DIY Food items...

[Helvegen]

Thank the MMM forum for introducing me to the Instant Pot. I finally got one at the beginning of the month and it is probably one of the best kitchen items I have ever bought. I have made yogurt and ricotta cheese with it. The ricotta was amazing, so much better than anything I have ever ate from the store. I am never buying it again!  On Saturday, I made a vegetable lasagna from homemade spaghetti sauce, homemade fresh whole wheat noodles, fresh basil from my kitchen plants, and the fresh ricotta. It was really good except it could have used more sauce. I just had what I had.  Next weekend, I am going to try to make quark with the IP.

I bought some Instant Jel and hope to be able to make some instant, no-cook pudding mix with it.

I had buttermilk left over from my aebleskiver experiment

How did it go? I have a Lodge aebelskiver pan on the way for making those and takoyaki. Hoping it is here by Friday so I can give it a shot Saturday morning. I've never made either before, so should be interesting.

[Nancy]

We also just bought an Instant Pot, and it has been life changing.

Yesterday, we made and froze 12 servings of pesto from basil harvested from the garden. Has anyone here ever foraged for pine nuts?

[JPinDC]

Yesterday, we made and froze 12 servings of pesto from basil harvested from the garden. Has anyone here ever foraged for pine nuts?

I made pesto over the weekend as well, but I just used walnuts because that's what we had in the house. Still tasty!

[Cookie78]

I never spent so much time in the kitchen as I did all last weekend.

My dad sent me home with boxes and boxes of tomatoes he'd grown a couple weeks ago. I don't like fresh tomatoes, but make sauce from them. Made a few gallons of tomato sauce from about half of what he'd sent. The rest are still ripening.

Made cheese from a gallon of milk. I've only done it a few times before. This time I got creative, split the cheese into 4 sections, and played around with some flavoring options. Maple-cinnamon, Sage-parsley, Garlic-chive, and habanero.

Made crackers again. 3 different flavors. Lemon-dill, poppy seed, and Onion-sage.

Made 2 casseroles to use up some beans and celery from the garden, and buns from the freezer.

Used up a pumpkin, tried to make 'pumpkin chips' but it didn't work out, used the rest of that half of the pumpkin to make pumpkin puree. Used the other have to make pumpkin fries. Roasted the seeds. yum.

Made 4 zucchini breads.

Made Thai Chili sauce for the first time! Delicious!

Made saskatoon-rhubarb crisp. Threw in 4 leftover frozen strawberries for good measure.

[Anje]

@Cookie78 You wouldn't per chanse have a recipe for those crackers to share?

I made chili salt this weekend. It's yet to settle it's flavour, but if it works well this is an easy way to preserve things like herbs. I plan to make a parsley salt: the thing I miss most in winter is fresh parsley on my morning eggs (my parsley is alive and well in winter, but I would not be happy if I took my sleepy self out onto a snowy front porch. I know: I've tried.).

[PARedbeard]

I'm still pretty new to DIYing food, but I had a small victory last night. My wife and I had a sweet tooth for crepes, so she pulled out some eggs, milk, and flour and whisked up a quick mix. I started pulling out potential fillings: thin strawberry jam, caramel sauce, and some whipped cream. As we were assembling our crepes, I realized that everything (the jam, the sauce, and the whipped cream) had been made by us. I know that all four of the components are pretty darn easy to make, but it filled me with a little joy!

[Kimchi Bleu]

Thank the MMM forum for introducing me to the Instant Pot. I finally got one at the beginning of the month and it is probably one of the best kitchen items I have ever bought. I have made yogurt and ricotta cheese with it. The ricotta was amazing, so much better than anything I have ever ate from the store. I am never buying it again!  On Saturday, I made a vegetable lasagna from homemade spaghetti sauce, homemade fresh whole wheat noodles, fresh basil from my kitchen plants, and the fresh ricotta. It was really good except it could have used more sauce. I just had what I had.  Next weekend, I am going to try to make quark with the IP.

