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make all your food?

i don't mean ingredients.

in time gone by, people used to make almost all their food and only brought ingredients from the shop. does anyone still make all their cakes, biscuits, bread, dinners, pies, pizza's etc...?

i am a stay at home mum and i am planning to cook a lot more. i wanted to know what other people are doing for inspiration.

NO RUDENESS PLEASE!
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Comments

  • LameWolf
    LameWolf Posts: 11,237 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 14 November 2014 at 2:08PM
    Yes, I do.

    I can't remember the last time I bought cakes or biscuits; I make bread in the BM, and cook from scratch.

    I'm vegetarian, and my DH is good enough to eat veggie at home (I can't handle meat or fish at all).

    Examples of dinners are:
    Shepherd Spy made with soya mince
    Lasagne
    Toad-in-the-hole
    Pizza - I make the dough in the BM, and top it with tomato puree, cheese, onion, Quorn bacon-style slices, basil (off the windowsill), tomato slices and pineapple chunks
    Mushroom risotto
    Pasta fusilli in cheese sauce
    Quorn pieces in white wine sauce
    Nut loaf (home made) with rice and sweet'n'sour sauce and pineapple chunks - I should mention I make all my sauces myself
    Omelette - DH makes this on a Saturday for us and chucks in peas, tomatoes, onion, cheese and Quorn bacon-style slices cut small

    Soups:
    Onion
    Carrot and ginger
    Potato and pasta
    Tomato

    For DH's lunchbox:
    Carrot'n'orange cake
    Cherry and coconut cake
    Chocolate buns
    Sultana and spice buns
    Coffee and walnut cake
    "Lemming" (lemon) cake
    Shortbread (sometimes I add mixed spice or ginger)
    Birsay biscuits (requires Bere flour, but I'm told spelt flour can be used)

    Hopefully a few meat/fish eaters will be along with some ideas soon, too.
    HTH. :o
    If your dog thinks you're the best, don't seek a second opinion.;)
  • bossymoo
    bossymoo Posts: 6,924 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I do a mix of both. As a part time working lone parent of a preschooler and a 5yr old, we just get by however we can.

    Obviously I'd prefer they only ever had food made by my own fair hands, but I have to balance time and effort with other priorities, such as getting some sleep sometimes and keeping on top of the never ending laundry! :D

    Example, last night they had omelette and home made potato wedges, but with shop-bought baked beans. Tonight we are having shop-bought meatballs but with fresh broccoli and I draw the line at pasta making ;)

    So I guess it depends where your definitions lie. Most foods have been processed to some point. I include milk and flour, sugar, butter in that statement. Having said that, the fewer unpronounceable ingredients the better, in my opinion.

    You need to do what works best for your family, and whatever is sustainable.
    Bossymoo

    Away with the fairies :beer:
  • I make most of my food, especially cakes, pies, sauces etc. I used to make all my own pasta but since we moved (over a year ago:j) I haven't got the pasta maker out. I love a morning baking session and I also whip up a batch of mayonaise weekly. I am lucky I am at home most days and when I was a single mum I home educated my son so had more time at home to cook then too.
    Now Mrs FrugalinShropshire:T Proud to be mortgage and debt free:j
  • kaya
    kaya Posts: 2,465 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    aside from a cheekey packet of digestives i make or cook everything my family eats.My wife not only gets to choose what she wants from the menu but gets to choose the menu itslef, it nothing to do with financial reasons i just like to control exactly how much additives, preservatives, sugar salt and fat we all eat plus once you are competent you'll never want to eat processed or takeaway carp ever again
  • You have to remember that back in the day, people's diets were more restricted. My grandmother made all her own bread and did all her own baking - but she would never have dreamt of making pasta or pizza because people just didn't eat these things (pasta was limited to spaghetti hoops from a tin...).

    She had a regular 'baking day', and a routine, making pretty much the same things every week.
    No longer a spouse, or trailing, but MSE won't allow me to change my username...
  • can i ask, maybe someone will know, if i made homemade bread today how many days can i keep it for?
  • peterpan01 wrote: »
    can i ask, maybe someone will know, if i made homemade bread today how many days can i keep it for?

    Depends on how many people are eating their way through it. If its a family, then chances are that the bread will be finished before it goes off. For a single person (as I am, for instance) then I make 2 loaves of bread at a time and chop them in half and 1.5 of them go in the freezer. I just use half a loaf at a time and that way I should finish it before it goes off on me.
  • I make most things from scratch, my freezer is full of ingredients & home made ready meals. I make cakes, biscuits, bread & yogurt.
    Chin up, Titus out.
  • emilykf
    emilykf Posts: 436 Forumite
    I make bread, pizza bases, chips etc. The only think I can think of that I don't make from scratch is pasta. I'd like to try though, so ask again in 6 months :D

    peterpan01, I make a large loaf and by day 3 it's still fine . . . we always finish it by then so not sure how much linger it would be good for!
  • I have always cooked from scratch including making my own baby food when my two were tiny.

    It isn't hard and I read labels on everything just in case anything modified (GM) Heinz uses GM cornflour (labelled modified) in their soups so be warned.

    I prefer my own homemade soups anyway.

    Tonight I am making beef stew with dumplings with kale from the garden and the last of my HG potatoes, any left overs will be put into a pie for tomorrow.

    If you have a garden grow your own veggies preferably using heritage seeds that you can save and use the seeds the following year.
    Gardening is good exercise too and it saves lots of money on buying veg.
    Blessed are the cracked for they are the ones that let in the light
    C.R.A.P R.O.L.L.Z. Member #35 Butterfly Brain + OH - Foraging Fixers
    Not Buying it 2015!
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