Friday 28 February 2014

Cooking From Scratch!

Hey Frugal Followers,

I was very inspired a while ago after watching a video about how you can eat anything you want if you just make it yourself. If you have to cook it from scratch, you'll be less likely to eat as much of it and ergo you'll be healthier for it. I unfortunately know very well the sad fact of baking or cooking all day. When I'm done I just want to get rid of the thing and barely touch it cause I feel so overwhelmed by the effort that went into it.

I've always been in the camp for trying to make things myself from using a bread maker to sewing small gifts for kids. I take a lot of joy making something special for someone but never really thought about seeing my meals that way. Don't get me wrong, I do love to cook when I'm not exhausted from working so much and have a youtube video to follow. But, I'm talking about everyday eating and that includes weekdays! I've been taking smaller steps to cook some of my foods completely from scratch and making them healthier and knowing what exactly is going in them. On the plus side, I get to use better quality ingredients and my taste buds thank me for it.

 My attempt at making a small one person portion of mash potatoes. Holy! One sized potato that is the size of two of my fists can make mash potatoes for 2-3 people! Lesson learned: get smaller potatoes!

We bought some extra lean ground beef and Winton makes the best burgers! He experiments with different recipes and ingredients and got a really good idea to put cinnamon in the burger patty. It is totally delish! This fresh beef burger beats any store bought fresh or frozen burger! The best part is you can make as big a patty or small as you like!

I have tried to make french fries on my own before, but forgot to take a picture. It didn't end up being as crispy as store bought fries nor as tasty. Apparently, it's not as simple as chopping up a potato and throwing it in some grease. I think my problem is that we only cook with EVOO and that probably contributed to the sogginess of my fries. I think next time I'm going to try to bake them instead and maybe using sweet potatoes instead of my favourite russet potato. 

Give cooking from scratch a try! Yes, it'll take more time but think of all the online shopping you won't be able to do and your wallet will thank you. Think of it as a way to spend time with your family that isn't in front of a screen. Have some fun, experiment with ingredients, all the while picking up some new skills in the kitchen!  


Eros and Pookie

3 comments:

  1. Try making Mayonnaise from scratch. Truly cool and natural. I couldn't believe it until some one showed me. Tadzhik sauce too. Very easy.

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  2. Sorry it is Rmarmei I thought it would put my name there. I do it in a Mason Jar and you can add a Avocado if you want Avocado mayo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym-R-p7h69c

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  3. Also Costco sells Lean ground Turkey meat. It has a strange consistency when mixing it but it is very healthy compared to red meat. I make jerk burgers They are soo good too.

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