I bought some Instant Jel and hope to be able to make some instant, no-cook pudding mix with it.

I had buttermilk left over from my aebleskiver experiment

How did it go? I have a Lodge aebelskiver pan on the way for making those and takoyaki. Hoping it is here by Friday so I can give it a shot Saturday morning. I've never made either before, so should be interesting.

Would love to have the ricotta recipe. 

Just made steel cut oats in the Instant Pot that were amazing.

[Cookie78]

@Cookie78 You wouldn't per chanse have a recipe for those crackers to share?

Sure!

I started to type it out, but found this link which is pretty much identical.

http://www.craftylittlegreyfox.com/#!lavash-crackers/c1x2v

[jollygreen23]

Mostly, I bake, keeping my family well-supplied in muffins and bread (breakfast and snacks on the cheap!).

I dream about canning/preserving, yogurt making, and salsa (from a salsa-garden fantasy I've had for a couple years and haven't made a reality yet)

[horsepoor]

Yesterday, we made and froze 12 servings of pesto from basil harvested from the garden. Has anyone here ever foraged for pine nuts?

I made pesto over the weekend as well, but I just used walnuts because that's what we had in the house. Still tasty!

I've actually switched to macadamia nuts.  They are still pricey, but I think they make a better pesto because they counteract any bitterness that might be in the basil.  They also work awesome in a Thai basil pesto.  Cashews work well too.

Last weekend I made my best batch of yogurt yet in the Instant Pot.  Next time I will try using this yogurt as a starter instead of buying a cup of yogurt to start the batch.

[geekette]

@Cookie78 You wouldn't per chanse have a recipe for those crackers to share?

Sure!

I started to type it out, but found this link which is pretty much identical.

http://www.craftylittlegreyfox.com/#!lavash-crackers/c1x2v

These look interesting, but how important is the eggshell?  I don't usually have egg shells hanging around...  And isn't 4 fluid ounces a half cup rather than 2/3?  I suppose that's less important, but it doesn't inspire confidence!

[seemsright]

@Cookie78 You wouldn't per chanse have a recipe for those crackers to share?

Sure!

I started to type it out, but found this link which is pretty much identical.

I like to use sunflower seeds in pesto...they taste great and cheap.

http://www.craftylittlegreyfox.com/#!lavash-crackers/c1x2v

These look interesting, but how important is the eggshell?  I don't usually have egg shells hanging around...  And isn't 4 fluid ounces a half cup rather than 2/3?  I suppose that's less important, but it doesn't inspire confidence!

[Axecleaver]

It looks like they converted a UK recipe from ml to ounces/cups, but rounded them in different directions and ended up with a confusing conversion. 125ml is about half a cup (0.52c)

I didn't understand the bit about using an egg shell to dissolve the yeast in - I can't imagine that makes a difference.

[southern granny]

seasoned sweet potato chips... requires a slicer to get the chips thin enough and a large deep fryer, but so good.

[jengod]

As we were assembling our crepes, I realized that everything (the jam, the sauce, and the whipped cream) had been made by us. I know that all four of the components are pretty darn easy to make, but it filled me with a little joy!

That is wonderful!

Helvegen, the aebleskiver was a success, even picky DH liked them. Definitely an interesting breakfast treat if you have the pan.

Today's exciting development was that today I bought a pasta machine for $5 from a roadside seller, tonight I made fresh fettuccine noodles from flour and our backyard chicken eggs. It came out lovely. I had mine with sauteed shiitake mushrooms, homegrown thyme and olive oil, and the kids had theirs plain. So great to know that I don't need to buy pasta at a store if I don't want to!

[Shropskr]

Thursday we took 4whole chickens and turned them into:  boneless skinless breasts, thighs, had legs and separated wings, and chicken tenderloins.   

