What things do you make from scratch, to be more wholesome for you and your family?

WantToBeSE

missymoo81 wrote: »

things I don't know what to do about
milk
butter
all meat
foreign fruit

I cant advise about the meat or dairy, as i am vegan so dont eat them, but as for the foreign fruit- if you eat seasonally and local, it will be much cheaper.
That may include cutting out/down on exotic fruit though, and trying more English F&V.

As for the meat and dairy, they are generally more expensive than other sources of protein, such as beans or lentils. I hope i am not coming across as a 'typical vegan' bleating on about getting protein from other sources, but it really is much cheaper and better for you to reduce (or ideally stop consuming- although i know this isnt on some peoples agenda) meat and dairy.


Things like cakes, biscuits etc i have found are not cheaper to make, but are much better for you as they dont contain preservatives, unknown chemicals, and you can tweak them to whatever you prefer

worn_out_mum

I'm just doing a little bit at a time tbh, there's loads more I want to do.
Yoghurt I make in a flask with ordinary milk and small pot of yeo valley yoghurt as a starter, then use my own after that.
This week's biscuits are iced biscuits, choc chip cookies and flapjack along with some butterfly cakes and a fruit cake.
We are looking at eating more fermented foods, kombucha is supposed to me ridiculously good for you too. We want chickens too but ds2 is a bit afraid of birds so we are looking at some day old chicks so he can watch them grow gingernut rangers are autosexing and quite placid so I think we'll get those to start with.
I can't quite grow enough for all 5 of us as it's only a half plot and my three boys have hollow legs :-)

SailorSam

missymoo81 wrote: »

Another thing that struck me today was my Washing machine, oh my goodness, it was gunked up to the hilt with, what I can only call sludge really, then when i took the drawer out, moldy sludge!!!:eek: I is the washing powder etc, there must be a simpler more old style detergent type thing to get your clothes clean, that is more natural and won't grow mold!!!!!
I'm thinking of maybe making some sort of cleaner, maybe lemon, and vinegar and water??? any ideas?

So what do you do and what advice would you give someone like me trying to live a better, simpler,old style life, for me and my family?

I use 'soap nuts' in the washing machine.

SailorSam

WantToBeSE wrote: »

As for the meat and dairy, they are generally more expensive than other sources of protein, such as beans or lentils. I hope i am not coming across as a 'typical vegan' bleating on about getting protein from other sources, but it really is much cheaper and better for you to reduce (or ideally stop consuming- although i know this isnt on some peoples agenda) meat and dairy.

I'm a meat eater but do lots of curries & casseroles in the slowcooker and use more veges and lentils than meat. I must have about 10/12 bags of different types of lentils, probably about £1 a bag and a handful of each, but you still taste the meat if that's what you like.

duchy

I do think we could all do more but it is better to make the changes gradually rather than a huge change that is harder to sustain.

My aims for this year are to grow all our salad stuff - we get through scadloads as OH loves it and works shift so tried to always have a salad as part of his pack up every day so if I can stop buying leitice, tomatoes, and spring onions as a minimum plus strawberries and raspberries and I spotted a flask in the cupboard that is never used so will have a go at yogurt making I hope.

Bread rolls are another as I have the breadmaker so can make more effort there for lunches. I find if I bake a loaf it just gets wolfed down as an extra rather than replace bread for sandwiches.

Onions and pototoes we get through a lot but are so cheap (Aldi within five minutes walk and the Co-op even closer) that it doesn't meet my worth it criteria for year one and I'd rather focus on my efforts on the more perishable and expensive salad and fruit.

chrissy59

if you want to make bread you don't need a bread maker. do you have a mixer that has dough hooks. thats all i use . put all the ingredients in together and mix for bout 10 mins. then put in greased loaf tin and leave to rise then cook.
i have a breadmaker but never use it

Kantankrus_Mare

Yes I do and dont mind kneading by hand. Quite therepeutic.

Really will have to have a go when I get some energy back after a chest cold which has knocked me for six.

WantToBeSE

You dont even need a mixer if you dont have one Just mix and kneedby hand.

missymoo81

Hey everyone thank you so much for giving me all the advice.

Kantankrus Mare, Courgettes, well even f I buy a plant from a garden centre, I get max one courgette and thats it, no idea what I'm doing wrong, have tried pollinating the flowers etc, but still no joy, they start to grow and then die?

want to be se, I thought about being vegan, but i know I just couldn't sustain it, I do really enjoy pulses and veggies, though and 80% of the time we eat veggie anyway.

Thanks sailorSam, I'll have to have a look as to where sells soap nuts and look into buying huge bags of organ pulses.

missymoo81

Loving the bread conversation. I've made bread in the past a few times by hand, well with my dough hook on my food mixer, and then i made it into rolls, as they took far less time to cook. Hmmm might try that again. The bread maker loaf is out, and hasn't really risen!

I managed to make oat milk, it's nice, pretty much like the shop bought stuff, tried it in tea though and it was horrid.

I have planted some things this afternoon, with little ones' (non) help! I planted, rocket, spinach and salad leaves, along with broad beans, peas, radish and spring onions, and I already have potatoes in the ground. I only did these in pots as I was going to clear the veg patch, but toddlers kept coming in and its full of stinging nettles. Definitely going to have a look into chickens. Thanks for the breed info, worn out mum (i'm thinking that should be my name after today!!) I'm going to see if there are any suppliers around here.