Which items are/aren't worth making at home?

Options
Csuvetmed
Csuvetmed Posts: 36 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I like to cook. I've noticed a few things that are notably cheaper and healthier to make at home. For example: bread and pasta products, all kinds of sauces, pickles, pesto, hummus, roasting a huge hunk of meat and slicing instead of buying deli meats, etc...

However, I've also found a few things that taste the same as store bought or aren't economical/healthier to make at home. My big ones are butter and Asian dumpling wrappers (homemade are indisputably better, but my time is worth something....maybe will do this more when I have minions...err, I mean, kids.)

What are your "worth its" and "not worth its"?
«1

Replies

  • thinking_thinly
    thinking_thinly Posts: 143 Member
    Options
    Bread: ain't nobody got time fo' that!
  • pastryari
    pastryari Posts: 8,646 Member
    Options
    Bread: ain't nobody got time fo' that!

    For shame.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
    Options
    Bread takes no time at all if you do no-knead or stretch-and-fold, the latter being my method of choice. Most of the time, you are ignoring it.

    Homemade broth and soup are definitely worth it. Also draining cheap yogurt to get Greek.
  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
    Options
    Home made bread and pizza doughs are easy, cheap, and if you do an overnight fridge rest are fairly fuss free.
  • gmallan
    gmallan Posts: 2,099 Member
    Options
    I've tried making thigs like wraps and tortillas. Not worth the time IMO. Lots of stuffing around rolling them thim enough and cooking them one-by-one
  • TribeHokie
    TribeHokie Posts: 711 Member
    Options
    Home made bread and pizza doughs are easy, cheap, and if you do an overnight fridge rest are fairly fuss free.

    qft

    Especially considering you can freeze the dough for use later. I'm about to make a massive batch of pizza dough this weekend that I will freeze in individual portions which will last me at least a month (I have pizza at least once a week)

    In general, if it is easy and a lot cheaper to make myself then I will usually do it. Or if I hit upon a magical flavor combo that doesn't exist in stores, like balsamic mayo made with olive oil. Yum.
  • Csuvetmed
    Csuvetmed Posts: 36 Member
    Options
    Bread takes no time at all if you do no-knead or stretch-and-fold, the latter being my method of choice. Most of the time, you are ignoring it.

    Homemade broth and soup are definitely worth it. Also draining cheap yogurt to get Greek.

    Yes, agreed! I totally forgot to mention homemade stocks and soups, which is crazy because they're my favorite and most used. I also don't really think tortillas are that time-consuming as others have mentioned, but I also really don't like the texture of store-bought ones, so homemade are worthwhile to me!
  • Mouse_Potato
    Mouse_Potato Posts: 1,499 Member
    Options
    My Chuy's knock-off creamy jalapeno ranch dip. It's awesome, but it makes a huge batch which is way more dip than I need to be eating before it goes bad. Plus, I can drive ten minutes and buy an 8 ounce container with a bag of chips for just a couple of dollars. Well worth the trip.
  • kimmymayhall
    kimmymayhall Posts: 419 Member
    Options
    I do a lot of baked goods from scratch- bread, pizza, crackers, scones, etc - but specialty things like baguette, croissant, bagels, puff pastry I'll buy. Hamburger buns were a little much. I've made a lot of condiments but mustard never worked out. I haven't attempted butter or yogurt yet. BF used to brew beer but no longer and I'm not interested enough in it myself. I enjoyed making marshmallows, but unless you are doing flavored it seemed more trouble than it's worth. Some candies are worth it though. If something can be made at home without too much special equipment, eventually I'm going to work up enough crazy to attempt it. But sometimes I am lazy.
  • Robin_Bin
    Robin_Bin Posts: 1,046 Member
    Options
    Key Lime pie and doughnuts... actually they may not be that hard to make, but I can buy and eat just a single serving, if I made it... I'd eat too much. :wink: So don't tell me if they're easy.
    Actually I used to use the mini graham crusts and put key-lime flavored yogurt in it. Not quite the same thing, but pretty good.
    Unfortunately I know how easy fudge is to make. :sad:
    Another thing I like to let restaurants fuss with (and shouldn't eat often) is eggs Benedict... some restaurants have slightly healthier versions... they still have the Hollandaise sauce, but salmon instead of ham or spinach garnish... yum!
  • TribeHokie
    TribeHokie Posts: 711 Member
    Options
    Key Lime pie and doughnuts... actually they may not be that hard to make, but I can buy and eat just a single serving, if I made it... I'd eat too much. :wink: So don't tell me if they're easy.
    Actually I used to use the mini graham crusts and put key-lime flavored yogurt in it. Not quite the same thing, but pretty good.
    Unfortunately I know how easy fudge is to make. :sad:
    Another thing I like to let restaurants fuss with (and shouldn't eat often) is eggs Benedict... some restaurants have slightly healthier versions... they still have the Hollandaise sauce, but salmon instead of ham or spinach garnish... yum!

