{31 Days} Cooking from Scratch–Day 31

Well, dear friends, we made it!  Today, marks the end of our 31-day series to cooking from scratch. 

It’s my hope that you left this series feeling empowered to cook at least one thing from scratch that you haven’t previously. 

We covered a lot of ground in this series.  Starting out back at the beginning of October, we learned how to stock our pantry, then ventured into the realm of cooking with these items.  Here’s a recap: 

Stocking Up & Starting Out
Menu Planning 101
DIY Pantry Staples
Baking Essentials
Flours
Sweeteners
Spices
Lipids & Wines
Vinegars
Chocolates & other sweets
Canned Goods
Stocking your Fridge & Freezer

Breakfasts from Scratch
Homemade Doughnuts
Homemade Muffins
Homemade Pancakes
Ditch the cereal box – DIY granola

Homemade Bread – Yes you can!
Tips for starting out making bread
Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread
Whole Wheat Hamburger Rolls
No-Knead Focaccia Bread

Lunches from Scratch
Whole Wheat Tortillas

Dinners from Scratch
Spaghetti & Homemade Meatballs
Homemade Pizza & Homemade Pasta
Cooking a Chicken & Making Chicken Broth

Snacks from Scratch
DIY Crackers
DIY Fruit Snacks
DIY Granola Bars
DIY Dips

Desserts from Scratch
Delicious & easy cakes, brownies & more!

Condiments from Scratch
Try your hand at salad dressings, ketchup & more!

Now, I have one question for you {okay, 2 – but the other is over on Facebook}:

 If I took this series & made it into an e-book, is this something that would interest you?  If so, is there anything you’d like me to elaborate on in the e-book that I didn’t in this series?  

I hope you had a good time with this series; I certainly did!  It was a treat to share this journey with you.  Thanks for reading along – and, be sure to stop by on Facebook to interact with the FJiMK community today!

at Finding Joy in My Kitchen

{31 Days} Cooking from Scratch: Desserts

Raise your hands if you like dessert!  If you are anything like me, your hand went flying into the air – even though you’re sitting at your computer.  Don’t worry – you are in good company. 

From my experience, most people bake cookies from scratch: the classic chocolate chip cookie, or gingerbread cookie, perhaps.  But have you tried your hand at ice cream? Brownies? Hot fudge? Cheesecake? Fudge?  

Doesn’t making desserts from scratch take time?

Boxed brownie mixes or slice and bake cookies may be tempting – but truly, with a few simple tips, you’ll be making homemade dessert in no time.  And, your family will thank you!

Tips for making homemade desserts

(1) When you make a batch of cookies, only bake what you’ll eat fresh right away. 

Freeze the remaining cookies by placing balls of dough on a cookie sheet, placing the cookie sheet in the freezer for 30 minutes and then transferring the cookie balls to a freezer-safe storage container.  Then, whenever you want homemade cookies, just grab a few out of the bag, pop on a lightly greased cookie sheet & bake in a pre-heated oven according to the cookie recipe directions.  You may need to leave the cookies in the oven just a few minutes longer than the recipe calls for because you are baking them frozen. 

(2)   Prepare fruits – like apples – in bulk & freeze them! 

Apple slices are one thing we have in the our freezer all.the.time.  Slice up the apples, lay them out on a cookie sheet, flash freeze ‘em.  Then, they are always ready for apple crisp, naturally sweetened apple pie, or other yummy goodness – like this crockpot apple cake. 

(3) If you have an ice cream maker, store the bowl in the freezer! 

If you don’t have an ice cream maker – check garage sales, or add it to your “wish list”!  This is one of our most-used, most-loved kitchen appliances.  While there are ways to make ice cream without an ice cream maker (see our recipe for homemade FroYo), having a machine is so slick!  You can even make yummy desserts like homemade ice cream cake that way. 

(4) Making your own desserts allows you to control the fat, sugar content & whole grain component. 

You can make lots of “tweaks” to dessert recipes that make them significantly better for your than the store-bought variety.  For example:

• Substitute applesauce for oil/butter
• Reduce the butter or oil in a recipe – you can usually omit about 1/8 C without too much of a change in the recipe.
• Reduce the sugar.  I’ve cut out 50% of the sugar in some recipes!
• Use white whole wheat flour to increase the whole grains in dessert

(5) Keep your pantry stocked – essentials include cocoa powder, butter, sugars/sweeteners, flours, chocolate chips, whipping cream, half & half, buttermilk (or milk + vinegar), eggs and vanilla. 

