Posts contain affiliate links, see disclosure for more details.
This is a guest post by Gigi, who blogs at MyFermentedFoods.com, where she talks about how you can make your own fermented foods at home. In this post, she’s sharing 5 foods that you can make at home to save money.
5 Foods to Prepare At Home And Save
Many store bought food items contain more ingredients than the same home-made recipe. This is natural given the fact that store bought food is expected to last longer. After manufacture, the food is taken in trucks where it travels long distances for days and later even sits for several days or weeks on store shelves. That is precisely the reason why home-made food tastes better and is much cheaper. Let us take a look at 5 foods to prepare at home and save:
1. Yogurt
Homemade yogurt tastes better and is healthier for you. It has no preservatives, sugar or chemicals and, when set right, is naturally tastier and delicious. A simple recipe is as follows:
- Half gallon milk
- 2 tbsp plain yogurt
Warm the milk in a pan (you can boil the milk and cool it down to 110 F) and transfer to a metal container having a lid. The milk should be lukewarm (not too hot, nor too cold, ideally around 110 F or 43 C). Add the yogurt to the warm milk. Cover the container and place it in a warm area (room temperature or in a warm oven) undisturbed for at least 8 hours until it sets. Transfer to refrigerator immediately.
If you check out this dentist in Germantown, they will also tell you how its probiotics are beneficial for your dental health.
2. Bread
Breads made at home are fresh, soft and delicious. They offer many health benefits since you escape commercially packed breads and their endless list of chemicals and additives. You will also derive a lot of satisfaction making your own bread since you can make many varieties including sourdough, whole wheat, rolls, pizza bases etc. You can also bake gluten free breads like rice, tapioca and potato breads. Making bread at home is also much more economical than buying breads from stores.
3. Homemade pickled vegetables
Many store bought pickled vegetables use vinegar rather than fermenting them over a long period. As a result, they do not contain the beneficial probiotic bacteria. Probiotic cultures produced during lactic acid fermentation offer many health benefits. They improve digestive health and immune health and lower inflammation. Homemade pickled vegetables are a great source of soluble fiber which offers bowel motility. You can make large batches of homemade pickled vegetables of your choice to consume all year long. Wash and dry vegetables completely and slice or chop them. Add the prepared veggies to a container with brine. You can also add healthy spices like turmeric, garlic, ginger or herbs. To further boost the levels of beneficial bacteria, you can add a readymade vegetable starter culture.
4. Salad dressings
Supermarket salad dressing is fattening and filled with tons of artificial ingredients. It can also be too tangy, too sweet or sometimes too watery. Owing to these taste and texture issues, we often end up throwing away store bought dressings after a few uses. Homemade salad dressing is delicious and you do not need too many ingredients to make it. Once you have the right quantity of ingredients, you can get that creamy, magical and tasty salad dressing you’ve always wanted without the associated costs.
5. Baby food
Fresh homemade baby food has tons of benefits like: increased nutritional value, elimination of additives, improved freshness, additional variety and lower costs. Commercial baby food contains fillers, starches and sugar. Also, no two brands of the same baby food type will have the same nutritional value owing to dilution with water and starchy fillers. Processed baby food is also cooked to high temperatures to kill bacteria. To compensate for the nutritional losses, manufacturers add nutrients to the food after cooking. This increases costs. With a little advanced planning one can easily prepare nutritious baby foods at home to save money and give baby the best food prepared with love.
Related Money Saving Posts:
Pin it!
