Since starting this blog five years ago, I make a lot more food from scratch. Perhaps it’s because my kids are older and less demanding and no longer require me to be within two feet of them at all times. Perhaps it’s because I started paying much closer attention to ingredient lists. Or because my palate is becoming a bit more refined, preferring the taste of from-scratch to the taste of shelf-stable.
That being said, I also know my limitations. There are plenty of foods I’d like to make from scratch all the time, but I don’t want to spend my whole life in the kitchen (read: From-Scratch Cooking Confession: I Can’t Keep Up!). There are many foods I’ll make if I have extra time and energy, like bread or spaghetti sauce. Then there are the foods I always make myself, because compared to the store-bought version, they’re tastier (and usually cheaper) enough to make it worth my while.
Here are my top five:
1. Vinaigrette Dressing: We eat salads almost every night, and I used to buy a lot of bottled dressings. But it only takes minutes to make it ourselves.
2. Taco Seasoning: Tacos are practically a weekly fixture in our house, so we used to be stocked with seasoning packets. But when I started reading the fine print, I found questionable items like preservatives and even hydrogenated oils. Now I make a triple batch of this homemade seasoning and keep it in a jar in the pantry.
3. Waffles: My kids (and husband) love waffles. Years ago, Eggos were a staple in my grocery cart. Then I upgraded to Van’s. Then I got a waffle iron and everything changed. I make double batches of these on lazy weekend mornings, then squirrel them away in the freezer for weekdays.
Recipe for Yogurt & Flaxseed Waffles
4. Barbecue Sauce: My kids, like all little people, love to dip their food into various sauces. Many jarred barbecue sauce contains high fructose corn syrup, caramel coloring, and preservatives. So we started making it ourselves and now prefer the taste.
Recipe for Homemade Barbecue Sauce
5. Pizza Dough: I’m a little obsessed with homemade pizza. Ever since tasting a friend’s dead-ringer-for-delivery homemade pizza, I’ve been experimenting with different crusts, techniques, and toppings (current parent favorite: spinach and sausage).
Here are the three pizza doughs in heavy rotation here:
Citizen Mom’s Homemade Pizza Dough
Perfect Pizza Crust from Dinner: A Love Story
Hometown Pizza from my book Cooking Light Dinnertime Survival Guide
What foods do YOU always make yourself?
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Deanna Segrave-Daly (@tspbasil) says
Such a great list – I’m with you on the salad dressing and pizza dough – I really need to buy a waffle maker because I know I’d make them as often as I do pancakes. Whole wheat tortillas are the most recent thing I don’t buy any more (easy recipe on Lean Green Bean’s site) – gonna try corn tortillas next.
Sally says
Deanna–A waffle maker is a great investment. I actually prefer making waffles when I want to make a large batch of breakfast foods because they seem to freeze better for me than pancakes. I love homemade tortillas but they haven’t made it into regular rotation. We go through so many I feel like I can’t keep up! I need to figure out a way to make a bunch and freeze them. Thanks for the tip to look on Lean Green Bean site for recipe!
Karen Fit in France says
I always make vinaigrette too along with pancackes (made with coconut flour and they freeze wonderfully), quiche, roasted veggies…as much as I can from scratch. Just wished my kids would appreciate it a lot more:)
Sally says
Karen–I’m sure they do appreciate it! Or at least, sometime in the future, they’ll realize how much they appreciated it. 🙂
Rayna says
Waffles, waffles oh yeah, and waffles. Easiest things to make. I’ve also been putting brownie mix in the waffle maker. Cinnamon rolls is also another thing I quit buying. Salsa, since I got my choppy thingy and granola bars since I’ve discovered the amazing uses of honey!
Sally says
Rayna–brownie mix in a waffle maker?! How cool is that? Or do you mean you put brownie mix in your waffle batter? Either way, I’d eat it! 🙂
Melissa says
just made me first pumpkin pie from an actual,pumpkin and I will never buy canned pumpkin again! So delicious! I also do my own jams. 🙂
Julie Dienno-Demarest says
We are big fans of America’s Test Kitchen – particularly the New Best Recipe cookbook and the gluten free cookbook. We use their Pizza dough recipe – first reg, now gf. We also make their blue cheese dressing – and OMG, once you try it you can NEVER go back to store bought. I also make my own hummus, tweaking a recipe from Alton Brown (turbo hummus) but use tahini bc I prefer that taste.
Tiffany says
I make so much from scratch! I do bread, hummus, pancakes and waffles. I also do salsa and sauces when my garden is in full force. And definitely my own salad dressing.
Faith VanderMolen says
So glad I came across your blog! We have such similar desires to make things from scratch. I love the satisfaction of making things that I used to by at the store from home…and getting to know everything that’s in what I’m eating! But I definitely agree, we can’t do it all and it’s okay to buy things sometimes! Love your vinaigrette recipe!
Sally says
Thanks Faith! Appreciate it. Really looking forward to exploring your blog, looks like you have some great recipes.
Linda says
I love making my own marinara sauce. The flavor is more pure and there is much less sodium and sugar. Plus, it’s so simple I feel guilty when I use jarred.
Sally says
Linda-marinara is one thing I would love to make myself but I haven’t found a recipe my family likes. Would you mind sharing yours?
Lisa says
I make my own naan using greek yogurt and store it in the freezer. If you have a non-stick griddle it’s easy to make a whole bunch at once.
Sally says
Lisa–ooh, I’ll be that’s good! Would love to see that recipe.
Alex @ get big, go to work says
Love this post!! I couldn’t be in more agreement. I would love to make everything from scratch, but the reality is, I also don’t want to spend all my time in the kitchen. I want to enjoy it with friends and family too. I try to buy products with extremely short ingredient lists! One thing that I will always make from scratch is homemade broth. There is nothing like it and it is so easy to make in the crockpot. I also always make flavored oatmeal from scratch. I never buy that pre-made packs- as they are full of refined sugar! They would be convenient but with a little planning, I make my own at home and pre-portion in small ziploc bags!
Sally says
Thanks Alex! I made homemade broth for the first time recently–and sorta couldn’t believe I’d been tossing roast chicken carcasses without using them in the past. We also make our own oatmeal. My kids often like store-bought versions of things (I think because of the novelty) but oatmeal is one thing my six year old requests the “homemade” version of!
Megan Ware says
What a great idea for a post! Things I don’t buy now that I never thought I’d make myself include applesauce, fruit juices, icing and curries!
Kate @ Kate Lives Healthy says
Just wondering what brand of waffle maker you have? Do you like it? I have been looking at different brands but there are so many to choose from 🙂
Sally says
Hi Kate–I do not love my waffle iron. It’s a basic one I got at Sears. The problem I found with waffle makers is that so many of them make Belgian-style waffles, which are much bigger and thicker. I was looking for one that made four regular-sized square waffles, and those were hard to find. Mine makes square waffles but they are bigger than I’d like them to be. And I will add that I wasn’t willing to spend more than $100 so that limited me! 🙂 Williams-Sonoma has a nice Breville one, but it is about $200.
Kristin says
I’m late to this but loving this post! I currently buy taco seasoning but after this batch runs out, I won’t anymore!
Here are other things I already make at home at least 90% of the time–applesauce, jam, squash pickles, smoothies, muffins. I have an even longer list of the things I intend to stop buying, but one at a time, right? (:
L says
I have been wanting to get a waffle maker for so long, but I worry about the fact that it has a non-stick coating. Does this seem to bother anyone else?