Frugal Kitchens 101 - Homemade vs Store Bought

If you have followed this blog, you will know that I put a strong emphasis on homemade and cooking from scratch.  The reason is not quite as simple as saving money.  True I save a substantial amount of money by home canning, making homemade convenience foods and cooking from scratch but one primary reason for doing so is healthier food not laden with excess salt, sugar, HFCS, as well as artificial food additives and preservatives.  I like being able to put unique foods (eg. vegetable powders, fire roasted sauces, jams, chutneys, and etc) on the table that can't be bought in the grocery stores.  There's also that sense of pride at becoming more self-sufficient with less dependence on the grocery stores.  So the big question is, 'Do you save money by doing all of this?' because most folks are seeking to reduce their foods costs.  The second big question is, 'Doesn't it take a lot of time?' because the food industry has so engrained the concept that cooking from scratch takes a lot of time in order to push their instant, heat & serve and convenience foods on consumers. 

The Economics:

I'm a numbers cruncher so I do know what our home canned, homemade convenience foods and cooking from scratch costs.  The costs include everything that went into making that product for the pantry or freezer as well as the cost per serving for meals.  For example, a 4 L bag of corn for the freezer costs: the gas to drive to the farm, the zipper style bag, the cooking fuel for blanching and the water for blanching and cooling PLUS the hydro from the moment that bag of corn goes into the freezer until it is used to keep the corn frozen.  This is one reason why I prefer home canned foods over home frozen because once canned, there is no hydro used for storage.  Actually, there is a cost for storage that most do not consider.  If you convert a bedroom into a pantry and that bedroom is one eighth the size of your house, then one eighth of all expenses related to running your house (eg. heating, utilities, maintenance, taxes, mortgage, etc) are being used to maintain that space for storage.  The same applies if all you are using is a closet. 

The main way to save on preserving and stocking a pantry is to get the raw ingredients for the least amount of money possible.  There are ways to save on the produce, meats, poultry and fish being put up for the pantry and freezers as well as for fresh cooking from scratch.  Home grown produce will save you money.  If you garden, consider trading your excess with friends or neighbours for something you need.  I trade produce from my garden for perch from a friend who loves to fish.  He doesn't garden and I don't always get as much fishing in as I would like to so it is a win:win for both of us.  Another of my friends makes amazing banana cake that is sure to come our way for a jar of my home canned salsa.  If you know a farmer who raises livestock, they may consider raising a cow or pig for you if you pay for the feed.  Many municipalities are now allowing backyard chickens that when producing will lay an egg about ever 14 hours so four chickens can give you a lot of eggs!  If you have access to a water supply, locally caught fish is yours for the time it takes to fish.  Wild game can be another money saver if you have access.  Beef and pork are best bought in bulk where the price over all cuts of meat per pound is greatly reduced.  It is also wise to take advantage of good sales on produce and meats.  Produce in particular should be bought locally and in season.  I put up enough to get from one growing season to the next and then some just in case the next growing season isn't very good.  Supporting ingredients like flours, pastas, sugars, rices and beans are best bought in bulk as they have long shelf lives.  Other ingredients like pectins and ClearGel are best bought online if there is no local source.  I always watch for free shipping!

Many food suppliers are making their products available online as well.  I can order Digby scallops delivered to my door, next day service at half the price they are going for in the grocery stores.  Cheeses and spices can also be found cheaper when ordered online.  Now, some specify that you have to order a certain amount to get free shipping so if I don't want to spend that much, I go in with someone else just to be able to get free shipping.  Just as in brick and mortar stores, online stores offer customer loyalty discounts and promotions so I always watch for those as well.  If ordering fresh foods like scallops, they do want you home for the delivery to protect against spoilage but it can be a real cost savings ordering foods this way.

Bulk food stores can save you a lot of money as long as you stick to the basics and avoid impulse buying.  We have two bulk food stores in our area that I only shop at once I have a list of needed ingredients.  These stores save considerably on basic spices, salts, sugars, teas, coffee and so much more.  The reason being, is you can buy just what you want so you don't have to pay $4 for a spice that you only need a teaspoon of.  Just buy a couple of teaspoons of it knowing you can always buy more if it is something you end up liking. 

