This is a guest post written by Maggie Hollinbeck of Maggie’s Nest. This is one of my family’s next steps in increasing our dependence on nature instead of the grocery store, so I’m happy to share Maggie’s ideas here!

In a recent post at my blog, I detailed the first steps my family took toward de-centralizing our food system, a concept Michael Pollan introduced to me in his groundbreaking book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma. If you’re a regular Simple Mom reader, you’ve no doubt read about benefits of buying local and joining a community-supported agriculture program — the first two steps we took.

Today I’m writing about our third step: buying raw materials and making our own. This is Morpheus’ red pill, folks, the one that can unhook you from the food matrix. This step represented a sea change for me, dramatically lessening my dependence on packaged and processed food (good news for the environment and my family’s health) and making already good food even healthier. It taught me how to get cultured, invest in stocks, and take a long, hot soak.

Here are three ways to unhook yourself further from processed food — make your own basics.

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Written by Aimee Wimbush-Bourque of Simple Bites.

There is always plenty of opportunity for munching over the holidays. Whether it be at parties, open houses or church functions, trays of finger food are constantly inviting us to nibble. It’s easy to fill up fast but not really eat anything substantial.

One culprit that is responsible for that bloated, overstuffed feeling at the end of the night is bread and bread products. Now I love bread – and pita chips, tortillas, crostini, crutons, and all the other wonderful carb-crazy snacks, but in moderation. All too often the breadsticks, bruschetta and crackers take center stage and I ultimately fill up on starches instead of fresh ingredients.

This holiday season, I’m making a conscious effort to avoid serving finger food that includes bread and instead am being creative with seafood, vegetables, dried fruit, cured meat, cheese, and nuts. Once your eyes are opened to the possibilities, the options are really endless! And your gluten-intolerant friends will love you all the more for changing things up.

Read on for plenty of  inspiration for keeping your hors d’oeuvres fresh – while still staying simple.

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Today’s guest post comes from my friend, Sandy Coughlin of Reluctant Entertainer. I met this fun mama awhile back at a Blissdom conference (can’t remember which one), and I thought she was all kinds of fun. She’s a treasure. And! Her book, The Reluctant Entertainer, released not too long ago, and today she wants to give away five copies of her book to Simple Mom readers. Find out at the end how you can win one!

I’m glad I could be flexible with our dinnertime last Sunday night. We really wanted to see our friends. And their commitments on this particular Sunday were going from one thing to another. They weren’t commitments of wasted time. They were commitments of reaching out. Touching lives.

So when we asked our friends to come over for a steak dinner, we were willing to push our dinner out and wait for them, as eight-thirty was the soonest they could get to our house. Not only did we want to see these friends, we knew that coming to our home would be a relaxing way to end a very busy day for them. I had also purchased some steaks at the “10 lb. Meat Sale” that we wanted to barbeque, along with veggies and salad from our yard (and of course yummy bread). My friend brought the dessert (delegation!).

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The following is written by health columnist Lisa Byrne of The Well Grounded Life.

Before I became a mom, I swore I wouldn’t become a short order cook at dinnertime.

I had memories of my own experience growing up — we simply ate what my mom made for dinner, and I was never consulted as to what that would be.

It’s funny how much we think we know before we have to actually walk the talk.

I still feel strongly about having dinner as a unified family meal, but my desire to include my childrens’ preferences (to some degree) in the meals they eat, paired with our different food needs or restrictions, makes for a daunting challenge.

I needed a way to keep from literally making a different meal for each person sitting at the dinner table.

For example, in my family, my husband has taken dairy out of his diet, but my children and I still enjoy a bit of dairy.  But my husband has a much higher need for meat in his diet than I do. My children often won’t eat meals that are too spicy or “exotic” for them– and yet, my husband and I need to have more flavor and variety in our meals to feel satisfied.

I’m sure you can also list your family’s various requirements for a meal that everyone can enjoy.

There is also a sense of unity that comes from everyone eating the same meal at the same time, and family dinners are an excellent way to promote a strong family bond.

So… how to make it work?
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I’m on maternity leave from June 11 to July 16: The following is written by Simple Organic contributor Katie Kimball of Kitchen Stewardship.

I never thought I would bake my own bread.

After my first passing attempt at homemade whole wheat bread years ago, I got reviews like, “Wow, that’s dense.”  I happily submitted to the fact that bread-making wasn’t for me. I knew where all the bread outlets in my city were, so I had a frugal option for whole grain bread anyway. Why bother with all that work?

I am shaking my head in disbelief as I write this: I haven’t bought bread in months.

What changed?

I realized cooking from scratch isn’t exclusively for frugality, but also for health. Even if they won’t save me pennies (or dollars), there are some homemade foods that so far surpass any store bought variety in nutrition, I just have to make them myself.

I have transitioned to making an awful lot of things from scratch, but it doesn’t have to be an all or nothing endeavor.

When I analyze my homemade recipes for both nutrition and budget, five foods come out on top as those that I simply couldn’t compromise on.

1.  Homemade Yogurt

Dollar value…

I make nearly a gallon of yogurt a week for my family of four, saving $250-300 a year over the 32 oz. tubs. If we bought the little cups, I shudder to think how much we might spend!

