3 Ways to start cooking more foods from scratch: how to make ingredients-only cooking work for you.
“Cooking from scratch seems like a lot of work”, you think to yourself, “I’m too busy to be able to pull off something like that.” Do not panic. Do not give up before you start. Instead, think about your pain point.
1) Your pain point is your starting point.
Hopefully, you’ve already worked through my three things to do before you change the way you cook and have identified your pain point. If you haven’t done that yet, take a few minutes to consider what aspect of your current food routine, or what specific type of food, is causing you the most frustration or concern. It could be a broad category, like snacks or breakfast, or something more specific, like I’m tired of buying bread with mystery ingredients, or I want to stop buying sodas and juices.
Don’t worry about making your own homemade barbecue sauce on day one if you’re really just interested in replacing your store-bought dinner rolls with a homemade alternative. For my family, the starting point was breakfast. We needed to replace cereal with a healthier and cheaper alternative. But what was it going to be?
2) Take inventory of the things you like to eat and the recipes you are already familiar with, then pick three recipes to focus on.
As we transitioned to ingredients-only cooking, I identified three good breakfast options and started making those things frequently. Enter, our famous banana bread, homemade yogurt with granola and strawberry sauce, and our favorite sandwich bread. As I am writing this we are almost one year into this transition, and these remain our staple breakfast foods.
Three is the magic number here, as it gives you enough variety to feel that you aren’t always eating the exact same thing, but also allows you to narrow your scope down to the point where it isn’t overwhelming.
If you have kids, or any picky eaters, in your household, it is important to start with things that are recognizable and familiar. A homemade chocolate chip mini muffin is a pretty good replacement for a prepackaged mini muffin. A homemade chocolate chip muffin with spinach and kale and a hint of poblano pepper to bring the heat is not.
3) Commit to making those three recipes once a week for one month.
Picking three things in your target area and making those things weekly does two important things for you. First, you get really comfortable making those foods, and can execute the recipes well and without stress. Cooking, like any other skill, requires practice. The more you make something, the easier it is to make. The first time I made sandwich bread, I was stressed! I had to send the kids up to watch a movie so the house would be quiet enough for me to focus on the task. Assembling the dough took over 30 minutes because I was unfamiliar with the recipe and was searching for and collecting ingredients and supplies to do something new. But guess what? It got easier! The more I made bread, the faster and more comfortable it became. Today, I can easily rattle off the ingredients needed and the assembly process takes only a few minutes. I built up muscle memory and bread baking became enough of a habit that I can throw together a loaf in the middle of our daily chaos - no pristine and quiet environment required.
Second, you and your people get comfortable eating these recipes. They become your new normal. Guess what happened after a few weeks of “Mama, I wish we could just have cereal for breakfast?” Everyone settled into our new routine. My homemade honey wheat bread became the desired taste and texture for the perfect PB&J. When we occasionally have to pick up a loaf of honey wheat from the store, the kids always notice and ask when the homemade version will be back. Once you find your favorite recipes and get comfortable making them, your people will get comfortable eating them too.
After your month is over, evaluate.
Do you want to keep eating these things? Do you need a slightly different recipe to tweak a flavor or texture? Are you ready to add another recipe to your frequent flier list? Adjust as needed, then keep at it!
If you don't know where to start looking for your perfect recipes, help is on the way! Next week’s post will have lots of resources and suggestions for you. You can subscribe to my blog at the link below and I’ll send that post right to your inbox when it is ready!