When it comes to cooking from scratch, there are many ways to keep the costs down to $1 to $2 per serving which is well within the range of frugal eating.  Cooking from scratch even if you don't do any home food preservation is the number one way to save your food dollars.  You don't need expensive ingredients to cook low cost, healthy and tasty meals.  If you are really trying to save on your food dollars focus on homemade soups, stews and casseroles.  Waffles, pancakes and eggs are great money savers as well especially if using a basic batter.  Sandwiches and salads are usually inexpensive as well.

Timing:

Cooking from scratch is not as time consuming as the food industry would have us believe.  A basic cake made from scratch or a homemade cake mix takes no more time than one made using a store bought mix.  Cookies from homemade refrigerator dough take the same time to bake and are just as easy as store bought but they are considerably less expensive.  A homemade version of any of the 'Helper' boxed store bought versions is just as quick to make as the store bought.  For the most part, many meals can easily be made at home without consuming a lot of time.  In addition to that, there are time saving appliances (eg. slow cooker, microwave) and cookware (eg. pressure cooker) to reduce the time needed for cooking.  Some foods by default take more time to prepare than others.  These include fermented foods (eg. sauerkraut, fermented pickles), yogurt, cured and/or smoked meats, dehydrated foods (eg. fruit roll-ups, dried fruit snacks, jerky)  but the cost and flavour savings more than offset the timing of which you can be doing something else while the food is in process. 

A surprising number of meals can easily be made in 15 to 30 minutes, completely from scratch simply from ingredients from your pantry and/or freezer.  Longer cook methods can still take low prep then cooking in the oven or stove top but quite often you can be doing something else while the meal is cooking.   Consider, if you order a pizza that takes 40 minutes for delivery, you can actually make homemade pizza using homemade frozen pizza dough in about 20 minutes.  Going through the drive-tru can tie up 20 to 30 minutes of your time plus the extra driving and you still have to set the meal up at home but in that total time of an hour or less, you can easily put a healthy, homemade, cooked from scratch meal on the table. 

Raspberry Vinegar

We eat a lot of salads and by far prefer homemade salad dressing or vinaigrettes as a topping.  A basic vinaigrette consists of 1 part vinegar, 3 parts oil and binder (mustard, sugar or honey).  Seasonings of choice and/or finely chopped vegetables (eg. onions, sundried tomatoes, sweet or hot peppers) can be added to the basic vinaigrette.  You can even add cheese (eg. Parmesan or blue cheese).  Xanthan gum can be added to give a thicker texture if desired.  With this in mind you can create an endless number of vinaigrettes simply by using a little creativity.

Homemade fruit or herb vinegars are an excellent way to expand the flavours of vinaigrette you can make.  Several years ago we discovered a delicious restaurant house dressing that was a raspberry vinaigrette.  I've been hooked on making fruit vinegars ever since to use as a base in some of my homemade vinaigrettes.

Homemade vinegars are very easy to make.  I find berries work best but you could use crushed pears or apples or basically any fruit you desire.  We are particularly fond of raspberry vinaigrette made from homemade raspberry vinegar.

Homemade Fruit Vinegars
source:  Garden Gnome

Wash about 2 c of the desired fruit.  Peel and pit if necessary.  Lightly crush the fruit.  Pour into a 1 - L mason jar.  Pour 5% acetic acid vinegar over the fruit leaving a half inch headspace..  You can use any vinegar you want as long as it is 5% acetic acid.  Different vinegars will give different flavour results.  Cap and shake the jar well.  Place in a cool, dark area.  Shake at least a couple of times a week.  Let sit for at least 4 weeks.  Strain the vinegar.  Place in a saucepan.  Bring just to a boil.  Ladle into hot jars.  Adjust two piece metal snap lids (or Tattler reusable lids or glass inserts).  Screw bands on jars (adjust accordingly if not using metal snap lids).  Process for 250 ml for 10 minutes in BWB canner at altitudes up to 1,000 feet above sea level.  At higher altitudes refer to altitude adjustment chart on Canning FYI page.  Remove from canner.  Adjust bands if using Tattler or glass inserts.  Allow to cool 24 hours.  Remove bands and test for seal.  Wash and dry bands and jars.  Label and store.

