Going backwards in time...

I would like to start making my own bread again... I'm just a wuss and afraid to tackle it! I did make my own tortillas the other day! they were great!! I used whole what flour and the taste was wonderful! And it didn't have all the preservatives like what you buy in the store. I am with you on this time travel thing!! I have the recipe to make my own noodles too but haven't tried that adventure yet - maybe next week!

I have had time while I have not been working, to do more things from scratch. I have my bread recipes I like, and I have been one to make pancakes and waffles from scratch. There is a lot to be said for making things at home. I have always done things like make my own curtains. I had some itching problems, so I am making my own laundry soap, it made a difference. I use simpler products to clean with most of the time. I still am stuck on using stuff like lime away. Sometimes being short of money is a chance to change directions.

There is nothing wrong with going back to the old fashion was of doing things. I wish my grandmother would have taught me how to can before she passed away. I know they way she used to do it, it was very complicated, but she never owned a dishwasher or any other modern type appliances. I would love to be able to can my own fruits and vegtables. I think there is a great sense of pride in doing something like that, not to mention it saves so much money. If you don't mind, can you please let me know how the marshmellows turn out? Maybe you can PM me the recipe too if you don't care.

Well, I probably would not make any of those things that you have made, but we have gone back in time in our house too. It all started about five years ago when we gave away our microwave. Our neighbour was shocked when we turned up on his doorstep with it for him. We knew his had broken the day before, so we gave him ours as we rarely used it and did not want to use one anymore. These days, we eat a lot of home made recipes using natural ingredients. We have not gotten into preserving fruits through making jam, but we preserve vegetables by making sauerkraut, Kim Chi and other pickled vegetables. We also make a home made bread. The only ingredient in this is organic wheat. You soak the wheat for most of the day, then rinse it and sprout it for one to two days depending on the temperature. Once the wheat has sprouted small tails, then we run it through our juicer and put it into a rectangular cake tin on a low heat in the oven for about 4 hours. As it does not have preservatives, it needs to be refrigerated, but is delicious and much more healthy than store bought bread.

Wow home made marshmallows.. mmm I will have to come over the day you make it. LOL... You are right as my boyfriend and I so make a great deal of meals and snacks specifically from scratch and yes there is a huge difference. I suppose the conveniences of packaged and processed foods are simply that convenient. However too many of us are not really reading labels and this is a must for me, as I need to know what I am consuming before I eat something. This whole great convenience has made a great many of a bit to laxed.

Good idea. This kind of going backwards is indeed a very good thing for family. My family have always worked this way when I lived with my parents (and it still works for them). Then I moved away and had no time for preparing my own food. After few months of confusion and stomach problems from finished products, I started to do more cooking. It helped me a lot feeling better. Anyway, home-made meals always taste better than ones from the store, at least as long as person cooking those meals has some skills.

I did a lot of baking when I was a teen but after marriage, kids, and job, it seemed like too much to handle. Last year though, I tried baking my own bread - something I considered a difficult task. Turns out it isn't that hard and practice makes perfect. Now I love baking bread and the wonderful smell of baking bread filling the house. I have branched out into other areas and now my homemade chicken pot pie is a family favorite. I think it's a great idea to try to make more things at home because with tight budgets, it's nice to look through the cupboards and realize that you can manage to make a tasty and nutritious meal out of the ingredients you have on hand.

Well, if Meryln can live backwards why can we not live backwards? I don't really think of it as living backwards though, but I know what you mean. I cook all of the time and it is always scratch, never pre-done. I love to bake and do so quite a bit. I have items to help me save time such as a rice cooker, a bread maker (though I have loaf pans as well lol), and a crock pot. However all of the food is always from scratch. I simply use them to help me reduce the time needed. I love making hot cocoa from scratch and it's not like it takes any more time. As I mentioned before I still have to learn to can but by this summer I'd like to learn so I can jar my own fruits that aren't available during the winter. I am also going to try and purchase our freezer with our tax monies this year so I can stock up on meats. Right now my current freezer only holds one bag from the butchers which lasts about a month to three months depending upon how many meals we have meat with. Sometimes we end up doing meals like grilled cheese or mac &cheese and then we don't have meat with them. The extra freezer would allow me to put three bags of meat from the butchers in it, plus a might bit extra, and allow me to stock the regular freezer with veggies, fruits, and breads. The nasty salty taste you speak of us due to all the chemicals they put into the processed foods. The more you can take these out of your diet the better. Our family went back to good ole fashioned butter three months ago and we've never been better. I have cooked my saute's with olive oil for some time but I had given into to "marketed healthy" margarine spreads many years ago and I have to say my IBS was not happy with me. As I started to go back to fresh made foods, and those without chemicals I noticed my IBS took a back seat. I use my butter to bake with instead of margarine. I read an health article not too long ago that spoke to this as well and spoke about how our bodies are designed to deal with "real" foods and know what to do with them, including fats. However, when we introduce fake foods our bodies become confused. In my own opinion I think a lot of our obesity and diabetes problems in the US stem from the use of chemicals in foods. Namaste-Anora