Cooking From Scratch (AKA No More Processed Foods!)
 

So...a few of us on the Motivational thread were beginning to chat about cooking from scratch and incorporating more natural ingredients into our diet, as opposed to processed foods.

What are your favorite ways to do this? What's been your experience? How did your family like it? And recipes...which are your favorites?

I know we have some wonderfully talented cooks and gardeners on this site; let's see if we can get this thread active and share their knowledge :D!

Following You Over Here...
 

I saw your question about pasta, cereals, etc. I'm not quite that fanatical. :) I do purchase healthy cereals, (although I usually stick to oatmeal) whole wheat pasta, etc. I mean I don't buy any boxed mixes or pre-prepared foods. All of my meals for my family start with fresh ingredients. (Think Rachael Ray, 30 Minute Meals on a diet. :D)

One thing most people eat out of a box that I make from scratch is mac & cheese.

right now the only thing out of a can is my tuna. other than that i don't eat anything processed. my son however is about 90% processed free. my son loves oatmeal so i do quick cooking oats for him. for quick meals for my son an omelette is a great option for us & my son loves omelettes. i used to buy those pre-cooked chickens at the stores. yes they are easy, but i have to watch my sodium. i found i can buy a whole chicken for the same price & cook it in my cockpot & it turns out wonderfully. it takes more planning, but in the end better for us & our families

Stacey, amazing that you mention this...I have a whole chicken right now, and I am clueless what to do with it.

I was thinking about putting it in the crockpot, but I wasn't sure what I should do with it from there - I would love to know how you cook up the whole chicken in the crockpot, and then what you do with all of the meat aftewards.

I feel like I sound like I don't cook, but the reality is I cook a lot...I just don't typically cook whole chickens - lol :)

This is from a post of mine from last March when I was asked about my "go to" quick, from scratch, healthy family meals. As you can see, we eat a lot of vegetarian dinners with small amounts of chicken or seafood here and there. My list was:

*Spanish Rice (brown rice, if you prefer)
*Fried Rice (Weight Watchers has an awesome recipe)
*Veggie Subs on whole wheat buns
*Whole Wheat Pasta Tosses (kids love it)
*Veggie Pizza on whole wheat crust and a little low-fat cheese
*Low-fat, whole wheat Pasta Alfredo made with chicken stock instead of butter
*Grilled Portabella Sandwiches with 1/2 slice low-fat swiss and red onion on whole wheat
*Grilled Marinated Garlic Shrimp with pineapple, zucchini, green pepper and red onion
*Ricotta Gnocchi with Zucchini Ribbons and Grape Tomatoes
*Veggie Omelets (made with Egg Beaters) and fresh fruit
*Italian Tortellini Soup (kids love this, too)

There are a few ideas to start... :)

Crockpot "Rotisserie" Chicken
 

CROCKPOT "ROTISSERIE" CHICKEN

The skin is not something I wanted to eat, kind of rubbery in a crockpot, but the seasoning got down into the meat nicely. Really does taste like the rotisserie chicken at my local supermarket, but doesn't contain the artificial
flavorings and colors they put on it to make it look good.

If you don't want to eat all the chicken at once, you can divide it up and freeze it to use in a chicken salad recipe, on sandwiches, atop a tossed salad
for a chef salad, add to pasta with a cream sauce, make chicken soup...

Ingredients:
a whole chicken--I used 4 1/2 lb. frying chicken
salt and pepper
celery and an onion or two (however much you want)
olive oil
generous amount of Mrs. Dash Lemon Pepper Seasoning or your seasoning of choice.


Directions:
1. Place a rack or several balls of crumpled aluminum foil in the bottom of your crockpot. I used foil--a little larger than golf balls--big enough to keep the chicken from stewing in its own fat.
2. Season the cavity of the chicken with salt and pepper.
3. Stuff (but not tightly) with celery, including leaves if desired, and an
onion or two, halved if you wish.
4. Rub the chicken skin all over with olive oil
5. Place chicken, breast side up, on top of rack or foil.
6. Sprinkle generously with Mrs. Dash Lemon and Pepper Seasoning or whatever YOU like. Some of the seasoning will "wash off" during the cooking process, so don't skimp.
7. Cover and cook on high 4-6 hours. Mine was perfect in 5 hours.

okay i'm all about simple tasty cooking. i take garlic cloves & stick a bunch under the skin & into the cavity. the garlic is really yummy once it's cooked ;) i then put it on low for about 5 - 6 hours i think. take note the skin will not get crispy but we don't eat the skin anyways. that night we of course eat the chicken. then with the leftovers you can make chicken soup put all the bones into a pot add enough water to cover & simmer away, you can then add veggies you want. make sure to take out the bones & voila you have chicken soup.