    I've mastered eggs Benedict (and poached eggs in general) because I crave it too often and usually at random times (read: drunk food). It really isn't too hard once you get the hang of it and if you use a sauce mix.
  • EDesq
    EDesq Posts: 1,527 Member
    Options
    Bread: ain't nobody got time fo' that!


    WOW!!! THIS is one of the Most Important things a HEALTHY person should make at home. Buy a Bread Maker, you will soon learn that (1) There are ONLY 6 Ingredients to make Bread (NOT the 15+ in store bought), (2) Real Bread tastes different, it is NOT that chemical laden cotton ball that you buy in those bags. :noway:
  • nyssa1231
    nyssa1231 Posts: 120 Member
    Options
    we make bread, yogurt, chutney, pickles, baked goods, dressings, soups, and a lot of other things at home from scratch. it's totally worth it. i'm trying to think of more, but it's 5:30 a.m. :)

    luckily, we have this amazing olive oil and balsamic vinegar store by our house, so the sky's the limit when making salad dressings, roasted veggies in olive oil, etc. i bought a bottle of pre-made salad dressing so i could keep it in the fridge at work, and i thought i was going to vomit when i tasted it. now i just make some dressing for my salad at home and put it in a little container and take that to work with me.

    homemade bread is one of the best things ever! we lived in spain for a long time, and, when we got back, one of the many things i missed was my daily trip to the bakery. here, it's inconvenient to go to a (good) bakery every day, so i learned how to make it at home. we bought a bread maker on craigslist for $20, and we have fresh homemade bread all the time. i'm still working on mastering a basic baguette!
  • Dauntlessness
    Dauntlessness Posts: 1,489 Member
    Options
    My husband and I can some food, make microbrew, mead and hard cider, regular apple cider, smoke some meats and make our own sausages. Most of the jams and jellies we make are for Christmas gifts this year. I am going to try to make homemade vanilla extract and some sparking cider too. You wouldn't believe the baskets of food we have planned for friends and family this year...haha

    I highly suggest making your own sausages because big companies put a lot of "body parts" that you wouldn't normally eat in theirs. Same with meat, no nitrates!

    If you have a garden, you can your own tomato sauces, pumpkin puree, pickles, zucchini, soups, jams, jellies, apple butter, apple sauce, salsa, dilly beans, beets, cranberry sauce, ketchup and much more. I know its a pain in the butt but if you take 2-3 weekends to do it, you'll save a ton of cash throughout the year and have organic/good food. The initial investment of the jars isn't too bad. It runs about .70-1.20 a jar depending on how big they are. Once you have them, we are talking like .10-.30 a jar with next years batch.

    I like making my own bread even if its from a mix. The only gluten free bread I like is "Glutino favorite bread mix".

    I am a baker so I make all my own sweets, icing, frosting and cake mixes. Totally worth it once you realize how easy it really is.