I'm so unbelievably proud.  This is our third try and we did it.  I figure we got 2 1/2 extra meals out of those chickens as we'd get out of buying the pieces.  Plus we get chicken breasts which I'm too thrifty to buy.  And bone broth too. 

Also made 7lbs of meatballs for an extended family dinner tomorrow.  Harder because has to be gluten free and dairy free.

[Cookie78]

@Cookie78 You wouldn't per chanse have a recipe for those crackers to share?

Sure!

I started to type it out, but found this link which is pretty much identical.

http://www.craftylittlegreyfox.com/#!lavash-crackers/c1x2v

These look interesting, but how important is the eggshell?  I don't usually have egg shells hanging around...  And isn't 4 fluid ounces a half cup rather than 2/3?  I suppose that's less important, but it doesn't inspire confidence!

The eggshell doesn't make a difference. At least, I've never used it, and I still enjoy the crackers. I usually only end up putting 1/3 cup of water in . You just add water slowly until it's kneadable dough.

[onehair]

What is takoyaki I forgot to ask?

[Loonie Tunes]

dill pickles!

[Kimchi Bleu]

It looks like they converted a UK recipe from ml to ounces/cups, but rounded them in different directions and ended up with a confusing conversion. 125ml is about half a cup (0.52c)

I didn't understand the bit about using an egg shell to dissolve the yeast in - I can't imagine that makes a difference.

Maybe there is sugar in the leftover egg white that the yeast is eating?  Or else the person didn't want to dirty a small bowl?

Yesterday I made spiced syrup for the homemade pancakes I made today.  Hadn't made it in years and was so glad that I took the time to make it.

[Helvegen]

Would love to have the ricotta recipe. 

Just made steel cut oats in the Instant Pot that were amazing.

I used this recipe: http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-homemade-ricotta-cheese-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-23326

I would suggest using full lemon juice for sweeter applications (like for cannoli filling) and the full vinegar for more savory dishes. I use half lemon juice and half vinegar for mine. I've never used the citric acid, so can't comment. I have also used 2% milk and it turned out nice. But I tell you, I am never going to go back to buying store bought ricotta. I had no idea it was so stupid easy to make, especially with the Instant Pot that does the 'hard' part for you!

What is takoyaki I forgot to ask?

Takoyaki is a savory Japanese pancake ball, generally filled with octopus (tako). But you can fill with whatever you like best and an aebleskiver pan works great to make them. Here is a recipe: http://www.japanesecooking101.com/takoyaki-recipe/

This weekend, I made my first batch of cultured buttermilk. Yay, another thing I don't have to buy at the store!

I also made a bunch of apple butter and it is D-E-L-I-C-O-U-S. I can just eat it straight from the jar, but I also used it to flavor my Greek yogurt, put on/in aebelskiver, and on bread. I used this recipe, though I subbed Truvia baking blend for the sugar and added a little pumpkin pie spice. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/229900/apple-butter-recipe/?internalSource=search%20result&referringContentType=search%20results

[Miamoo]

This lady is my hero.  Look around on her site for all kinds of DIY & preserving.

https://youtu.be/T3Rq-AazK20

[Helvegen]

This lady is my hero.  Look around on her site for all kinds of DIY & preserving.

https://youtu.be/T3Rq-AazK20

She's sort of a mixed bag for me. I like the dehydration series and how much they try to do themselves like home improvements and raising animals. I totally dig that and would like to have a hobby farm at some point myself. At the same time, she cooks a lot of unhealthy food. I mean, meatloaf stuffed with mac and cheese and then actually bothering to can processed canned cheese? She bakes a lot of full fat/sugar desserts, some of which definitely look good! But then you read later on that her husband is a type II diabetic, if it wasn't bad enough that she herself is obviously quite morbidly obese with a laundry list of obesity exacerbated health problems. I don't ever really see any attempts in her vids to eat well. I guess she just assumes that if she made/raised it herself, that is good enough. I used to believe that too, made almost all of my food from scratch/organic/etc, and I used to also have a BMI in the mid 40s.

