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What do you make from scratch on a regular basis?

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picote:
One of my major goals for the year is to overhaul our food budget and cut back on processed foods. I made mayo for the first time yesterday and can’t believe how easy it was. I can hardly wait to start experimenting with flavored mayos!

I know many here make yogurt in the instant pot. That’s on my list. Wondering what other basics are worth making from scratch, either because of improved taste/quality, fewer preservatives or lower cost.

The ones on my list to try so far:
Salad dressing (first recipe I tried was just ok, but still better than store bought glop)
Mayo
Yogurt/Greek yogurt
Bread (found a great Jewish rye recipe, but it only seems to be good for a few days. Need to convert to making it in the bread maker I think)
Broth/stock

What else am I missing?

[edited to add that I’ve been thinking about getting a deli slicer as well. We go through a TON of deli sliced turkey.]

caribougrrl:
that's a good list... I find that although I love making bread, it's one of the first things I stop doing if I'm busy because it's a long process... but also, I don't have a bread maker

re: salad dressing - I rarely make up salad dressing, certainly not in quantity... just dress the salad before serving, usually with some really good olive oil and either vinegar or lemon juice... sometimes I'll make a small quantity of something more sophisticated (oil, lemon, garlic OR oil, mustard, honey, balsamic OR sesame oil, tamari, maple syrup) but still only enough for the salad we're eating... most recipes are 2:1 oil:acid, I prefer 2:1 acid:oil or even 3:1 acid:oil

homemade yogurt costs me about the same as store bought, but way less plastic waste since I buy milk in cartons... the taste is similar, so the advantage for me is all in waste reduction

if you can make yogurt, you can make sour cream (you need to buy a starter), and I do find that homemade sour cream has much better flavour than commercial (artificially soured) sour cream

I would also add for consideration:
hummus
pasta/noodles (you will not save money here, but the taste is worthwhile)
apple sauce
mustard

Not exactly basics, but worth doing from scratch:
gravlax (if you are fan of cured salmon, it is super-easy to do yourself)
quick pickles (easy way to add some brightness to meal)
chutneys, relishes

picote:
Ahh, hummus! I used to do that all the time and got out of the habit. I was wondering about pasta as well—can you make and freeze it and still have the flavor and texture hold up?

Re bread, I’m hoping to find a recipe that’s good enough I can pre-measure ingredients and make it easy with the bread maker.

And I had no idea you could make mustard. DH has been on a quest for good Dijon. Our condiment rack in the fridge probably has 6 different bottles of mustard, none of which meet his standards. Will definitely add that to the list.

Pickles is a good one. We go through a ton of them.

These are great suggestions! Do you have any recipes/instructions on gravlax? We get this as a special treat, but I’ve been looking for an excuse to buy the Costco salmon and not have a chunk go to waste. So much cheaper than our supermarket!

picote:
And I had no idea you could easily make sour cream! Will have to look into that!

BonitaApplebum:
I don't know quite how regularly I do it, but if we are having soup I almost always make it from scratch -- I can't remember the last time I bought canned soup.

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