, and I just can't see myself making that many different ones on a regular basis. Plus, dh likes blue cheese dressing, and I don't want to try to make that.

[mbm]

It's hard to let go of those childhood things. My brother and I both still love, and regularly eat, Kraft processed cheddar cheese.

I did not realize that cheese came in other forms than that until I was in college!

We also swear by How to Cook Everything. What makes it so great is that the recipes use very simple ingredients that I'm likely to have in the kitchen already. There are also a lot of variations, which makes it almost certain that we can cook *something* from that book with what we have around the house.

I buy canned and frozen veggies in addition to fresh, and I buy breads and broth. (I sometimes make those, but it's hard as a working mom to do it on a consistent basis.) I also keep a few packaged meals on hand for times when we don't feel like cooking for whatever reason.

[Klynne]

Originally Posted by Drummer's Wife

...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.

This is scratch cooking for me, plus baking my own bread weekly and then making whatever staples we like when I have time (think pasta, dressings, jams...). We are perimeter shoppers. lol I did make my own tortillas at one time, but now I prefer sprouted one's, I don't want to "take" the time to sprout, dehydrate, and grind : :

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 always omit whatever cream of _____ that is called for in a recipe (Actually I avoid those recipes altogether. I don't mean that in a snobby way). I prefer to throw in the mushrooms and add some extra some spices/herbs like garlic, cumin, onion, thyme, tarragon... whatever I feel like. Throw in some cream at the end and wha'la

[Smokering]

Meh. There are as many definitions of "from scratch" as there are cooks, I think! My version is as arbitrary as anyone else's: I make bread and chapattis and all my own baking (biscuits, cakes etc); I buy wholemeal pasta; I make my own chicken stock but also use chicken stock powder in other things; I make custard from scratch but use custard powder in my cupcake recipe; I make jelly out of fruit juice but DH buys icecream (although I've made it once or twice)... no rhyme or reason really! I confess I'm a bit of a snob about buying and cooking my own legumes rather than using canned chickpeas, but I don't really have a watertight argument for that. I go through tinned tomatoes by the gallon... and yes, I use them to make pasta sauce.

I think that instead of worrying about the technical "from scratchness" of an ingredient, you should just consider a few things: Would this be significantly cheaper to make myself? (Boxed mac and cheese... probably.) Would it be worth it in terms of the time it'd take? (Hulling pumpkin seeds... possibly not.) Could I avoid Ingredients of Evil or significantly add to the nutritional value by making it myself? (Again, boxed mac and cheese, probably... personally-hulled pumpkin seeds, probably not.) You know? And do factor in "If I don't have something quick and brainless to throw together at home we're going out for McDonalds" day meals, too. If you want to be semi-virtuous, wholemeal pasta and fancy organic pasta sauce is good for that.

[lucifugous]

Originally Posted by seashells

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

this is me exactly! on all counts, minus the frozen pizza because I love to make pizza totally from scratch about once a week. I make the dough and breads, but we currently still buy bread for sandwiches. and I have never tried to make my own tortillas, I leave that to the experts and the ones we get are local

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by Smokering

Meh. There are as many definitions of "from scratch" as there are cooks, I think! My version is as arbitrary as anyone else's:

This is a good point. The basic idea of cooking from scratch is pretty clear - but the boundaries? Very, very vague and blurry.

I make my own chicken stock but also use chicken stock powder in other things;

Yeah - I keep chicken stock in the freezer, but if I forget to thaw it and/or am short on time (or have too much crap piled on my freezer), then I use powder or liquid. I much prefer the taste of homemade stuff, though.

I think that instead of worrying about the technical "from scratchness" of an ingredient, you should just consider a few things: Would this be significantly cheaper to make myself? (Boxed mac and cheese... probably.) Would it be worth it in terms of the time it'd take? (Hulling pumpkin seeds... possibly not.) Could I avoid Ingredients of Evil or significantly add to the nutritional value by making it myself? (Again, boxed mac and cheese, probably... personally-hulled pumpkin seeds, probably not.) You know? And do factor in "If I don't have something quick and brainless to throw together at home we're going out for McDonalds" day meals, too. If you want to be semi-virtuous, wholemeal pasta and fancy organic pasta sauce is good for that.

Well said. I do use KD (Canadian name for Kraft mac and cheese) - more than I aspire to, but less than I used to. It's a combo of quick, cheap and...leftover warm fuzzy feelings from my youth.

[FischK]

We make most things from scratch. For us that means avoiding anything overly processed or anything containing HFCS. But we do use soup cubes (MSG-free) once in a while. More regularly we use curry pastes, soy sauce, fish sauce, etc. All processed foods, but making them seems too much work and we can't get most of the ingredients in town.

We also use canned tomatoes for sauces and canned beans for salads, but we use mostly dried beans. A lot cheaper and more versatile.

For beef stroganoff, we add brown mustard and sour cream to the sauce. Yummy.

IMHO, the best cookbook right now is Mark Bittman's "How to cook everything." It lives up to its name, and all the recipes are from scratch (including how to make your own coconut milk). But what I really like about it is that he takes the time to introduce different foods and their preparations before the recipes.