What will you never buy since you learned to cook? What can you cook but still buy from the store?

th1nr

I never buy canned soups like this:
because they are just expensive leftovers. I can make a better soup without much more trouble by just throwing some frozen veggies, leftover rice, canned beans, tomato paste, and spices in a pot.

I know how to bake quickbreads, muffins, and cookies but only every buy them from the store for convenience and because I never seem to have milk, eggs, and butter in the house at the same time.

What about you guys? What is worth it to cook from scratch?

bgh707

I make my own ghee. It's far less expensive than buying and tastes much better. I also make my own nut butter -- pecan butter is one of the most delicious things I've ever tasted.

fitmama282

bgh707 wrote: »

I make my own ghee. It's far less expensive than buying and tastes much better. I also make my own nut butter -- pecan butter is one of the most delicious things I've ever tasted.

How do you make pecan butter?

schwest76

Soup. In a pinch I'll get some but I like to make my own, the store bought is too salty. I don't tend to buy the frozen dinners for my work lunches anymore either.

zdyb23456

I make my own desserts unless I can get it free with coupons.

I make my own strawberry jelly (I've done peach and blueberry, but my family prefers strawberry).

I make my own pancake mix, a million times better than the packaged stuff.

I make 2 loaves sandwich bread at least once a week.

I make my own soup too.
I make my own pickles, cucumber (dill) and jalapeño.

That's all I can think of for now.

CafeRacer808

Definitely soups. Also bread, almond milk, guacamole, salsa, and beef jerky (although I still buy it from a jerky-specific store from time to time).

williams969

I can't roast a chicken. At all. It always turns out terrible. I buy hot rotisserie chickens from the deli. Worth the extra expense.

I make my own dressings (mayo, vinaigrettes, and ranch). Worth the time and effort. Actually, it's pretty simple with a stick/immersion blender.

MelanieCN77

Most soup for sure. The lighter calorie canned soups taste like nothing at all, anyway. I would never buy pre-cooked meat like chicken breast or whatever.

bgh707

fitmama282 wrote: »

bgh707 wrote: »

I make my own ghee. It's far less expensive than buying and tastes much better. I also make my own nut butter -- pecan butter is one of the most delicious things I've ever tasted.

How do you make pecan butter?

If you have a decent blender or food processor, basically buy pre-toasted pecans or toast them yourself and mix them with oil (ideally a form of fat that's solid at room temperature, but I often use avocado oil or ghee), a tiny bit of honey (since I like sweet/salty), and salt. So easy, and you can adjust to your taste.

lemurcat12

Soup, pasta sauce, salad dressing, most sweets.

What do I buy? cheese, dried pasta, ice cream.

I don't really like mayo that much, but when I need it (for a pasta/chicken salad or something) I make it, it's easy. I've also started making my own cashew milk although unlike the store bought it is not low cal.

jgnatca

I cook beans of all kinds, chili, stews, hummus, pancakes, and roasts. All easy and all much cheaper from scratch. Oh, I also cut my own apple, pineapple, and watermelon for the same reason. Is a knife and a ziplock that hard?

Very hard from scratch so I let the industrio-transportation complex do all the work are butters, yogurt, breads, pasta and cheese.

But I'm working on my breads.

giovanna8830

Now i Cook them: tiramisu, sausage biscuits, bolognese sauce, sponge cake, grilled chicken, Lasagna, roasted shrimp. ...Stil buy: ice cream

giovanna8830

AA.. still buy kefir

williams969

giovanna8830 wrote: »

Now i Cook them: tiramisu, sausage biscuits, bolognese sauce, sponge cake, grilled chicken, Lasagna, roasted shrimp. ...Stil buy: ice cream

That reminds me of another. I learned how to make my own marinara. Not even difficult, and so good. I will never buy jarred sauce again. I still buy pre-made pasta, I'm not into making my own, yet.

lynn_glenmont

There's an awful lot of stuff I can make that I still buy for convenience at times, some as the default option (like dried pasta, frozen pierogie, apple sauce, crackers, tortillas, salsa, and bagels -- I have made all of these from scratch but I usually just go with the store-bought options), some that I keep stocked but often or usually prefer to make myself from whole foods (canned beans, canned and frozen veggies, canned soup, canned chili, tomato/spaghetti sauce, microwave popcorn), some that I buy occasionally or rarely instead of making myself (bread, baked desserts, prepared meats such as barbecue pork in sauce, salad dressing -- I might buy bottled salad dressing once every two or three years, when I spy something that sounds and looks tasty, and I generally regret it, and it sits in the fridge for a year or so barely touched until I toss it, because it never tastes remotely as good as dressing I make fresh).

I make pistachio butter occasionally because I can't find it in the store. I'll make hummus when I want it and I don't have any in the house. I almost always make my guacamole myself, because I like the way it tastes.

