What do you make from scratch?

Katiehound

we haven't had Jersey milk in Aldi for at least a couple of years! (annoyingly)

Sarahspangles

I recently bought an ice cream machine. Branded ice cream is so sweet. A litre of home made costs about £2.10 (whipping cream and two egg yolks) plus the ‘flavouring’ and this gives me the option of making vegan ice cream for my daughter, with coconut milk. In fact most puddings are worth making because the sugar can be halved or more. The comparison has to be with ‘luxury’ brands, not processed food.

Is homemade coleslaw really more expensive? The containers in supermarkets are so small compared to the yield from even a small cabbage. OH likes a large serving, I make it with half mayo and half Greek yoghurt so he’s probably getting about the same amount of mayo. Minestrone soup is similar, you can’t just make the equivalent of a tin full.

I usually buy mayo and pickles, but might DIY if I had a vegetable garden. Ditto jams and marmalades. Mixed peel and marrons glacé (chestnuts) are worth making at home.

I have occasionally made jam in the bread machine. We bought that just before the pandemic and haven’t bought bread since. We mostly use it for sourdough, it has a separate dough and bake cycle.

Mnoee

@Rosa_Damascena I went for the most difficult rescue cats I could handle, a very nervous boy and his overly aggressive protector friend. The nervous boy doesn't really like food treats but loves nip, silvervine and stinky valerian. I guess in humans it'd be a serious drug problem, but at least he's picking organic home grown herbs over ultra-processed dreamies!

(The aggressive girl has mellowed to growling at strangers and accepting her usual humans without really taking an interest in herbs, and the nervous boy certainly isn't too afraid to wake me up at 5am these days.) 

Rosa_Damascena

Sarahspangles said:

I recently bought an ice cream machine. Branded ice cream is so sweet. A litre of home made costs about £2.10 (whipping cream and two egg yolks) plus the ‘flavouring’ and this gives me the option of making vegan ice cream for my daughter, with coconut milk. In fact most puddings are worth making because the sugar can be halved or more. The comparison has to be with ‘luxury’ brands, not processed food.

Is homemade coleslaw really more expensive? The containers in supermarkets are so small compared to the yield from even a small cabbage. OH likes a large serving, I make it with half mayo and half Greek yoghurt so he’s probably getting about the same amount of mayo. Minestrone soup is similar, you can’t just make the equivalent of a tin full.

I usually buy mayo and pickles, but might DIY if I had a vegetable garden. Ditto jams and marmalades. Mixed peel and marrons glacé (chestnuts) are worth making at home.

I have occasionally made jam in the bread machine. We bought that just before the pandemic and haven’t bought bread since. We mostly use it for sourdough, it has a separate dough and bake cycle.

Me too, am emptying out my freezer to make way from the bowl! Whilst its tasty and takes away the faff of constant beating, it still somehow doesn't compare to the UPF stuff. But that really is full of rubbish so on balance I should persist with HM ice cream.

Nelliegrace

Homemade strawberry and raspberry ice creams were delicious, just fresh fruit, double cream, and sugar. I miss the abundant fruit from the allotment.  The bowl from the icecream maker took a lot of space in the small freezer. I must pass it on to DD. 

I cannot eat commercial ice cream since reading Ultra Processed People by Chris van Tulleken. How could we have been conned into eating such muck?

purpleivy

@Rosa_Damascena I mix molasses or black treacle with regular granulated.  Not perfect but it does the job well enough. If you check out  Sustainable Cooks website, she gives instructions there. She has really good well tested recipes and lots of making from scratch. 

purpleivy

i had a fully automated icecream maker with a chilled unit but I couldn't stand the noise. I contemplated  Ninja creami, but went with the bowl for my mixer

Sarahspangles

Rosa_Damascena said:

Me too, am emptying out my freezer to make way from the bowl! Whilst its tasty and takes away the faff of constant beating, it still somehow doesn't compare to the UPF stuff. But that really is full of rubbish so on balance I should persist with HM ice cream.

I used to buy Kelly’s Clotted Cream or Mackies’ Vanilla to serve on the side of dessert. as I recognised the short ingredient list of those brands. But OH likes flavoured ice cream. The best I’ve made so far has been rum and raisin, the alcohol makes it easier to scoop. I’m planning to try more batches with a bit of alcohol in - I think Cherry and DiSaronno will be next.

-taff

Nancy Birtwhistle is also good for a look

Rosa_Damascena

Nelliegrace said:

Homemade strawberry and raspberry ice creams were delicious, just fresh fruit, double cream, and sugar. I miss the abundant fruit from the allotment.  The bowl from the icecream maker took a lot of space in the small freezer. I must pass it on to DD. 

I cannot eat commercial ice cream since reading Ultra Processed People by Chris van Tulleken. How could we have been conned into eating such muck?

It was that first anecdote that made the biggest impression on me.