Which ingredients do you make and which do you buy?

Quasar

I can make my own mayonnaise the way my grandma back in Italy used to make it, but it's a bit too time consuming so I haven't made it for years.

However I make my own calcium supplement - not exactly an ingredient but saves me money. I make it from eggshells which I crush as finely as possible, and then I put them in a small dish and soak them in vinegar. About 48 hours later much of the eggshell will have dissolved, and the resulting fluid contains well absorbable calcium and other minerals which can be added to soups and stews. Tastes horrible on its own.

AussieLass

I make my own

Bread
Pastry
jams
chutney/pickles
pickled assortedvegetables
hot chocolate mix
condensed milk
mayonaise (from hm cond milk)
cordials
yoghurt
biscuits/cakes
pesto
custard
granola
breadcrumbs/croutons
dog food

I don't think I'd bother making my own

Ice-cream
passatta
tomato sauce
peanut paste

Mrs_Cupier

Gosh, I thought I was doing well and home-made stuff, then I read this!

I make my own:
bread
buns
cakes
biscuits
pizzabase
jam
lemon curd
chutney
picallili
pickled onions, eggs, beetroot etc
yoghurt
flour tortillas
basic tomato sauce for pasta, pizza etc (not quite passata)
barbecue sauce
salad dressings
pastry

we buy:
ketchup
mayonnaise
peanut butter
marmite
ice-cream (DH doesn't like HM)
custard (can't be doing with the real thing, takes too long and the children don't much like it)
soft cheese
pickled walnuts (no tree)
I'd be really interested in that soft cheese receipe.

It has, thought, reached the stage where I can put a meal on the table that's entirely home made apart from the cheese (I draw the line at that. No space for a cow).

culpepper

My grinder is very handy. It cost me £10 about 15 years ago and I use it for grinding lentils to add to soup, sugar for caster or icing sugar,oatmeal to make biscuits or very fast porridge and rice when I need ground rice for biscuits.
Its really handy to grind dried veg too which is useful in soups.

sammy_kaye18

Wow - im lovign this thread - it really is getting me motivated to grow my own produce now!

Things i make -

bread
biscuits
cakes
flapjacks
rolls
pastry
pies - although with tinned meat or brought fruit unfortuantely as i live in a flat
soup
stock
pasta sauce

Things i have never made but would like to
choclate spread
chocolate drinks
lemon curd
ice cream
yoghurt
jam

if anyone has any good recipes for the above - could they please post them for me to try - many thanks

phizzimum

wow! you lot are amazing!

AussieLass

culpepper wrote: »

My grinder is very handy. It cost me £10 about 15 years ago and I use it for grinding lentils to add to soup, sugar for caster or icing sugar,oatmeal to make biscuits or very fast porridge and rice when I need ground rice for biscuits.
Its really handy to grind dried veg too which is useful in soups.

I never thought of that. :rolleyes: I use mine to grind flaxseeds. I have about 1 tbsp on my cereal every morning. You do mean the little ones you can grind coffee & nuts with don't you?

celyn90

Oh, what a lovely thread

I make:

jam, marmalade, lemon curd, apple sauce, preserved fruit (oranges in syrup, salted lemons, bottled cherries), mint sauce, mincemeat
Cake and biscuits (although sometimes buy cheap digestives for cheesecake bases)
Bread most of the time, but not always
Pizza and pizza bases
Pasta sauce
Pesto
Stock
Pickles
Yogurt and soft cheese
Dried herbs and chilis
Mayonnaise
Sometimes dried apples if I've got fruit to use up
Meringue (sp?) as shop bought stuff is nasty

I always buy:
Marmite
Ketchup (becuase I hate the stuff, but OH eats it), brown sauce, barbeque sauce, peanut butter, nutella

For soft cheese (paneer really) all I do is take milk (about half a gallon) and heat it gently on the stove until it boils - stirring so it doesn't stick and burn. Then add the juice of half a lime gradually and it will curdle over five to ten minutes. Switch of the heat and let it cool a bit (about 15-30 mins). Pour it into a sterile muslin cloth (I use dishcloths) and hang it over the sink so the whey runs out. Squeeze the cloth to force any whey out of the curds and twist it so the curds are forced together in a tight ball. Hang it above the sink or in the fridge for half an hour, then unwrap it and put it in the fridge.

I will also use yoghurt if I see it reduced, I just shove the yogurt into a muslin cloth in a colander and leave it to drain the fridge for a day - you get a soft cream cheese type of thing.

thriftlady_2

Oh yes, this is my kind of thread

I make

bread -loaves, rolls, pizza bases, plus fruit breads
cakes and biscuits and any other baked goods
yogurt
jams and jellies, marmalade, lemon curd
chutneys and a few pickles
fuit spirits -damson gin, quince vodka
elderflower cordial
ice cream -made with just fruit, sugar and cream/yogurt -no eggs because of dd's allergy
shortcrust pastry
granola
popcorn
munchy seeds and spiced nuts
stock
tomato sauce for pizza and pasta
soup
mincemeat
Christmas pud


I buy

mayonnaise -I sometimes make it but find the taste too strong and it seems more expensive
ketchup
chocolate spread
puff pastry (all butter)
passata
pasta
pitta bread -not sure why I don't make these, must have a go.However the bought ones do have a fairly simple list of ingredients compared with other commercial breads
hot cross buns -I've made them in the past but I can never be bothered with doing the cross so they're just tea cakes really. I don't like buying them, I was shocked by the huge list of ingredients on the ones I bought yesterday -anyone know why you need 'broad bean flour' in a hot cross bun ?

culpepper

AussieLass wrote: »

I never thought of that. :rolleyes: I use mine to grind flaxseeds. I have about 1 tbsp on my cereal every morning. You do mean the little ones you can grind coffee & nuts with don't you?

yes thats the ones.Mine has about a cup fulls worth of space and you cant put anything wet in.