Nutrition…

As a cultured food, yogurt is filled with power-packed nutrition and probiotics that keep my family healthy. It makes just about every “super food” list you can find and deserves a place in any healthy kitchen.

Simplicity…

Making yogurt is also an essential because it’s so very simple to do. Homemade yogurt has two ingredients and takes about 15-20 minutes of active work time, spaced out in four sections:

1. Pour milk into jars; set in a pot of water to boil.
2. Set jars on counter to come down to 100-110 degrees F.
3. Mix in plain yogurt, 2 Tablespoons per quart jar. Place jars into cooler with pot of hot water and a towel; incubate (keep warm/ignore) 4-24 hours.
4. Take jars out and freeze for 1-2 hours, then store in refrigerator.

It’s really that simple, and I never ever have to get out my recipe. You may want a bit more detailed instruction for your first few times, which you can find at this homemade yogurt tutorial.

2.  Chicken Stock

Homemade chicken stock is another sure winner: it’s fairly simple to accomplish, extremely good for you, and takes garbage and transforms it into food – clearly a frugal feat.

Simplicity…

I only buy chicken with bones now days, partly because quality meat is so expensive, but mostly so that I can keep my freezer stocked with stock (sometimes referred to as broth). Putting the bones in water with a splash of vinegar to draw out the minerals, boiling it overnight and then adding a few vegetables and parsley only takes about 5-10 minutes active work time.

Dollar value…

Straining the broth and freezing it might take another 15-30 minutes depending on the size of my batch, but since I can make two gallons of stock for mere pennies compared to 3/$2 for a 15 oz. can, I can’t help but gleam with frugal joy. Learn how to make traditional homemade chicken stock for yourself.

Nutrition…

When I learned that the fat in homemade chicken stock actually builds your immunities, I stopped skimming the fat and started making a conscious effort to include it in our family’s meal plans at least once a week. That was about the time my family started having a serious lack of colds and stomach bugs for an entire winter.

See more about the incredible health benefits of chicken stock and broth, including collagen, a truly rare food find.

3.  Homemade Salad Dressings

I started making homemade dressing when I tried avoiding all white sugar one Lent. I had no idea there was so much sweetener in salad dressings!

Nutrition…

Now that I’ve learned about the high omega-6 content and frequent GMO status of soybean oil, the main fat in almost all purchased dressings, I’m committed to making my own with extra virgin olive oil. I go through about a gallon of EVOO every four months.

Dollar value?

It costs over $2.50 to make 16 oz., which is actually considerably more than a good deal on Kraft dressing. That stings, but I’m convinced that the nutrition is worth the premium price.

Simplicity…

Simple oil dressings like Italian or balsamic vinaigrette take almost no time at all. My favorites, homemade caesar and Asian toasted sesame dressing, take a bit longer but are well worth it.

When my homemade mayonnaise is available, I can whip up a pesto ranch in about a minute with equal parts mayo, sour cream and yogurt whisked with a dollop of thawed pesto from last summer’s farmer’s market basil.

An added bonus? The homemade versions taste incredible.

4.  Homemade Tortillas

I feel like an elderly Mexican woman when I break out the rolling pin and make tortillas for taco night. This make-from-scratch food saves a bit of money and pumps up the nutrition considerably, but it is quite time-consuming. Mixing the dough takes five minutes, but rolling out 8-10 rounds is at least another ten.

Nutrition…

Here’s my sticking point: I can’t find tortillas without some sort of trans fat or questionable preservative in them. I avoid trans fat like the plague, and the corn tortillas I thought might be the answer had parabens in them, the same chemical I try to avoid in my shampoo.

Dollar Value…

Homemade tortillas cost about $1/batch of 8-12, so compared to whole wheat tortillas in a store, they are more frugal, to be sure (along with the health benefits). Our family loves my homemade whole wheat tortillas, and I get strong “pipes” from rolling them out!

5.  Sourdough Bread

Not only do I regularly make the bread I thought I’d never, ever make from scratch, but I use a method that’s known for failures and requires added skill and patience.  My homemade sourdough starter needs to be tended carefully and takes much longer to rise than conventional yeast bread, but the health benefits of real sourdough bread convinced me it was worth it.

Nutrition…

The sourdough process breaks down harmful substances like phytates, tannins, and even gluten, and it makes the grains exponentially more digestible than any other kind of food preparation. Wheat bran is particularly difficult for many people’s systems, so expensive whole grain bread may be doing as much harm as good.

Simplicity…

I could never pull off homemade bread, especially sourdough, if I had to to knead it myself.  Manual may be better for my fitness, but I’d stress out and make bread worthy of a doorstop.  My KitchenAid mixer’s dough hook makes it all possible, and I only have to spend 10-15 minutes of active time, broken into four parts over the course of 18 hours or so.

Dollar Value…

I feel deeply satisfied when I can feed my kids homemade, 100% whole grain, ultra-nutritious sourdough bread, risen with yeast I captured from the air myself, for free. And if you’re wondering, my loaves do cost less than the bread outlet anyway.

Their prices recently increased.

What make-from-scratch foods would you never compromise on?  What is your motivation for from-scratch cooking?

All photos by Katie Kimball