It just seems a bit odd to be so into self-sufficiency and prepping and not work on having something that would be so valuable to have in that situation - your health and general fitness. She looks like she could barely make it through Canadian Tire, let alone through the woods with 20 zombies or whatever other end of the world fantasy you can come up with. She couldn't even work in her garden this year. Yes, she is definitely no spring chicken, but IMO, makes it even more important that she not be carting around two extra people in fat. It has enough work with just one person at her age! Why hamstring yourself like that? She doesn't even have to exercise to start, just eat less. And when you eat less, you are conversing more food. You don't need as much cloth for clothing because there are less inches to cover and so on. Just makes more sense to make yourself as efficient as possible in a SHTF scenario.

[lucky-girl]

I'm still pretty new to DIYing food, but I had a small victory last night. My wife and I had a sweet tooth for crepes, so she pulled out some eggs, milk, and flour and whisked up a quick mix. I started pulling out potential fillings: thin strawberry jam, caramel sauce, and some whipped cream. As we were assembling our crepes, I realized that everything (the jam, the sauce, and the whipped cream) had been made by us. I know that all four of the components are pretty darn easy to make, but it filled me with a little joy!

That's awesome! I love moments like that.

I'm just jumping into this thread now and have been reading back a bit- good ideas abound.

We do most of our cooking from scratch, and I'm slowly picking off the things that are still being bought processed.

This year I started making sandwich bread every Sunday, inspired by a friend of mine. I took a break for the summer, but am back at it. Its so satisfying.

Another recent success: A month or two ago I put a call out on facebook for a waffle iron, because my son was having waffles for breakfast most mornings, and we were using the store-bought frozen kind. I got one hand-me-down from a friend for free. So now I make a batch every week or two and freeze them up. Not something I ever did before, because I'm not really a waffle or pancake kind of gal.

I also make granola bars pretty consistently, though we still buy those ready made for my son's lunches sometimes. I've found there are not many nut-free options unless you cook them for yourself.

I am itching to make crackers. If anyone has links to favorite cracker recipes, I am eager to try some.

Thanks again for all the inspiration!

[Kitsunegari]

I'm still pretty new to DIYing food, but I had a small victory last night. My wife and I had a sweet tooth for crepes, so she pulled out some eggs, milk, and flour and whisked up a quick mix. I started pulling out potential fillings: thin strawberry jam, caramel sauce, and some whipped cream. As we were assembling our crepes, I realized that everything (the jam, the sauce, and the whipped cream) had been made by us. I know that all four of the components are pretty darn easy to make, but it filled me with a little joy!

That's awesome! I love moments like that.

I'm just jumping into this thread now and have been reading back a bit- good ideas abound.

We do most of our cooking from scratch, and I'm slowly picking off the things that are still being bought processed.

This year I started making sandwich bread every Sunday, inspired by a friend of mine. I took a break for the summer, but am back at it. Its so satisfying.

Another recent success: A month or two ago I put a call out on facebook for a waffle iron, because my son was having waffles for breakfast most mornings, and we were using the store-bought frozen kind. I got one hand-me-down from a friend for free. So now I make a batch every week or two and freeze them up. Not something I ever did before, because I'm not really a waffle or pancake kind of gal.

I also make granola bars pretty consistently, though we still buy those ready made for my son's lunches sometimes. I've found there are not many nut-free options unless you cook them for yourself.

I am itching to make crackers. If anyone has links to favorite cracker recipes, I am eager to try some.

Thanks again for all the inspiration!

Homemade waffles are the best thing! A bit fat, but holy mother of god, I could eat them every day!

Here's my husbands' recipe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDm5qGHBYR0

[Nancy]

Made veg stock in the pressure cooker with frozen veg scraps. It's too easy.