CHICKEN PAPRIKASH

60 Minutes to Prepare and Cook


Ingredients

1 whole chicken (cut into 8 pieces)
1 tbs butter, softened
1 garlic clove, crushed or 1/8 tsp. garlic powder
2 large onions, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon Paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons sour cream


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Pat chicken dry with paper towels. mix butter w/garlic. Use fingertips to spread mixture underneath the skin of the breast and thighs.
2. In a small roasting pan, stir onions w/paprika, salt and 1/4 cup of water. Arrange chicken pieces in the pan. Cook chicken for about 10 min. on 450 degrees, then lower the heat to 375 and continue to cook an additional 30 minutes. Chicken is done when the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 175, and the juices run clear when the thickest part of the thigh is pierced with a knife. Note that breast cook faster than thighs, so you may want to take those out if done first, and let the thighs cook a few minutes longer
3. Remove chicken pieces to a platter and let sit for 10 minutes. Skim and discard fat from the onion mixture in the pan. Add chicken broth to the onions. Placing the roasting pan on the stove top burner, bring to boiling over medium heat, stirring to loosen the browned bits. Stir in sour cream. Serve with onions spooned over it.

Number of Servings: 4

Nutritional Info
Servings Per Recipe: 4 if divided evenly by weight

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 135.8
Total Fat: 6.1g (using full fat sour cream)
Cholesterol: 44.4mg
Sodium: 454.7 mg
Total Carbs: 8.1 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.0 g
Protein: 12.7 g

TURKEY BURGERS

This is my own recipe. The amount of seasonings is what I use, but you can vary that according to your own taste.

Ingredients:
--1 pound ground turkey
--1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil--otherwise they may come out dry
--about 1/2 teaspoon salt substitute (or use however much regular salt or salt substitute that YOU would use for a pound of ground beef burgers)
-- about 2-3 tablespoons chopped fresh onion
-- about 3/4 teaspoon rubbed sage
-- about 1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
-- about 1/2 tsp. McCormick salt free all-purpose seasoning.

makes 4 quarter pounders

I just fried them up like hamburgers in a non-stick skillet sprayed with PAM in case there was already enough oil--there was and they were nice and juicy inside. You can blot off any excess oil or press it out with a spatula if you like AFTER cooking.

Questions:

How about if the package says natural cheese rather than processed cheese. Is that OK?

And how about soy sauce? Completely taboo or is reduced sodium OK?

Woo Hoo! Thank you for the recipes Mern and Stacey - these will be wonderful!

I took my whole chicken out of the freezer on Monday, and put it in the refrigerator to thaw a bit...I think I will put it in the crockpot tomorrow and see how this turns out :) I'm hoping it will be great!

Thanks :)

Thanks for the recipes, all...they look great! Making me hungry :o

Mern, I think with soy sauce (and anything else), it's a trade off. No food police are going to come smite you if you use something that others try to avoid; if it (or anything) is really important to you, go ahead and use it. If you can find a substitute you're happy with, do that. We all have some things we just won't give up; other things are easy to swap out. Only you can decide those. We can't all eat perfectly all the time!

I think natural cheese is fine personally, I don't see why it wouldn't be I guess?

Also for the Soy Sauce...I don't think that's horrible either, especially if used in moderation.

If you are interested in a substitute, Bragg's Liquid Aminos are a pretty healthy one and lower in sodium than most regular soy sauces I think?

Link removed

From scratch
 

I'm not making my own pasta but would love to start. I do a lot of things from scratch that are baking related: pancakes, bread, ice cream, soup. It's amazing what you can do with a handful of key ingredients. I also do my own wine and beer, but those are from kits so not sure I'd count that yet.

Jenny, thanks for your input on the cheese and soy sauce, too. So nice to know there are no food police here. LOL Also thanks for the info and link for Bragg's. If I find that in my grocery store, I'll buy it there, otherwise I'll just continue to buy the lowest sodium brand I can buy since I use soy sauce so seldom. The link may be very valuable to others, though. Great thing about this thread is that it will be so helpful to so many people.