Homemade Fettuccine with a Blush Fire Roasted Tomato Basil Seafood Sauce

Yesterday I wrote about my first adventure using my new KitchenAid® pasta sheet roller and fettuccine cutter attachments.  Both attachments were beyond incredibly easy to use.  I was at the ease of use and the results!  The next thing on my mind was the taste.  Trust me, there is no need to go through a bit of extra work only to end up with a product that doesn't taste better than store bought.

Earlier this year we enjoyed a delicious meal at a local restaurant that featured a blush seafood sauce topping linguine.  I set out to clone that recipe then I tweaked the seafood sauce slightly to use my gourmet home canned fire roasted tomato basil sauce, crab meat, cod and scallops then up scaled the garnish to use pan seared shrimp and scallop.  The end result is a mouth watering sauce perfect for topping homemade fettuccine.  It is light yet filling,  packed full of rich flavour while being lower in calories than a traditional spaghetti meat sauce.

The fettuccine took about 7 minutes to cook to al dente.  While it looked like cooked dried or store bought fresh in terms of colour and texture, the proof was in the tasting.  The taste of this  fettuccine was incredible!  It had a freshness that dried pasta can't achieve and none of the chemical flavour of store bought fresh pasta.  An added bonus as with many homemade foods, there was no pesky packaging to have to deal with.  In fact, this meal resulted in very little going into the garbage.  There was no packaging and only the shrimp and crab shells had to be discarded although the shrimp shells might have been ok in the compost as there were only six of them.  This is the time of year I keep and grind all egg shells possible for the garden.  They add calcium while controlling slugs and snails.

It is important to realize that home cooking has a positive effect on the environment.  A vast portion of waste from home cooking can go into the compost, resulting in very little going into the landfill.  It really is a win win by home cooking.  You get good, healthy, less expensive food while lessening your carbon footprint.  Nothing wrong with that in my book and quite frankly it is one more reason to cook from scratch at home!

Homemade Fettuccine

Just before Easter I wrote about my new KitchenAid® pasta sheet roller and fettuccine cutter attachments.  Easter Monday, I decided to take a bit of time to play with the attachments.  I've made pasta manually so had an idea of what to expect.  Fresh homemade pasta just has such a lovely flavour!  It is more expensive than dried pasta (not bought on sale) and while I initially calculated it to be more expensive than store bought fresh pasta, it actually comes in less expensive.  If you raise your own chickens, the cost of homemade fresh pasta is considerably less expensive than store bought dried.  Homemade pasta can be easily tweaked to make vegetable or herb pastas as well and you can be sure you are using free range eggs if that is important to you, as it is to us.

Pasta dough should be firm and leathery to the touch but also pliable.  It should not be sticky or crumbly.  External factors like humidity or brand of flour can affect the dough consistency so small amounts of additional flour or water may be necessary to get the dough to the right  consistency.

I used the basic egg pasta recipe in the KitchenAid® manual.  I will be honest in that I had serious doubts about the dough.  It did not come together in a smooth ball and did not look like it would hold together well at all.  It was a very stiff dough!  I was almost ready to give up and try another recipe after the first pass through the pasta sheet roller on setting 1.  However, the dough actually came together quite nicely upon further passes through the roller.
 

Basic Egg Pasta
source:  KitchenAid®, KitchenAid® Pasta Sheet Roller and Pasta Cutter Attachments Manual, Pp. 9.

4 large eggs
1 tbsp water
3½ unbleached flour
½ tsp sea salt

Mix ingredients together using the flat beater.  Change to dough hook and knead 2 minutes on setting 2.  Remove dough from blow and hand knead 1 to 2 minutes.  Let rest 20 minutes.  Divide dough into quarters then flatten for processing with the pasta roller.

The pasta sheet roller has 8 settings.  The first time through is on setting 1 which is the folding and kneading.   Each time you roll the pasta sheet, fold the ends in as pictured or fold the entire sheet in half then roll again.  If you use the half fold method, alternate how you feed the dough into the roller so you end up with two relatively straight ends.  Repeat the folding and rolling until you reach setting 2.  After that the dough does not need to be folded, simply passed through the roller until you reach the desired consistency.  Fettuccine can be rolled to setting 4/5 or if you want a thinner fettuccine it can be rolled to setting 6 or 7.   Within a couple of passes through the roller the dough took on a very smooth, uniform appearance.  

