Simmering tomatoes for marinara
There are so many things that you eat every week that you can easily make at home. It will increase the overall health of your family as you have complete control over ingredients while eliminating the preservatives and fillers found in may pre-made foods.
We consciously chucked our microwave over 7 years ago in an effort to make more food from scratch and to save money. Sure, microwaves are easy! Right? You just pop something in there and ‘presto!’ A few minutes later, it’s done. But microwaved food is expensive and filled with preservatives and chemical enhancers that you don’t need. Any microwaveable frozen meal is also significantly more expensive than purchasing the ingredients and creating the dish on your own. And no need to fall for the ‘reheating’ excuse as a reason to keep the ol’ nuker. Reheating food on the stovetop or in the oven is very quick and easy.
Tip: Most microwavable meals tend to be individual serving size. If you cook from scratch, you’ll most likely end up with leftovers. Your homemade meal will provide you with a few lunches or snacks down the line, all for less money upfront.
We have certain recurring items in our menu planning that are always homemade:
- Bread : Easy and delicious, and nothing will make your home smell better than rising and baking bread!
- Marinara sauce : So simple, you’ll embarrassed to admit you ever bought pre-made!
- Hummus: Making it yourself allows you to mix in your favorite flavors: roasted red pepper, or horse radish, or Kalamatas? The list goes on…
- Tzatziki: This fabulous sauce takes just minutes to prepare fresh and it can’t be beat!
- Pizza: Make the dough, use your own marinara, and add your favorite toppings and cheese!
Homemade pizza with vegetarian pepperoni!
We use fresh whole tomatoes for our marinara. We boil the garbanzo beans for our hummus. These choices originated as part of our effort to avoid BPA in cans. But we quickly saw how much tastier the end result was when the items are fresh made. (Yes! You can find BPA free canned tomatoes, etc., but you will pay a significant up-charge for that assurance. And since we are on a budget, we had to seek out different solutions.)
As much as we have always enjoyed cooking, we went full steam ahead with homemade food when Bluey was born. We didn’t want his first tastes of food to be something processed. Nor did we want to pay someone else to provide a product we could easily create on our own. For instance, it isn’t hard to skin an apple, dice the fruit, boil the bits, and press it all through a strainer, or toss it in the food processor. You can then freeze your homemade applesauce in a BPA free ice cube tray with a lid (or this one is great, too) and store it for up to 2 months. The ice-cube trays make great baby-sized portions that thaw or heat up in a flash. And it was so comforting to know the exact ingredients of every morsel our son was eating.
We find that cooking from scratch is more of a mindset adjustment than anything else. It isn’t horribly time consuming if you plan it out. It doesn’t take a degree in the culinary arts to create wholesome, fresh meals. It is about believing that you can do it, and then deciding that you’re going to do it. Give it a try and allow yourself to succeed!