Hank, I hope you find some new thoughts and ideas here, and we surely would love it if you'd share some of your own recipes. I don't make bread or pasta, but we do have some bakers in the Women's Motivational thread.

POTSTICKER PATTIES

Cabbage Mixture
3/4 lb. to 1 lb. shredded green cabbage
Onion: 2 tablespoons dehydrated minced onion OR 1/3 cup fresh minced OR 1
medium onion chopped
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tablespoon oil

Meat Mixture:
1/2 lb. ground pork
1/2 lb. ground turkey or chicken
1/8 tsp. garlic powder OR 1 garlic clove
1 1/2 tsp. soy sauce (I use lower sodium)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 egg
3 tablespoon chopped onion
1/4 tsp. sesame oil
1 tablespoons oil (optional--use if grinding very lean pork)
extra oil if you're going to fry them. I haven't tried baking them.

Directions:
Shred cabbage, add rest of ingredients except oil, and saute lightly in oil--a
little more soft than crisp-tender. Set aside.

Meanwhile, mix all of the meat mixture ingredients, except the oil, in a large
bowl. Mix with your hands until the egg no longer feels slimy. Stir in the
cabbage until well blended. Divide the mixture into 8 equal size patties. Fry, 4
at a time, in oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Cook about 8 minutes
per side or until done in the center.

Per Serving including the optional oil and oil for frying: about 308 Calories;
20g Fat; 25g Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 4g Net Carbs

I agree nothing wrong with real cheeses or soy sauce. Bragg's needs to fire their marketing division though. "Liquid Aminos"? Sounds yummy!

I agree, Frank. Liquid Aminos does sound funny. :D

I DID find Bragg Liquid Aminos (thanks Jenny!) at my Kroger grocery chain this afternoon. There was none in the International food section with the other brands of soy sauce, but I found it in the health food section. It was $2.29 for a 6 ounce spray bottle (clever idea) but only $2.99 for a whole 16 ounce bottle. The ingredients, serving size, and nutrition lables were exactly the same on both the 6 oz. and 16 oz. bottles. So I opted for the larger--if I ever want to spray it, I'm sure I can find a spray nozzle from another food in my fridge that will work.

When I got home I compared the flavor of Bragg Liquid Aminos with my Kroger Lite Soy Sauce. Bragg has way better depth of flavor, tastes like soy sauce, and has way less sodium. Kroger Lite 265mg for 1/2 teaspoon and Bragg 160mg. Ingredients in Bragg only "vegetable protein from Soybeans and purified water."

I am so happy you were able to find the Liquid Aminos! I definitely agree that it is probably not the best name, but at least they (it?) tastes good! ha ha :)

When I first found out about them I was a bit skeptical on what they would be like, but tried them and was pleasantly surprised...they have replaced my use of actual "soy sauce" altogether!

Good to know the more stores are carrying them, for a while you could only find them at the health foody type stores...But I've notice the Healthy food sections at most grocery stores around here (in MD) carry them, so it's good to know that they carry them elsewhere too :)

My grocery store was out of quartered fryers yesterday so I'm jumping on the whole chicken/Crockpot bandwagon, too. I took off most of the skin (leaving a little on the breast to keep it moist) and rubbed it with a little olive oil. Then, I had a package of McCormick Recipe Inspirations in my cupboard and rubbed it with that. (It's a package of 6 premeasured spices... in this case, paprika, crushed rosemary, minced garlic and black pepper.) The house smells heavenly! I'll let you know how it turns out.

Thoughts?
 

I have been on a bread-baking kick lately on weekends. I am finding that I have a lot of conflicting feelings about it.

When I buy bread at the store, I get whole wheat.

When I make bread at home, and when I use nothing but whole wheat flour, it just doesn't get fluffy enough for sandwiches. It's good and we like it, but as far as being able to put slices of turkey on it, for example, well, it just doesn't rise that much. When I go half and half on the flour (wheat and white), it's perfect. Today I made three loaves and threw in flaxseed and sunflower seeds, 2/3 wheat flour, 1/3 white, and it's about 3" high.

So is it better to stay away from the preservatives, etc. in store bread by making it myself, or is it better to put up with them so I can get the whole grain?

