Things to make from scratch and save yourself the preservatives!

When my kids are home for the summer, they love to spend time making goodies from scratch. Hey, they have the time, energy and interest! Their passion corresponds so well with the vibe in the summer of all things FRESH. Farmer’s markets are in season!

1. Bread. Once we got a Kitchenaid mixer ( a fabulous wedding present) with the bread attachment, and once we tasted the bread we made, there was no going back. My VERY easy recipe at the end of this article takes about 5-10 minutes to prepare, no lie. Once you let it rest, it bakes for 25-30 minutes at 325 degrees, and you’re done.

2.  Fruit and vegetable ‘bread’, or rather, cake. These sweet treats are a great way to use up veggies like zucchini, potatoes and pumpkin. Most fruits lend themselves to breads, like apple and any berries. My daughter goes crazy for banana bread and makes it regularly- when the bananas go past a certain level of ripeness I cannot stomach them. That’s the time for her to make her famous banana bread- she uses a lot of chocolate chips and walnuts 🙂

3. Butter. If you’re going to make bread, why not some butter to go along with it? There is literally ONE ingredient- heavy cream. Get a pint and put it in your mixer bowl, whip on high speed until it starts to form a butter-like consistency- see the photo below. You just rinse it in ice water (fill up a bowl with ice and water) for a few minutes, then store in a sealed container in the fridge. It can keep up to three weeks! Feel free to flavor your butter for special occasions. We’ve tried garlic and honey. Just stir whatever you want into the prepared butter before storing. I’m thinking herbs like chives would be amazing!!

4. Pasta. You’re getting the idea, floury things are loaded with preservatives to keep them on the shelf truly forever. Home made pasta is pure and so fresh. Flour, an egg and water are all you need, with a touch of salt. Let the dough rise at least once for an hour or two. You’ve all seen chefs cracking the egg into the bowl of flour, right? We got a pasta maker years ago, and it’s fun to pull it out now and again. The trick to using the pasta maker is to keep threading the dough through until it’s nice and thin. When it’s the way you want it, hang it over a glass or bowl to dry. Fresh pasta cooks much faster than dry- so keep that in mind. And always remember to salt water for pasta!

5. Pizza dough! This same pasta dough above can be used for pizza crust. After the dough has risen and been kneaded, it’s ready to be stretched on a pizza stone. I got one that is specially designed for the grill. It makes mini-pizzas, which are a lot healthier and can be loaded up with fresh summer veggies (for the WW conscious, instead of dough, I use a carb-light tortilla. Use fresh tomatoes and you don’t even miss the sauce).

6. Pasta Sauce. Although it’s not great for a diet given the amount of sugar in store-bought, you can really regulate the amount when you make it from scratch. I get a monster bag of fresh tomatoes at the farmers market- honestly any kind, although Roma are ideal being a firmer variety. Fill a stockpot with diced tomatoes, some onions and garlic, and about a cup of water (they will seriously cook down so barely any needed), salt, and Italian herbs like basil and oregano (get from your herb garden!). Add sugar sparingly. Keep tasting to ensure you don’t over salt or sugar the pot. The longer it cooks, you’ll start seeing the tomatoes falling apart and forming a saucier consistency. Use this on the pizza too, for sure. An option is to add some ground turkey or sausage or a delicious meat sauce.

Basically the same ingredients go into fresh salsa also, you just keep everything raw. For salsa, I add some lime juice, olive oil and jalapeños to the veggies. And unlike the pasta sauce, no sugar is needed. You’re going for spicy and sharp- great on grilled nachos!

Homemade pasta, sauce and bread with homemade garlic butter??? 

Super yummy meal with a salad (made with more summer garden ingredients!)

7. Pickled veggies. I’ve mentioned my daughters LOVE pickled onions- using them on several of the dishes in our summer meals blog post, but also standing alone on a traditional sandwich for extra flavor. Just like these onions (literally ACV, water, salt and sugar) are the easiest thing and ready after only hours of sitting- you can pickle whatever else suits your fancy. Cucumbers of course, but also think peppers of all kinds, beets, carrots and cauliflower.

8. Applesauce. Maybe more for the Fall when apples are so abundant, but we live near an orchard where they’re plentiful year-round, and certainly they are always at the grocery store. Homemade applesauce is as easy as the pasta sauce recipe- slice apples thinly and cover them in a saucepan with water. Boil until they are soft. Throw them into a blender with some sugar or honey and a TOUCH of salt (cinnamon if you like it) and blend to whatever consistency you like- we like it a bit on the chunkier side.

9. Granola. My kids loved their cereals when they were young- but we’ve gotten away from them in recent years. But we do love a hearty granola that is delicious with just milk and some fresh fruit, but also versatile enough to be used in yogurt, on ice cream, and in the breads we made above. Any grains and seeds you enjoy can be added to a sheet tray and baked on 350 for an hour or so until crispy. Rolled oats, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, sunflower seeds…use your creativity! I just spray with a cooking oil and a light coating of honey and let them bake. After cooling you can scrape into a bowl and mix with dried fruits if you’d like. Cover in an airtight container and use whenever you want a bit of extra crunch and flavor!

10. Salad Dressings. Lemon vinaigrette (this goes on my Shepherd’s salad), caesar, honey mustard, balsamic, the list goes on for delicious dressings, and all can be done from scratch! I love this dressing container that literally has the recipes and measurements directly on it! Purchase something like THIS

if you’re interested in homemade dressings. In the summer and year-round we use dressings for marinading meats in addition to dressing many kinds of fresh salads.

NORA AND DANIELLE’S EASY HOME-MADE BREAD

• Put about 2 cups of flour into a mixing bowl and add 2 tsps of yeast (FYI yeast needs to be refrigerated after opening- I didn’t know this after 40 years!).
• In a separate smaller bowl, pour a cup of milk (any kind), 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of honey- heat this up on the stove or in microwave, so it’s hot but not boiling.
• Pour the milk mixture into the flour. Turn on the mixer and continue to add more flour a little at a time until it become the consistency of dough. We’ve often erred on making the dough too dry (too much flour), so I suggest keeping it a tad on the wetter side but still holding together well.
• Place a kitchen towel over the bowl and check it in about 1-2 hours. The dough should have @ doubled in size. Knead it with your hands and add a touch more flour for a few minutes, then place in a greased bread pan. Cover the pan again and let it rise a second time (1-2 hrs). It’s now ready to bake! 325 degrees for 25 minutes to half an hour. Delish!