[TrMama]

Made 4 loaves of bread last night after work, plus won ton soup using home made turkey stock. My 7yo has some suspected food intolerances (dairy and soy) so I've been doing lots of experimenting lately. Plus I've become the crazy lady blocking the isle at the supermarket while she reads all the labels. I think kombucha and lacto fermented carrots might be next on the list.

Does anyone have a great recipe for non-dairy cheese? Particularly mozza and parmesan? I've been buying the cheese replacements in the health food section, but they are expensive and most are truly awful tasting. I've googled recipes, but most of them look like they'd produce something that would taste like nut butter.

[RetiredAt63]

Could you please post your spice mix per 100gm of meat?  I have tried making homemade breakfast sausage and it never tastes like the store sausages (they are not gluten free and now I can't eat them, must make my own).  Usually home made tastes better, but not my home-made breakfast sausages.

Donair meat?  Neat.  I prefer shish taouk (sort of like shawarma), which I will never make at home - unless you have a home version?  It is so good.

  I had enough ground pork left over to make a batch of breakfast sausage patties as well.

This weekend I have plans to make donair meat from scratch too.  This likely would only impress eastern Canadians though!

[jengod]

I roasted green coffee beans in a Whirley-Pop.

It seems like it actually worked because I'm enjoying this cuppa quite a bit. Now I have to decide if I want to own 22.5# of green coffee from Costco or make the trip to our local roaster on a regular basis to pick up green beans. (Or none of the above.)

[shelivesthedream]

Made kimchi! It worked! But now we have lots and are struggling to eat it up...

[Anje]

I love beans prouts. Years ago I discovered how easy and cheap it is to "make" them yourself.

Now during the winter months I often have weeks on end where I grow bean sprouts continually on my kitchen counter. Excelent sourse of fresh produce to make a salad, stir fry or rice dish interesting at a time of year where nothing grows outside.

[horsepoor]

Made kimchi! It worked! But now we have lots and are struggling to eat it up...

Is it fermented?  It should last ages in the fridge.  I have a big jar of fermented kraut that is over a year old and still good and crunchy.

[shelivesthedream]

Good to know! Most of what I've read online says to eat it up within 'a few months'.

[jengod]

Made fresh butter from heavy whipping cream, using the stand mixer, just because every damn book says don't bother making butter. It was fun.

Later this week, going to make skillet cornbread to use up the buttermilk and some frozen corn kernels left over from the summer.

[pekklemafia]

I bake a loaf of crusty bread almost every weekend, adapted from this recipe: http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/11376-no-knead-bread

It's just too easy! I use a sourdough starter now, however. Probably comes in at about 25 cents a loaf vs 5 or 6 dollars at the local bakery.

I'd love to get into canning or preserving some day, but we've eaten our garden harvest for the year already! Sigh.

[Kitsunegari]

Last week I bought by mistake a clear honey that my DH doesn't like, so this w-e I made some nocciolata! I took blanched hazelnuts (expensive, I know, but it's not the same with other nuts!) I crushed them until they were flour, then I mixed them with the honey. That's it. It's insanely delicious, we both loved it! The only problem is, DH ate half the pot already and said we should always have some in our pantry, so I'm afraid this will cost me A LOT in the future...

Also, some people add cocoa powder to their nocciolata, haven't tried yet but just FYI.

[onehair]

I am going to attempt homemade sunflower butter cups this week I think.  It is my first effort at chocolate cups ever.  I attempt candy on and off.

[Helvegen]

I made rumballs this weekend and realized too late that I could have made them with Oreo cookies instead of Nila wafers. Oh well.

I also made a marzipan stollen and Nurenburger lebkuchen. The lebkuchen is awesome, but pretty time intensive. Have to glaze the tops and bottoms of each one. The chocolate bottom requires time in the freezer to set so the tops can be glazed. Only time where I have ever wanted one of those blast chillers I see on Cutthroat Kitchen. :p

[Nancy]

Bought a bag of apples that went from firm to overripe overnight. Made apple sauce in the Instant Pot. Yum!