I've heard something called vital wheat gluten will help, but I need to hunt for it at Whole Foods, as I can't find it around here in my local markets. And how does white wheat flour work?

Are you activating your yeast first? Vital wheat gluten will help it rise more, as will a little guar gum. You should be able to find both at your health food grocery.

Yes, activating yeast first. I'll check for the vital wheat gluten next time I'm on the side of town with the natural food stores and try that. At least the experiments are edible :)

i always added more gluten when i used to make my own bread. my grandma told me about it & i just did it & would used 100% whole wheat & it worked for me. i also heard that in the states you should be buying bread flour as well. for some reason your flour down there is different ~shrug~ up in canada it doesn't matter so i've been told.

"Bread flour" already has a little extra gluten added to it, and it may also have some baking soda or baking powder added. As for American flour being different than Canadian flour, I can't say for sure. I do know that here in the north part of the US we grow winter wheat almost exclusively, you plant it in the fall and it comes up early in the spring. Winter wheat was imported to this country from Russia by Scandinavian pioneers. In the south they grow a different variety that is planted in the spring. Sorry, the farm girl in me just surfaced and tossed out her two cents.

hey thats interesting learn something new every day.

Turkey Chili
 

I made a big pot of turkey chili last night for dinner, so for kicks and giggles I put it in to a recipe calculator this morning and holy cow it's a pretty awesome dinner for very few calories. So here's how I made it:

1 pound ground turkey
1 onion
1 green pepper (diced)
1 red pepper (diced)
2 quarts home canned tomatoes (any variety of store bought work just fine 2 quarts = 8 cups)
2-4 Tbls chili powder
2 cans of kidney beans drained (light, dark, black - chef's choice so I used dark red)
1 can of tomato paste (4 oz)
salt & pepper
1 Tbls paprika (optional)

Spray the bottom of a 6 quart pot with cooking spray, brown turkey (breaking it apart as it browns) and saute onions and peppers. Then add tomatoes, beans and seasoning, bring to a boil and simmer for about 10 mintues. Makes about 13 cups of chili at 97 calories/cup. YUMMMM!!!

Almeeker that is one terrific sounding turkey chili recipe .. I will make that this week, thanks!!

Hey you're welcome. We talk about turkey chili all the time here on the forum, and I think most people make it the same way they make beef chili, and just change out the ground beef for turkey. I've been using the fitday "chili beef soup" for my chili entries at 170/cup, but I figured with turkey it would be a little less. Wow was I right, it's almost 1/2 the calories of the listing I was using. So then I went through and made one for my beef chili which turned out less than the fitday listing as well, 125 cal/cup. So I think as I make my homemade dishes I'm going to input the ingredients and make a custom food for it.

Mozzarella Tomato Olive Cocktail Skewers


Source Link removed

Ingredients
4 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese (small balls, if available)
16 grape tomatoes
16 kalamata olives, pitted
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 dash crushed red pepper flakes
32 small fresh basil leaves (plus additional for garnish-optional)
16 wooden skewers (4"-6-inch)

Directions
1. Cut the mozzarella into bite sized pieces. If you are lucky enough to find the small balls, keep them whole. Place in a medium bowl and stir in the tomatoes, olives, oil, garlic, thyme, salt, pepper and red pepper. Cover and refrigerate 1-3 hours.
2. If basil leaves are large, cut into smaller pieces.
3. Thread the marinated cheese, tomatoes and olives onto skewers, placing the basil leaves in between. Place skewers on a platter; garnish with additional fresh basil. Enjoy!

Salt Free Seasoning Mix

No salt season mix : from Ann


1-1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1-1/2 teaspoons onion powder
1-1/4 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon celery seed
1-1/2 teaspoons white pepper
1-1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon dried lemon peel
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

This can be kept in a glass container for up to 6 months. It is great on chicken, fish and veggies.

Low Carb Dry Onion Soup Mix

Makes 4 tablespoons or equivalent of one envelope dry onion soup mix

3 tablespoon minced onion dried onion
1 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 1/2 teaspoon beef bouillon granules
up to 1/2 tsp. salt substitute if using no or low sodium bouillon

Mix, store in tightly covered container or jar.