    We make our own simple syrup and real brewed tea for drinks throughout the week. I still drink kool aid though...haha

    I made potato chips a few weeks ago! OMG, so much better than normal ones....and super simple. We are talking literally 10-15 minutes to do. http://www.budgetsavvydiva.com/2012/09/homemade-chips-recipe/

    Thats all I got for now.
  • cheddar2000
    cheddar2000 Posts: 43 Member
    Options
    Tapioca pudding, I use stevia instead of sugar to keep the carbs lower than the store bought since my honey has diabetes and this is one of the I gotta have it weaknesses. But it is a pain to make so I only make it one in a while.
  • trisH_7183
    trisH_7183 Posts: 1,486 Member
    Options
    A shorter list would be ,what is not better home made?
  • SailorKnightWing
    SailorKnightWing Posts: 875 Member
    Options
    I work from home so I tend to cook from scratch A LOT. That being said, there are quite a few things I get in packages because they don't taste better enough than packaged to justify the labor involved making them:

    -Most pasta. I have a pasta machine that I haven't mastered and it does taste really good, but it's not for every day because it takes up so much space and makes a mess with the flour. The ravioli is unbeatable, though.

    -Most bread. Things like banana bread or beer bread are nice and easy, but I don't eat bread enough to justify spending the time needed to knead and let rise. I grew up on terrible bread machine bread so I won't eat it anymore. I have a nice bakery 10 minutes away so I tend to get my bread there if I get it at all.

    -Gnocchi. Boy, that takes forever.

    -Spaghetti sauce, kinda. I start with a jar and mess with it until it's unrecognizable.
  • harleygroomer
    harleygroomer Posts: 373 Member
    Options
    I do recipes for NON-cooking people and here area few tricks--BREAD?? all stores carry the frozen dough--defrost that puppy and bake your bread, rolls, sweet rolls. Cookies?--it is cheaper to buy a pack and bake them--kids never know the difference. Gravy? Get the pk and make it with half water and half skim milk--people will think you have slaved over it. Mashed Potatoes--use the instant bugs with milk and unsalted butter (always use unsalted butter). And here is my quick quick GO-TO recipe for red beans and rice. One pk of polsa kielbasa chopped up, fry it in a LARGE dutch oven slightly, add 4 cans of kidney beans, 1 cup of salsa, and 4 cans of water. Cook that until hot and serve over rice--get the success bag rice. Corn brad? use a box mix--no one will tell. And my favorite trick for nasty can peas? add a pinch of curry powder as it gives them a sweeter flavor. And the best trik I have for ground turkey is that you MUST stir stir stir while you cook until it is into small grains and then add 1 Tbs of Italian seasoning to it. It is wonderful in lasagna, spaghetti whatever. I prefer turkey now to beef. I have a very busy life, yet like to cook, so I stood back one day and thought around the box on some of these MUST do's for homecooking---is easy.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Options
    Everything is worth making from scratch, it's just a matter of time. Personally i don't bother making pasta, bread, crackers, tomato sauce etc (plus I'd probably destroy a homemade loaf of bread in 10 minutes and this way I don't have to do math to figure out the calories).
  • Val_from_OH
    Val_from_OH Posts: 447 Member
    Options
    I like to cook. I've noticed a few things that are notably cheaper and healthier to make at home. For example: bread and pasta products, all kinds of sauces, pickles, pesto, hummus, roasting a huge hunk of meat and slicing instead of buying deli meats, etc...

    However, I've also found a few things that taste the same as store bought or aren't economical/healthier to make at home. My big ones are butter and Asian dumpling wrappers (homemade are indisputably better, but my time is worth something....maybe will do this more when I have minions...err, I mean, kids.)

    What are your "worth its" and "not worth its"?

    I LOVE to cook, but oh my gosh - almost everything on your list is a not-worth-it for me! Especially the bread and pasta. I buy pasta for $1/lb, and bread for $2/lb. Given that either of these would take me at least 30 minutes to make, I can easily say that my time is worth more than that. I also don't have a pasta machine, and I have proven that I have 0 skills with a rolling pin, so I can't imagine that an endeavor like that would end well...

    Since we don't have a garden (we don't own any property), making homemade tomato sauce, pesto, etc. is really expensive. I do it sometimes as a treat, but not as a cost/time savings.

    The things that I make from scratch are just normal dinner-type foods. Grilled chicken, homemade chicken tenders, long grain rice, stir-fries, sloppy joes, chili, etc,. I try to use as much fresh vegetables as possible, but resort to frozen if I have to, and canned tomatoes. I don't often buy commercial sauces (except lite soy), I'll either make my own or just season with spices. I make my own BBQ sauce sometimes, but it uses ketchup as a base, so I'm not sure if that counts.

Categories