Can I make these myself?

HI Misty,

I, too think you did great for 9 people. First, have you been able to find a co-op to get bulk grains, rice, sugar,etc from? Here are my humble suggestions for making yourself(some are repetitive), if you want recipes, let me know, I can add them:

Sandwich Bread- (w/video) http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/how-to-make-whole-wheat-bread-tutorial

Hamburger/Hot buns-http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/whole-wheat-hamburger-buns and http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/whole-wheat-hot-dog-buns

Instead of deli meat, which is expensive, crockpot cook tough pieces of meat and shred them for sandwich meat; do the same with chicken and egg salad sandwiches if he can keep them cool. Children can help with the shredding.

Buy the largest, cheapest hunks of cheese ( I get Cabot sharp at Walmart in a 2 lb. block for just under $9.00 and the wedges of Parmesan and Asiago for just under $4.00) and slice instead of purchasing pre-sliced cheese and shred yourself.This is where older children can help. Pre-shred and put in freezer in 1-2 c. portions. Also, shredded cheese had cellulose (as in your cleaning sponge) and antibiotics (neomycin, I think) added to it; some blocks of cheese do, too. Cabot does not. So you’ll benefit their health by not having those additives.

Don’t buy pre-made sausage; it’s expensive and has many preservatives (nitrites and erythrobates). Use ground beef or turkey and make your own, having your children help with making the patties. Then freeze on wax paper covered cookie sheet, bag, then bring out to cook as needed.

Make salad dressing (you can easily get the children doing this; it will be good for their math skills!). The only one I still buy is Bleu Cheese.

Make mayo using olive oil alone or a mix of olive oil and sunflower.

granola bars ( I think muffins are easier, plus zucchini and pumpkin breads after the harvest comes in)

The next three suggestions go together to reduce butter use, thereby the cost and increase health:

Buy bulk coconut oil for most cooking (and salad dressings)-Gold label for medicinal and cooking-has a slight coconut taste; Green label is good, too except less medicinal but still excellent, Expeller Pressed for cooking without a coconut aftertaste. I get mine here: http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/ They have sales weekly and free shipping now till July 11th. The stuff at the stores are refined, bleached and chemically deodorized. For most things, when it asks for butter, I use coconut oil.

Non-hydrogenated palm oil is also an option for cooking only. I use Spectrums’ through my co-op. I mainly use this to coat baking pans and my cast iron not for cooking, except biscuits, so a little goes a long way.

Buy Olive oil for cooking at lower heats and making salad dressings.

Since you get real milk, suck the cream out with a turkey baster and make cultured butter (and buttermilk) and save it just for topping on breads and veges, don’t cook with it, or cook rarely with it (my husband only likes his grilled cheese using butter)

Incorporate more water (or the whey that you have leftover from cheesemaking) instead of so much milk in your baking.  You’ll hardly notice the difference.

HTH,

Rachel

Rachel, please do tell a little more about how you make sausage, and if you’ve found any good smoked sausage.  I’m trying to get our local store to sell more AppleGate farms products, as they’re the healthiest I can find, but in the mean time, we just don’t buy sausage.  (ps, we don’t do pork, so if you’ve used turkey, chicken, etc, I’d be really interested in hearing about that)  I’m especially interested in finding a good smoked sausage, akin to keilbasa, which I know is altogether different, but I just thought I’d mention it…

This has been such a fun thread!

Lillylou, mine is EXACTLY like the second link–the old one would work too but the second one is exactly the one I have.

I don’t make the long sausage with casings, just the patties. Also, we don’t eat pork  products either. Here’s one recipe (I have another, but I have to look it up):

Homemade Sausage Seasoning Blend

A dry herb blend for giving any ground meat a “sausage” flavoring. Recipe can be doubled, tripled, etc as needed. Each batch is enough to season 1 pound of meat. Leave out the crushed red pepper flakes for milder sausage.

3 Tbsp

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3 1/2 teaspoons paprika

2/3 teaspoon garlic granules or garlic powder

1/3 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, for spicy (optional)

1. Blend all ingredients together in a spice grinder or mini-food processor (or you may also just stir together if you like some chunkier bits of fennel in your sausage).

2. Store in an airtight container until ready to use.

3. To use, mix with 1 pound ground meat.

4. Chill seasoned meat 3 hours before using.

5. Or you may also use this in any recipe calling for sausage seasoning.

Source: Recipezaar

I use extra garlic and extra red pepper, but we like things spicy around here. I also triple the recipe and do 3 pds. at a time. Then flash freeze then bag’em. I’ve used this with gr. beef and gr. lamb.

I’ll look for the other one…it’s  a mild one.

Rachel

Yes, Aussiemummy, the filler is cellulose; the same stuff our sponges are made from. Plus, an antibiotic is in there, too. They put an antibiotic in some block cheeses as well. It’s all there on the ingredient list. One of the wonderful reasons cheese is preserved is due to bacteria! UGH!

The FDA makes my head explode.

Rachel

Loving this thread (and the recipes from penny-wise) and am definitely going to try a few things.  You ladies are awesome!