Without salt substitute:

Per Batch: 72 calories; .1g fat; 16.9g; 1310mg sodium; total carbs; 1.6g fiber; 15.3g net carbs; 1.7g protein

Per 1 tablespoon serving : 18 calories; 327.5mg sodium; trace fat; 4.23g total carbs; .4g fiber; 3.83g net carbs; .425g protein

Roasted Tomato Basil Spread
Makes 8 tablespoons



Ingredients:
14 1/2 oz. diced canned tomatoes, very well drained but reserve juice
cooking spray like PAM
2 teaspoons dehydrated minced onion
2 teaspoons dried basil
up to 2 tablespoons olive oil


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375F

2. Drain tomatoes very well, reserving juice

3.Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray

4.Put tomatoes on cookie sheet spreading out nicely so heat can dry the tomatoes. Roast for about 18-20 minutes, turning after the first 5 to 7 minutes or so, re-spread, and then repeat every few minutes until dried and at desired doneness. You want them dry, but not shriveled up.

5. While tomatoes are roasting, add the onion and basil to the reserved tomato juice. Let rehydrate for 5 minutes or so. Drain juice.(Discard juice or save to use in another recipe.)

6. When tomatoes are done. add the tomatoes, onion, basil and one tablespoon olive oil to food processor (small basket attachment works great) and pulse two or three times. If too thick for your liking, add the second tablespoon of olive oil. Pulse again to desired conistency.

Store in tightly covered container in fridge




Nutrition facts:

For entire recipe
Calories 341
Fat 27.1g
Carbohydrate 21.1g
Dietary Fiber 4.4g
Net Carbs 16.7g
Protein 4.0g

Per tablespoon:
Calories 42.6
Fat 3.4g
Carbohydrate 2.6g
Dietary Fiber .55
Net Carbs 2g
Protein .5g

Mern, these sound really good. Thanks for posting them.

I did homemade pizza last night...whole wheat crust from scratch, sauce from scratch (hubby's mom's Italian; it is always sauce from scratch!), shredded reduced fat cheese and some veggies baked on a pizza stone. My neighbor built a brick pizza oven in his backyard, but we're not that ambitious, so I just did it in the oven and served it with a big salad. It turned out great, I knew exactly what went into it, and much less fat and fewer calories (and dollars!) than ordering out.

cassie ~ the pizzas sound awesome. hmmm makes me think i should make some for my son tomorrow.

mern ~ omg that salt substitute sounds amazing i'll have to try that.

Cassie, you'e welcome for the recipes. Fun sharing! Your pizza does sound delicious--dough from scratch! You're a real pro!

Stacey, I do enjoy the salt free seasoning on all kinds of stuff. A lady from Australia sent me the recipe. Nice thing is you can change up the ingredients, adding and subtracting as you like. I hope you enjoy it. :)

when making supper tonight for my son i pulled out from my freezer lovely home made pirogies. my girlfriend & i got together the beginning of february & made 100's of them that we shared. which got me to thinking cooking in bulk & with a friend is great. not only do you share the cost, the effort, but we also end up having a good time & have a few glasses of wine as well. i'll go to her place for the weekend with my son. she lives on an acreage. so a get away for my son & i he gets to play outside with their dogs which he adores. my girlfriend & i get a 'girls' type weekend we do salsa the same way, but didn't make salsa that weekend.

That is an awesome idea, Stacey; thanks for sharing it!

Cassie,

To get the brick oven flavor with pizza, I put it on my gas grill. It's awesome!


My family loves good Italian food. Here's a recipe that I used a lot last year when my daughter craved my old Alfredo, but I didn't want the calories. I had kind of forgotten about it. I'm going to post it here so I don't lose it again.

Fettuccine Alfredo

8 oz. whole wheat fettuccine
1 1/4 c. fat-free chicken broth
4 tsp. flour
1/3 c. light cream cheese spread
3 T. grated Parmesan
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp. pepper
2 T. chopped fresh parsley

Cook pasta as per pkg. directions. Combine broth and flour in med. saucepan. Stir in cream cheese spread, 2 T. Parmesan, nutmeg and pepper. Cook 2 minutes stirring constantly until mixture bubbles and thickens. Toss pasta with sauce. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan and parsley.

4 servings, 1 cup each

Cal. 300
Fat 6 g (sat. 3)
Carb. 46g
Fiber 4g
Protein 14 g