I was absolutely amazed at how quickly the dough was formed into smooth sheets of pasta.  It was beyond impressive!  Just look how gorgeous that sheet of pasta looks.  I can easily use these sheets as is to make lasagna noodles and ravioli as well as using the fettuccine cutter.

I had no problems passing the sheets of pasta through the various settings on the roller.   I folded the pasta sheets then stacked ready for cutting (bottom left).  By the time I got to the last couple of sheets, they had started drying a bit more than I would have liked so next time will cover them with a damp towel until ready to cut. 

I cut each pasta sheet in half to pass them through the fettuccine cutter simply to make the resulting strands easier to handle.  Cutting the pasta was every bit as easy as rolling the pasta.  Each pasta sheet fed through the cutter, easily cutting the sheet into fettuccine. 

For just learning how to use the roller and cutter, the problems were minimal as was the time it took to get the fresh made pasta onto a drying rack.   I dried the pasta (see below) because I wasn't sure how much we would use for dinner and I wanted to try the drying process.  In all honesty, without the drying, rolling and cutting the dough took me about the same time as spooning batter into muffin tins.  With the drying time, it took less time than getting bread ready for baking.  So, in terms of time, homemade pasta takes very little time.

I used my brand new (when we moved here) clothes drying rack to dry the pasta.  The thing is too flimsy to dry clothes on anyway.  I found the best way to load the rungs was to catch the pasta half-way through the cutter using my hand turned sideways, thumb up so the pasta draped over my hand.  I then transferred it to the rungs and separated any strands that stuck together.  I let the pasta dry about 45 minutes before transferring it ready for cooking and storage.  KitchenAid® warns that foods containing perishable ingredients like eggs should not be un-refrigerated for more than one hour as this is a food poisoning rick that could cause sickness.  While homemade pastas are not suitable for drying as a shelf stable product, they will keep in the refrigerator and can be frozen for longer term storage.  The only thing I would do differently using this rack would be to place a clean towel under it to catch any pasta pieces that break off.

Once the pasta had dried, I set out enough for that night's dinner and the rest was vacuum sealed for the refrigerator.  This is where I had to adjust my calculations.  The recipe basically made the equivalent of four packages of store bought fresh pasta.  That would have cost me about $14 but the homemade only cost me $1.44 which really works out to less than the cost of store bought dried pasta.  I won't eliminate dried pastas from my pantry storage but I will stock less.  Dried pastas will become more of what dried milk and cheese are, part of our emergency preparedness.  What the pasta attachments will do is eliminate buying store bought fresh pastas. 

I am very excited!  Tomorrow I will post about the dinner I made with the homemade fettuccine noodles because after all, taste is everything.  I will be experimenting with whole wheat and a variety of vegetable pastas as well as a few herbed pastas.  So watch for that coming in the near future.  I definitely will be buying the attachments to make spaghetti and thick noodles and I am looking into a pasta extruder to make shapes like elbow noodles. 

Frugal Kitchens 101 - Getting the Homemade Groove On

The overall mantra for this blog is homemade meals and food products are healthier for you yet less expensive.  In short, every single time you are able to replace a commercially made, store bought food or food product with a homemade version, you are getting a superior product for less money.  You may even see an improvement in your health by eliminating the preservatives, excess salt, excess sugar, artificial colourants and flavours, and HFCS found in so many store bought products.  You can custom tailor the homemade food product to your tastes not what the food manufacturer determines the taste should be.  Not only that, but you reduce your carbon footprint by needing less trips to the grocery store as well as using less packaging that either ends up in the recycle bin or landfill.  But it gets better!  Developing a homemade philosophy for meal preparation builds self confidence and self sufficiency.  It's one thing to know you can stop at a grocery store to buy a loaf of bread but it can be a real ego booster seeing a loaf of freshly baked bread just out of your oven.  But wait, it gets even better!  Making meals, dishes and food products for your pantry provides the perfect learning moments and bonding time for families members of all ages.  Hopefully by now I have convinced you that homemade is better, here are a few tips to get you started on the homemade is better pathway:

• start slow - I am certainly not suggesting that you go from using store bought convenience foods, fast foods and take-out to suddenly not using any of them.  That would be a bit of a culture shock and definitely is something that is felt the worst when someone suddenly finds themselves having to give up these thing due to a change in their financial situation.  What I am suggesting is to look in your cupboard or pantry and find one product each month that you could make yourself.  For example, you have spaghetti sauce in your pantry.  Homemade will come it at about 10¢ per 500 ml (pint) jar if you have a free source of tomatoes or grow your own.  In comparison, that same amount of spaghetti sauce in the store will cost you $1.29 for plain to $4.50 for gourmet.  If you have once a week, that works out to $67.08 to $234 per year verses $5.20 (minimum cost) per year for homemade spaghetti sauce.  Make a large batch of homemade spaghetti sauce then either can or freeze it in meal sized portions.  The following month look for one more store bought product to replace that could be made at home.
• think globally - I can buy a cake mix at the grocery store or I can buy the flour to make the cake mix.  The cake mix will give me cake, cupcakes and cake mix cookies.  The flour will give me everything from various breads, dumplings, noodles, pastry products, baked goods and so much more.    In perspective and on a global level, the flour then is the more frugal choice because of it's versatility.
• think real - Go through your refrigerator and pantry to see all the foods you use that really aren't real like processed cheese spreads, coffee whitener, processed cheese slices, anything in an aerosol can (eg. baking spray, whip cream), margarine, imitation/artificial anything (eg. imitation vanilla extract) and boxed convenience foods.  These are the products to get rid of.  Replace with real foods like cheese, cream, oil, butter and 100% pure vanilla extract. You get much better cooking results using real foods which encourages you cook more.  Did you know making homemade mac & cheese is just as easy as making the boxed version.  The only difference is you use fresh cheese instead of dried cheese AND it tastes so much nicer AND it is less expensive.
• become analytical - Check those food ingredients.  If the first ingredient is water, you are paying for water as that is the main ingredient.  Aren't you already paying for water through your water company?  I'll bet it is cheaper than the water in that product.  Are you sure you want sugar in your peanut butter?  It only takes a few minutes to blend whole peanuts into peanut butter without any sugar added.  Do you really want sodium benzoate, a known carcinogen yet common preservative, going into your body.  If you see an ingredient on the label that you don't know what it is, do a bit of research.  Find out if that ingredient can have negative side effects.  For those looking for certain ingredients to avoid, if the ending is ose, it is a sugar so while the product might not specifically list sugar (sucrose) it may be laden with other sugars.  Sodium is a salt so while salt (sodium chloride) might not be listed sodium bicarbonate (baking soda, a salt) or sodium benzoate (a preservative)  may be.  If it says sodium and you are on a restricted sodium diet nix these products. 
• make cooking fun - Involve family members and use KISS.  Home cooking doesn't mean you have to put together a 7 course dinner every night.  Find novel excuses to do a bit of cooking like hosting a cooking get together with a couple of friends.  One of our kids holds a dinner get together with another couple twice a month.  The visiting couple bringing the homemade meal.  It's a great way to find new recipes while learning about home cooking.   The more you cook the more you will want to cook.

Homemade Mayonnaise

Mayonnaise is a thick, creamy condiment used on sandwiches or as an ingredient for other dishes like potato salad made from an emulsion of egg and oil.  I don't buy mayonnaise as we prefer MiracleWhip, well actually a clone recipe (see tomorrow's post for that) so I make my own as needed.  Mayonnaise is one of those recipes that once you make it and realize the savings combined with gorgeous flavour you will not go back to store bought.  All you need is a blender or a food processor and a couple of minutes of time to whip up enough mayo to last a week or two at less than a third of the price of store bought.

My homemade mayonnaise is a bit yellower than store bought because I use free range chicken eggs.  The yolk from free range chicken eggs which has a deeper colur and the flavour richer.  Other than that the homemade version tastes fresher and performs in other dishes just as well as the store bought.  The current price for brand name mayo is $1.40 per c whereas the homemade version is 44¢ per c using the more expensive free range chicken eggs.  This mayo will seriously take you about 2 minutes to make which is a rather tidy savings for time invested.  If you want a whiter mayo use just the egg whites and not the yolk.  This will also reduce the dietary cholesterol if that is a concern.  Of note, the type of oil and vinegar you use will change the flavour slightly so do keep that in mind.