[puglogic]

I made rumballs this weekend and realized too late that I could have made them with Oreo cookies instead of Nila wafers. Oh well.

I also made a marzipan stollen and Nurenburger lebkuchen. The lebkuchen is awesome, but pretty time intensive. Have to glaze the tops and bottoms of each one. The chocolate bottom requires time in the freezer to set so the tops can be glazed. Only time where I have ever wanted one of those blast chillers I see on Cutthroat Kitchen. :p

I'm going to try to make a marzipan stollen this week. My husband loves it.  Made rum balls too, but they don't last very long in this house  :)

[MMMaybe]

I am making some infused vodka for Christmas. The cranberry one I made for Thanksgiving was awesome and now I am doing a spiced apple and pear one :)

Love this thread, please keep it going!

[puglogic]

I am making some infused vodka for Christmas. The cranberry one I made for Thanksgiving was awesome and now I am doing a spiced apple and pear one :)

Love this thread, please keep it going!

Oooh, Mmmaybe, recipe?

[HappierAtHome]

Going to make my first foccacia this week (yes, for part of Christmas lunch). I make a lot of other breads, and it looks like foccacia is fairly similar to those, so I'm quietly confident.

Helvegen, lebkuchen is the best. It's not Christmas without lebkuchen.

[Rural]

I made up, then made cinnamon yogurt frozen dog treats tonight - does that count? Spoon 1/2 tsp cinnamon into enough plain yogurt to fill four cells in an ice cube tray, stir well, freeze in ice cube tray, and give one to each dog with leftovers for tomorrow. The girl has been on a lot of antibiotics and could use the yogurt, the boy loves cinnamon with a deep attachment bordering on the unnatural, and they both like frozen treats (usually they get ice cubes).

[MMMaybe]

Oooh, Mmmaybe, recipe?

I started with this recipe.

http://boulderlocavore.com/homemade-spiced-pear-vodka/

But I was unable to get the normal green pears here and the Asian pears were not very flavourful so I had to throw a couple of Granny Smith apples in as well. I'm also doing a shorter infusion period (5 days) so I used double the fruit called for in the recipe.

[With This Herring]

The following comes to mind for DIY food items I make somewhat consistently:
(Vegetarian) Worcestershire Sauce
Iced tea with lemon
Lemonade
Bread (sometimes)
Pizza (every time)
Hummus
Cooked beans :)
Taco seasoning (I use the same recipe as Braken_Joy, but multiply it greatly and keep it in a spice jar)
Cinnamon rolls
Biscuits
Vegetarian gyoza and gyoza sauce

For those who like hot cocoa/hot chocolate, try adding a little powdered ginger to your cup.  It is so delicious!  Now that I've started keeping fresh in the freezer, I may try that as well.

[Quinny]

We've had yogurt making going for so long that when we left it too long in the fridge I forgot you could use store bought as a starter! And if I can do it, anyone can! My other claim to fame is that my kiddos didn't know that you could buy beans in a can.

I would love to know what stollen recipes people are using.

[jengod]

Just made English marmalade with some bitter oranges we were gifted. Delicious.

Tried to make candied orange peel, but not as delicious.

[With This Herring]

Just made English marmalade with some bitter oranges we were gifted. Delicious.

Tried to make candied orange peel, but not as delicious.

Were the candied peels too bitter?  If so, you may have needed to do more clean water boils before the sugar boils.  Grapefruit peels take me longer than (normal, sweet) orange peels.

[Bracken_Joy]

Taco seasoning (I use the same recipe as Braken_Joy, but multiply it greatly and keep it in a spice jar)

I do the same actually! I hoard the desiccant packets in seaweed packs and stick them in the jar. No clumping! Even making filling a leftover BBQ sauce jar, I have to make more every month at least. I've recently added a ton of turmeric to the recipe though, really adds a good dimension of flavor.