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

missymoo81

Thanks Meadows, that's a really good tip re the butter, I always struggle to spread ours!

I do make pasta and chapatis, not as often as I should, but obviously that will now change!

Oooh thank you with regards to the soap crystals, I think I have some of them in the cupboard! Will give them a whirl.

I have just emailed a local dairy to see if they would supply directly to me or not, I'm doubtful, but I can but try. And have also emailed a local farmer, to enquire about half a pig.

I've been doing some more thinking, baked beans and tomato sauce we eat maybe once a week. I have recipes to make both of these. I think the key is I'm going to have to be organised and batch make things and freeze them.

missymoo81

Kettlenic, I made those biscuits! They're scrummy, they are what my kids call, 'cake biscuits' perfect for morning time. Out with the preservative filled bourbon biscuits (yes, I know) and in with the good for you fantastic tasting biscuits. Thanks so much, it literally took me about 2 mins to make too, perfect!

missymoo81

oooh have also found a mill that mills spelt flour near me too. All these places that i didn't know existed, I'm finding out about, and you can have visits too, it would be so interesting (IMO) to see a working mill and how it all works, and to go to a dairy and see them making cheese and milking the cows. I think I am going to learn a lot on this journey.

Ok next thing I may need advice and help on. Where would be a good place to source things like grains, pulses and beans, I know i can order big bags off of amazon and places, but in my whole quest to buy things as locally and as high quality but within budget as possible, does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks again for taking the time to read and post.

Meadows

missymoo81 wrote: »

Thanks Meadows, that's a really good tip re the butter, I always struggle to spread ours!

I do make pasta and chapatis, not as often as I should, but obviously that will now change!

Oooh thank you with regards to the soap crystals, I think I have some of them in the cupboard! Will give them a whirl.

I do my butter - 250g butter (I use salted) to 220g oil. I tried rapeseed oil but as it has omega 3 (as in some fish) we did notice a slight fishy taste, so now I use 50/50 olive oil & sunflower oil.
Allow the butter to soften at room temp (chopped into cubes) then place in a bowl, add the oils and blend well (I use a hand blender), pour into pots and put in the fridge to firm up. It makes a perfect spreadable butter. (I tend to make up a large batch, using 1kg butter at a time so I have a few when one runs out rather than having to do it when ever you run low).

Meadows

I have bought large bags of lentils when on a really good offer from Tesco.
Indian stores would be a good place to try for bulk, also check out Approved Foods to see what they have.

missymoo81

Thank you meadows, great advice, similar to moneystooshorttomentions recipe. I did wonder about rapeseed oil, as there are rapeseed fields all around here. I'm going to switch to rapeseed oil instead of olive oil.

Meadows

Did you know most vegetable oils are actually rapeseed oil.

melanzana

Meadows wrote: »

I do my butter - 250g butter (I use salted) to 220g oil. I tried rapeseed oil but as it has omega 3 (as in some fish) we did notice a slight fishy taste, so now I use 50/50 olive oil & sunflower oil.
Allow the butter to soften at room temp (chopped into cubes) then place in a bowl, add the oils and blend well (I use a hand blender), pour into pots and put in the fridge to firm up. It makes a perfect spreadable butter. (I tend to make up a large batch, using 1kg butter at a time so I have a few when one runs out rather than having to do it when ever you run low).

This is a great tip, as real butter is a definite for me, but forgetting to take it out of the fridge to soften it, has had me grinding my choppers now and then in frustration!

Anyway, I hope you don't mind me asking, and I'm sure the measures are correct, but it looks like a lot of oil to me! Can you convert the grams in the oil to mls maybe that would sound better to me!!

Thanks.

YORKSHIRELASS

Would anyone mind helping me with homemade bread rolls? Our family go mad for bread rolls bought from the local bakery which are very soft. My attempts at homemade bread rolls tend to be quite dry. What am I doing wrong? I have both a kenwood mixer with dough hook and a breadmaker - both of which were given to me.

If anyone wants to share a step by step recipe I would be very interested.

Also, the bakery rolls cost £1 for 6 - can I make them cheaper than that?

One thing I have a lot of success with is homemade teacakes. With only a small amount of butter and sugar in them they are a healthy snack or breakfast for the kids. And if they go a bit stale you can toast them!

missymoo81

ok need to keep myself on track, so heres my lists.

All the things I'm going to try and make
biscuits
cakes
oatcakes
yoghurt
jam
chutney
curds
all cooking sauces
tomato sauce
nut butter
buttery spread
hummous
tahini
pizza bases
sour dough starter
pasta
tortillas
orange juice


things I still need to look into
fruit leather
crisps

things I grow already
potatoes
radish
salad
bay leaves
raspberries
grapes - not very successfully
blueberries
blackberries
apples
pears
cherries
peaches - not very successfully
plums - not very successfully
rhubarb - not very successfully

things I'm going to try and grow, most of which I haven't had much luck with
courgette
carrots
peppers
chillies
broad bean
mange tout
peas
tomatoes
cucumber
broccoli
onions
squash

In the meantime, I will buy these from a local grower.

Things I'm going to try and buy from the source or Farm
Flour - will investigate the mill and see if i can get flour sent
Fish - found a fishmonger on the docks in the next town that sells direct to the public
meat - have found several local butchers that sell half pigs etc, there's even a farm shop around the corner that I'm going to call in at and ask them.
Eggs - get chickens or in the meantime, shop literally in the same road!
Milk and butter - I have found a local dairy and have asked the question
cheese - Have found local retailers, but is very expensive so need to do more research into the maker.

Oil - source local rapeseed oil
Honey - there are lots of local honey makers, there are hives in the same road, might be cheeky and do a bit of door knocking...

Things I'm not sure what to do about:
chickpeas
rice
lentils
cereal
Oranges
nuts
raisins
grapes
mushrooms

these are all the things we pretty much eat on a daily basis. I'm hoping that with my doing everything from scratch, that even if the local dairy and meat products are more expensive than normal, that I should be able to make up the difference, if that makes sense. Obviously still have some things to look into and research, but am at work of the next 2 days so won't be able to do quite so much in the way of research.

really feel like I'm making some headway with things, thanks everyone for your advice and support.