Homemade Mayonnaise
recipe by: Garden Gnome

1 egg
½ tsp dry mustard
½ tsp organic sugar
½ tsp sea salt
2 tbsp vinegar (apple cider, tarragon, white)
1 c oil (half extra virgin olive oil, half vegetable oil)
dash cayenne pepper

Put all of the ingredients but half of the oil into a food processor bowl.  Process for 15 seconds.  While the food processor is running, slow pour the remaining oil into the mixture in a thin stream.  Use a spatula to transfer the mayonnaise to a storage jar.  Store in the refrigerator and use as you would store bought mayonnaise.

My Homemade Tortilla and Taco Shells

Here is currently snow covered Ontario I would not think twice about making dough for fresh baked bread for dinner.  In the southern US most would not think twice about whipping up a batch of homemade bisquits or corn bread for dinner.  The same applies to Mexican cuisine where taco shells and tortillas take the place of bisquits, corn bread or yeast bread.  I showed a short video of how to make homemade taco shells a few days ago. 

Rather than use store bought tortillas for wraps or pre-made taco shells I used the tortilla press to make both.  I did not do this because store bought tortillas and taco shells are expensive.  While I did end up saving on making both with 8 taco shells costing about 30¢ verses 12 store bought for $1.99 and 8 tortillas about the same verses store bought at $1.79 for 10, the primary goal of this exercise was not saving money, it was all about discovery and experimenting in the kitchen! 

Using the tortilla press was not difficult at all.  I ended up using two methods.  The first method involved using plastic wrap to sandwich the dough between for the taco shells.  The second method (pictured) used flour on the tortilla press.

To use a tortilla press you break off a piece of the dough, form it into a ball then press between your palms to flatten a bit.  Place the flattened ball in the centre of the tortilla press then close the top portion over the dough.  Pull the handle up over the top portion using enough pressure to flatten the dough.  The flattened, shaped dough is now ready for cooking on a hot griddle.

I followed the recipe that was included with my tortilla press.  The recipes was fairly straight forward but the results were not.  The tortillas were thicker than I would have like and it didn't matter how I adjusted the press the tortillas thickened up when cooking.  Now all is not lost because the tortillas I made are very similar to Greek style pocketless pitas so serendipity has given me another homemade product to do a bit of tweaking.  If I did them a bit thicker they would be just like the thin breads (Fill'ems) I was telling you about.  This really is what cooking is all about!  The recipe didn't work as I was expecting but I ended up with a result that works for another purpose.  I will be testing out more tortilla recipes in the very near future.

Making taco shells is a two step process using two cooking methods.  First the dough is formed into tortillas using a tortilla press and cooked briefly at 450ºF for 20 to 30 seconds on each side.  Next the cooked tortillas are allowed to dry then then are fried forming their shape with whatever kitchen utensil gets the job done to create the desired shape.  In the video the taco shells were fried in a pan on the stovetop first on one side then turned using spatulas to create the shape while frying.

Homemade taco shells are nothing like store bought other than shape.  Oh my the flavour is incredible!     Mine were a bit rough around the edges but considering this was my first attempt, I was rather pleased.  I used instant corn masa bought as a foodie find while at our vacation home in the fall.  This is made with 100% premium white corn.  te the shape while frying.  I decided to modify this to use my deep fryer and tongs making the whole process a bit easier and streamlined.  This method worked quite nicely.  Unlike store bought taco shells homemade ones puff a bit when frying.  I wasn't put off by this though as this just adds to the crunch.

Clearly I need to do a bit more practicing to get both the tortillas and taco shells looking closer to what I want but this really was a valuable learning experience for me.  First off a flub turned into another product that certainly will not go to waste.  It planted the seed as to how to make those new thin sandwich breads.  Homemade came in at 3¢ a piece for both taco shells and tortillas.  In perspective a family of 4 using 12  of either for one meal could save $1.56 on that meal which doesn't sound like a lot of money but consider if they had tacos twice a month for the year the overall savings would be $37.44, enough to make a difference.  The most important thing though is the whole experience has sparked the desire to explore a bit more to see how I can tweak the recipes and methods to get exactly what I want.