Some convenience things I buy to have in my desk at work, like microwaveable soup, rice, mac and cheese, shelf-stable "TV-dinner" style meals, packets of hot cereal (preferably unsweetened, because then they double as savory grains for lunch), tuna/salmon in a pouch, crackers, individual containers of applesauce, granola bars, Pop Tarts (!).

Hmmm, what else? I buy bread cubes when I make stuffing, rather than cut up my own, because I don't usually have store-bought bread in the house, so I would be buying it fresh when I need it to be a little stale for stuffing, and I'm not going to bake a loaf from scratch just to let it go a little stale to make stuffing. But I generally only make stuffing a couple of times a year at most -- it's just on my mind because we're just coming out of stuffing season

I'm cooking for one most of the time, so if I decide I want meat for sandwiches, I'll more likely buy a small amount from the deli rather than cook a beef/pork/lamb roast, a ham, a chicken, or a turkey from scratch and then have to freeze most of it -- but I do take the latter approach a few times a year. I'm still eating the leftovers from the small ham portion I cooked at Christmas for two people (heated some in a pan with a couple of fried eggs today for breakfast), and there's part of a turkey breast in the freezer that I'll pull out when the ham is done. I'm thinking of seeing how much I could use up in a large pot pie.

And there's lots of stuff that could be made at home (butter, yogurt, ice cream, cheese, wine, beer, cured meats, sauerkraut, balsamic or flavored vinegars, bottled fruit juices, dried fruit, preserves, peanut butter, potato chips, tortilla chips) that I don't ever do, because they're time-consuming (at least in the sense of being long-term projects, even if a lot of the time just involves waiting), space-intensive, and/or cry out for specialized equipment, in some cases are inefficient to make in the very small batches that would match my personal consumption levels, and I have my doubts that my home-made results would taste better or even as good as the products I can buy.

And then there's stuff I can't imagine making in a home kitchen, like cold cereal (shredded wheat, corn flakes, oatmeal squares, raisin bran), canned fish, chocolate, unsweetened cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, powdered cheese, olive and other oils ...

Lounmoun

I rarely/never buy these things.
Soup, cakes, cookies, canned beans, cheese sauce, gravy mix, hummus, pita bread, potato salad, pasta salad

I buy these things regularly even though I could make them.
Bread, pasta, spaghetti sauce, ice cream, tortilla chips, salsa, salad dressings, cheese

bebeisfit

Chicken broth. Mine tastes 10 times better than a can or box. And my soup is pretty awesome too. I was sick over the holidays and a friend brought me a can of chicken noodle soup. terrible stuff.

I do buy canned beans.. I've never gotten the hang of cooking them - they always seem too hard no matter how long they soak and cook.

I also make my own salad dressing - bottled doesn't compare.

Evamutt

I've always cooked from scratch, but not like my parents. We came out from Hungary during the revolution so they made everything from scratch. Pasta, sausages etc. What I do use tho is cream of mushroom soup, I try different kinds of cooking sauses & dry flavorings to use in my home made dishes. Beans are easy to cook, my son gave me his recipe he likes....Bring to a hard boil, turn off heat & let them sit for 1 hour, drain, add chicken broth & same amount of vegetables as there are bean(we use pinto), cook for 1 hour then get your stick blender or regular & blend in batches, it's really yummy, no fat. You can add bacon, ham etc if you want but don't need to

estherdragonbat

I make my own soup stock and seitan. (I haven't been able to find kosher-certified seitan where I live and didn't want to miss out on some recipes). I also make my own non-dairy ice cream and sorbets. I prefer to make my own hummus, but on rare occasions, I'll pick some up.

brewerfan13

I buy everything from the store since it is cheaper and the same nutritional value. #easymac

pebble4321

I don't often buy soup, stock, sauces, herb/spice mixes (curry powder, taco mix etc), salad dressing, those are all very easy to make myself.

I can make pasta, cakes, biscuits, desserts, bread, risotto, lasagne, roast chicken, paneer, jam, rice, mayo etc but sometimes I'm in a hurry or it's more convenient/cost effective to buy them ready made if I only want a certain quantity or don't want to buy ingredients I won't use often.

I usually buy beans canned rather than dry (but not lentils), stock powder to use as seasoning, tinned tomatoes as a convenient base for soup or casserole ..... probably more the stuff I use as ingredients rather than finished meals.

I'm intrigued by the person who said they cut their own fruit... it rarely occurs to me to buy fruit any other way. I mean, I might buy quarter of watermelon or half a pineapple because a whole one is too big, but i can't imagine buying something like apple already sliced. In fact, I don't think that's an option here except I think it comes as an option at McDonalds.

zdyb23456

pebble4321 wrote: »

I don't often buy soup, stock, sauces, herb/spice mixes (curry powder, taco mix etc), salad dressing, those are all very easy to make myself.

