Does anyone take the time to make "basics" instead of buying them? My sister in law swears by her homemade laundry soap and I make my own dishwasher soap (a miracle worker with our hard water!) and granola. For a while I even made our sandwich bread, but then the time spent making it didn't outweigh the savings.
Sometimes the effort is woth the savings, so I'd love to know what everyone makes!
eggplant / 11824 posts
We make our own chicken, beef and veggie stock. It's about 1 step more complicated than boiling water, and it tastes SO much better than store bought stock, is a lot cheaper than store-bought and you can really control your sodium intake that way.
We also make pesto sauce, red pasta sauce and some other basic food things.
coconut / 8305 posts
I make our dishwater detergent and used to make our laundry detergent too (we're getting a bioball).
Most food I make from scratch & now I want to start making my own stock too!
I'd like to move to making more and more stuff ourselves so hopefully I'll be able to get some ideas from the rest of you ladies! =)
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
I once made tomato sauce using my dad's tomatoes he grew himself. DH complimented the spaghetti that night, and usually I get compliments on day old spaghetti.
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
Most of our food is from scratch. We eat limited grains so when we eat bread it's a nice treat! I don't normally bake it though because I like a certain bread best.
- any baked good- muffins, brownies, cookies etc
- tomato sauce
- beans
coconut / 8854 posts
I make laundry detergent, but I have been slacking and I just had to buy a bottle for right now.
@fussygal: what recipe do you use for dishwasher detergent? I would love to do that too!
pomegranate / 3580 posts
@Mrs. Lemon-line & @yoursilverlining I love homemade pasta sauce! I can't go back to the store bought stuff now 
@mrs. Pen id like to start doing beans, too!
@mrsbrewer I use this recipe I found on Pinterest (the comments on her post are helpful for tweaks to the recipe). It's working really well so far (one week of use)! http://simplydesigning.blogspot.com/2011/05/hard-water-stains-dishwasher-detergent.html?m=1
pomegranate / 3580 posts
@bao it's awesome! Super cheap to make and all natural! You don't have to use a ton either
GOLD / wonderful grape / 20289 posts
Following this thread! I used to make more before LO came around.... now I just don't have as much time. But that dish soap recipe looks so easy, I can do that. I want to learn about other things I can make too!
GOLD / papaya / 10206 posts
I can tomato sauce, chilli sauce, and salsa every year. I also make my own beans and soups from scratch.
coconut / 8299 posts
I make my own handsoap and dish washing liquid out of castille
soap. I also make my DS's bath soap because he has exczema.
cantaloupe / 6397 posts
Soup! And all baked goods except bread. I do have a bread machine though, so I should start doing bread too. My mom makes her own jam so we never buy that either
bananas / 9227 posts
I make my own tomato sauce and most other sauces. I've tried making jam from our Elderberries and I've been wanting to try to pickle veggies. DH bakes from scratch and always whips his own cream and I think it's fun to figure out how to replace Asian ingredients with whatever we have on hand.
Other than food, I don't really make anything else from scratch but I love reading about it and would like to try it.
pear / 1895 posts
We try not to buy any processed or canned foods. We make our own tomato sauces from the tomatoes we get in our summer CSA. The CSA share always has way more than we can eat, so we freeze the excess to use in the winter. That cuts down on a lot of stuff.
I also make our laundry detergent. I make a huge batch (a gallon pickle jar's worth) and it lasts me FOREVER.
I'd like to make our bread -- we've been looking at getting a cast iron dutch oven for this purpose.
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
I've made my own laundry & dishwasher detergent for about 5 years now? Biggest money saver EVER. I make (2) 5 gallons worth everytime. Home Depot or lowes sell the pails!
We cook primarily from scratch. Make our own pasta sauce, pasta, stock (recent fave using shrimp heads & shells for shrimp stock). Sausage, jerky, etc. although we don't always have the time for it.
I started canning more this summer and def plan to gain this summer when we have a even bigger garden this year!
I keep wanting to make my own granola but the ingredients are so $$!
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
@banana: share the bath soap recipe for DS please!
grapefruit / 4554 posts
@regberadaisy: 2.5 gallons??? What's your recipe for laundry and dishwasher detergent? Those are two things I hate buying!
We make alot of our own sauces and cook/bake from scratch.
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
@crash806: TWO 5 gallon pails! I use for all our laundry so when M arrived I started doubling the batch so I only have to do it half as often! I've only made it once in her life and she's 8 months old!
I use this recipe:
http://www.wgrz.com/news/article/159204/1/Product-Test-Homemade-Laundry-Soap
It's so easy and fast I haven't bought store bought in 5 years and I've ran out before!
Oh I don't make that much of the dishwasher soap! Hahha I usually make a big BJs Folgers can worth.
hostess / watermelon / 14932 posts
I make my own laundry detergent (box of borax, box of super baking soda and 3 bars fels-naptha!)
and I make my own tomato sauce
pomegranate / 3580 posts
@allison I really want to start getting a CSA box!
@regberadaisy I'll have to try that detergent recipe. I have some borax and washing soda left over from dishwasher soap!
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