Homemade Puff Pastry Dough

Puff pastry is the basis of croissants as well as  appetizers like filled puff pastry shells and desserts such as napoleons.  The pastry dough is comprised of dozens of layers of chilled butter rolled between sheets of pastry dough.  It is labour intensive and time consuming to make.  I have always used store bough puff pastry dough because of this.   A few days ago I was browsing through my much used Betty Crocker's Cookbook (1969) and came across an recipe for puff pastry dough that really looked easy to make without a lot of work.  The only time involved was mixing then refrigerating the dough.  I don't know how I missed this recipe other than thinking this would not be the same as real puff pastry dough,  So I decided to try it and compare to store bought puff pastry dough.

I honestly was quite doubtful about this dough as to whether it would give similar results to store bought puff pastry dough.  The dough was quite easy to make using the stand mixer but could easily have been made by hand.  Once the dough was made I gathered it into an oblong log shape and wrapped in wax paper for the refrigerator (1).  The instructions said to divide in half but I didn't.

The following morning I cut about a quarter of the dough from the dough log to run a test batch.  The dough was surprisingly  easy to work with.  I rolled the dough to about ⅟16 -inch thick (2) and cut with a mini cookie cutter.  I re-wrapped the scraps and baked the prepared tray (3) as per the recipe instructions.

Streamlined Puff Pastry Dough
source:  Betty Crocker's Cookbook (1969)

1 c butter
1½ c unbleached flour
½c sour cream

Cut the butter into the flour until thoroughly mixed.  Stir in sour cream and blend well.  Divide the dough in half.  Wrap each half.  Chill at least 8 hours.  Roll dough and cut as desired.  Bake at 180ºC (350ºF) 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Anytime I am making a homemade version of a store bought food item, I am rather critical.  The homemade version is judged based on how closely it resembles the store bought version, how it tastes and the cost.  In this case the homemade version of puff pastry performed quite nicely!

The homemade version took less than 5 minutes to mix and form into a log for refrigeration.    Store bought puff pastry contains enriched wheat flour, water, unsalted butter, vegetable oils (canola, modified palm and palm kernel), salt.  I liked that only 3 common ingredients were used for the homemade version greatly reducing additional fats and salt.  Rolling the dough out was not difficult or time consuming.  The dough despite being in the refrigerator for over 8 hours was still a bit sticky but was easy to handle on a well floured board.    The pastry did puff and brown much the same as store bought if not a bit better.  The baked results were light, flaky and had a wonderful flavour.  I was extremely impressed!

The homemade puff pastry passed the taste test and excelled at being slightly better than the store version so the next test was the cost.  I usually pay $3.99 for PC brand butter puff pastry for 450 g (.99 lb).  The homemade version made just a little over a pound of dough so is quite comparable.  The homemade version cost 12¢ for flour, $1.15 for butter and 25¢ for the sour cream for a grand total of $1.52.  This is a savings of $2.47 that could be increased if butter and sour cream are on sale.  This is one more product I will not buy store bought again!

Pan Fried Pork Steak with Rustic Mashed Potatoes

We are undergoing a lot of major changes what with the house up for sale and at the same time knowing a half of beef will be ready shortly. We've arranged to have the beef stored until after our move if all goes according to plan. I have one primary goal in mind - reduce our freezer stock to as low as possible. That goal is followed with eating what we can from the pantry because moving empty jars is a lot easier than full jars of food. I've been trying to use one item from the freezer and one or more items from the pantry for each evening meal. So far that strategy has been working so we are starting to see a good reduction in the freezers.

Pan Fried Pork Steak

My husband is currently working fairly long days which is normal for this time of year. What I've been doing is making a dinner style meal for his lunch then a lighter meal for the actual dinner hour so he doesn't have a full tummy when heading to bed early. A couple of nights ago I pulled the last 2 pork steaks from the freezer and decided to pan fry them.

I pan fried until caramelized on both sides, seasoned with garlic pepper then poured in a half jar (250 ml/1 c) turkey stock and added a few onion pieces and added a lid. I let this simmer to form a nice sauce. While the meat was simmering I put potato cubes on to steam for rustic mashed potatoes.