I can make pasta, cakes, biscuits, desserts, bread, risotto, lasagne, roast chicken, paneer, jam, rice, mayo etc but sometimes I'm in a hurry or it's more convenient/cost effective to buy them ready made if I only want a certain quantity or don't want to buy ingredients I won't use often.

I usually buy beans canned rather than dry (but not lentils), stock powder to use as seasoning, tinned tomatoes as a convenient base for soup or casserole ..... probably more the stuff I use as ingredients rather than finished meals.

I'm intrigued by the person who said they cut their own fruit... it rarely occurs to me to buy fruit any other way. I mean, I might buy quarter of watermelon or half a pineapple because a whole one is too big, but i can't imagine buying something like apple already sliced. In fact, I don't think that's an option here except I think it comes as an option at McDonalds.

A lot of grocery stores off pre-prepped fruits and vegetables. Harris teeter is now offering spiralized vegetables! I imagine they are catering to busy people who want to cook at home but don't have the time to do all the prep. Even the military commissary sells precut melon, pineapple, diced onion, bell peppers, peeled garlic. I've even seen microwave ready potatoes - it seriously was a single potato shrink wrapped. That one boggled my mind.

Costco sells individual packages of apple slices. I'm assuming so you can throw them in your kid's lunches.

th1nr

Hm, this is so interesting!
I forgot that I make my own salad dressings, mostly because it's simple enough and allows for variation so you don't eat the same boring salad every day.
I always buy canned beans because I can't be bothered to soak them.

@brewerfan13 easy mac is awesome! plus there are endless variations, like adding chive and sour cream, black pepper, hot sauce and shredded cheddar, cream cheese and spinach, butternut squash, swiss cheese, crack a fried egg on top...

edited to add more mac and cheese options I'm so hungry right now lol

Alatariel75

I never buy canned soups, salad dressings or marinated meat anymore - much tastier to make my own!

cmtigger

I rarely buy bread, I usually make it.

There is a lot I can make, but sometimes still buy. As a teacher it really depends on the time of year and how busy work is.

jelly_potato

I stay clear of precooked beans, lentils and chickpeas, since I doubt they waste time in the factories to soak them in water a day before cooking. If it aint pre-soaked then a world war is sure to unfold in my intestines - so not worth the convenience.

I still buy pre-cooked corn though, raw cobs are ridiculously expensive where I live since they are tagged as "bio" products.

ClubSilencio

I gave up trying to cook black beans in a crockpot. They never turn out soft and plump like the canned ones do. I've tried cooking them on low for 8 hours and high for 4 hours... after soaking overnight. Sucks because I could probably save $5 a week. Is a pressure cooker more ideal?

giovanna8830

CLUBSilencio: just put The beans in cold water one day before cooking. You make them so?

__TMac__

CafeRacer808 wrote: »

Definitely soups. Also bread, almond milk, guacamole, salsa, and beef jerky (although I still buy it from a jerky-specific store from time to time).

A jerky store just opened here too. I thought it surely was the only one.

I don't buy salad dressing and spaghetti sauce. Much prefer the homemade versions and they're very easy.

I do buy canned beans, chicken stock, and guac (single packets that won't go brown on me). If I'm making a special meal, I still do make them myself.

Need2Exerc1se

I've been cooking for decades and make most of my own food. I also garden and can and freeze a lot of food so I don't buy much soups, stock or pasta sauces or canned/frozen fruit or vegetables.

I do always have a good variety of store bought canned beans on hand though. I also have store bought dried beans on hand but I used canned a lot more often.

I have made hot sauce but usually buy it. I never buy salad dressings, but I also don't eat many salads. Likewise I rarely make bread (only for special occasions) but I also don't eat a lot of bread.

bkbirge

williams969 wrote: »

I can't roast a chicken. At all. It always turns out terrible. I buy hot rotisserie chickens from the deli. Worth the extra expense.

I bought a cheap rotisserie oven on amazon, works great, the chicken turns out perfect every time and I control the spices/salt level. That said, I still occasionally buy the rotisserie chicken at the store because it can actually be cheaper than buying a raw whole chicken!

Also.. hash browns, usually make my own but sometimes I'll get the store bought because of the hassle of cleaning up and food prep of the homemade version.

Egg whites... will never buy at the store. Too easy to separate at home.
Cajun roux... just say no to any store bought roux.

Cut snack size celery... always end up buying from the store, don't know why but if I buy the stalks they just sit in the fridge and I never get around to them.

Salads... same as celery, I get the pre-washed pre-mixed greens, terribly expensive but if I just get a head of lettuce and other ingredients I'll never make it.