Rustic mashed potatoes method: Steam about 10 washed unpeeled potatoes cut into cubes. Remove from steamer and place in stand mixer bowl. Pour in 250 ml/1 cup turkey stock, 1 tsp roasted garlic, 4 oz cream cheese, 1 tbsp butter. Beat until blended but still a bit chunky.

Hubby's Lunch

I have several reusable divided plates that I use for making lunches. A few of them can be used in the freezer as well for homemade tv style dinners. Pictured is my husband's pan fried pork steak with rustic mashed potatoes for tomorrow's lunch. It's a simple meal yet substantial one.

Divided plates with covers are great for lunch bags so they see a fair amount of use here. They come in so many styles and shapes now. Most of them are leak proof so can be used for a variety of meals and can be used in the microwave to reheat easily.

Homemade Dairy Products

I am by nature a chronic musser as my Mom would say or in more refined terms as perpetual experimenter. Either way I love trying different things especially in the kitchen. Quite often the goal is to see if I can do it not so much as trying to save money. The secondary goal is to create a homemade substitution for those times I may need to. A homemade substitution may be a bit more expensive in terms of ingredients but it ends up being cost effect in terms of both time and expense by saving a trip to the grocery store for one ingredient. Any time you can eliminate a trip to the grocery store you will end up saving money because it eliminates impulse buying as well as the travel costs.

Raw Ingredients

I usually have whole milk (3.25% MF), skim milk (2% MF, 1% MF), half & half (10% MF) and whipping cream (35% MF) on hand all the time. The heavier milk fat (MF) products are used for things like creamed soups where I want a creamier flavour while the skim milks are great for frothing on lattés and cappuccinos. Buttermilk and plain yogurt is something I buy only when having to refresh a starter. Both need to have active culture for this purpose.

Milk in Canada comes in plastic bags 4 L divided into 3 bags. This tends to be the cheapest way to buy milk however, some milk products can only be bought in waxed cardboard containers as pictured. While whole milk can be bought in bags, cultured buttermilk, whipping cream and half and half comes in the waxed cardboard containers. Milk and dairy prices are controlled by the Canadian Dairy Commission (CDC) so the price per L is fairly consistent across Canada and it is seldom possible to find any great sales on these products. Some grocery stores will put milk or butter on at loss leader prices occasionally.

Homemade Dairy Products

It is surprising how many products can easily be made from a few ingredients. I made sour cream (1), cultured buttermilk (2), plain yogurt (3), sweet butter (4), ricotta cheese (5), yogurt cheese (6), ricotta whey (7), buttermilk (8). Of these products the sweet butter (4) was not cheaper than current store prices but this method allows me to easily flavour it with herbs, citrus or cranberries and gives a small amount of buttermilk (8). The homemade products cost: sour cream 50¢; cultured buttermilk $2.17; yogurt $2.49, butter $3.47; ricotta cheese $1.99 with the whey and buttermilk free by-products. These are the costs with buying cultured buttermilk and plain yogurt to inoculate the fresh product. A batch of yogurt only takes 2 tbsp of starter yogurt so the rest went to the cook and yogurt cheese. Once the fresh product is ready it can be used to inoculate future batches eliminating the cost of store bought cultured buttermilk and yogurt further reducing the cost of the homemade. The cost per batch will continue to decrease using the homemade cultures until the only thing you are paying for is the milk or cream so at today's milk prices (CDN) the cultured buttermilk will go down to $1.49/L and sour cream down to 48¢. So while the homemade products are not going to save a lot per product it is still a savings.

Sour Cream1 c whole milk
2 tbsp fresh active buttermilk

Mix together and pour into mason jar. Cap. Let sit at room temperature 12 - 24 hours then refrigerate.

Cultured Buttermilk

8 oz fresh active buttermilk
3 c whole milk

Mix together and pour into 1 L mason jar. Let sit at room temperature 24 - 36 hours then refrigerate.

Butter

2 c (500 ml) whipping cream

Pour the whipping cream into blender. Beat at high speed until butter fats separate. Pour into cheesecloth lined strainer. Pat butter lightly to remove as much of the buttermilk as possible. Reserve buttermilk for cooking. Place the butter into molds or container then refrigerate. If desired season with salt or herbs.