By keeping these staples on hand, you’ll have all the basic ingredients to make just about any dessert you wish. 

Our Favorite DIY Desserts 

In case you need one more dessert idea – here’s the link to all our desserts!

What are your favorite DIY desserts?  Do you make all your desserts from scratch? 

{31 Days} Cooking from Scratch: Spaghetti & Meatballs

The classic Italian meal.

 
Spaghetti & meatballs. 

Now, you can make this dish nearly entirely from scratch. 

You already know how to make the pasta – so, the next step is making your own meatballs and spaghetti sauce. 

Spaghetti & Mini Meatballs
{Meatballs inspired by How Sweet It Is and Mom}

Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 egg
• 1 T minced onion
• 1 tsp. parsley
• 1 tsp. basil
• 1 tsp. dried, minced garlic (or 2 fresh cloves)
• 1/4 C panko bread crumbs
• salt & pepper, as desired
• Pasta (whole wheat preferably)
• 3-4 C spaghetti sauce
• Parmesan cheese, or mozzarella cheese, for garnish

Directions

Prepare two cookie sheets, lined with tinfoil and set the aside – in easy access to where you’ll make the meatballs.  Go ahead and pre-heat your oven to 400 as well.

In a large bowl, combine together the 1 egg, 1 T minced onion, 1 tsp. parsley, 1 tsp. basil and 1 tsp. dried minced garlic. 

Add in 1/4 C panko bread crumbs. 

Add the ground beef.  Using your hands, mix the ingredients together. 

Squish it all around … if I, a raw meat grossed-out girl can do this, you can too. 

Taking about 1-2 T of meat, roll the meat mixture into tiny meatballs.  I got about 35 – 40 mini meatballs from this mixture.

Arrange the meatballs on the tinfoil-lined cookie sheets.

Bake the meatballs for 20-25 minutes at 400.  Check that the internal temp has reached safe temperature for beef (170 degrees). 

Serve atop pasta {even homemade if you’re up for the challenge}. 

Spoon over pasta sauce & top with cheese.  You can use either quick stove-top sauce, or if you have time, plan ahead and make some crockpot sauce. 

Enjoy!

{31 Days} & Friday Favorite Finds #82

This week, my Friday Favorite Finds from your blogs focus on DIY condiments and spices.  While Frog Prince and I have tried our hands at homemade cherry BBQ sauce, that’s about the only DIY condiment we’ve tried. 

This is an area I’d love to grow in as a cook, so all these wonderful bloggers who are way ahead of me have a wealth of yummy recipes to offer in this area.  These images are from Pinterest – so click on the image (or the link under the image) to go to the recipes. 

DIY Sweet Pickle Relish

Source: heavenlyhomemakers.com via FindingJoyInMyKitchen on Pinterest

DIY Ketchup

 

 

Source: blogs.babble.com via FindingJoyInMyKitchen on Pinterest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DIY Salad Dressings – including Thousand Island

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: heavenlyhomemakers.com via FindingJoyInMyKitchen on Pinterest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DIY Salad Dressings, Syrups, Condiments & Spreads

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: simplebites.net via FindingJoyInMyKitchen on Pinterest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DIY Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: simplebites.net via FindingJoyInMyKitchen on Pinterest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DIY Dill Pickle Relish

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: wiseanticsoflife.blogspot.com via FindingJoyInMyKitchen on Pinterest

If you were featured, feel free to grab the button below!

Can’t wait to see your finds from this week – link up your post of the recipes you found this week.  Please link up to a post containing your list of recipes to try -- do not link up individual recipes please, save those for other linkys.  Be sure to leave a link back here to Finding Joy in My Kitchen.

{31 Days} Cooking from Scratch: Homemade Pizza

Pizza – from scratch is the best.thing.ever. 

Even if you’ve used a store-bought crust & done your own topping thing, you’re still missing out.  Try your hand at a homemade crust & you’ll be wondering why they still sell frozen pizzas. 

Pizza Crust

Pizza crusts come in all shapes & sizes.  Our favorite go-to crust is a no-rise recipe; ready to go in 40-minutes.  Other crust recipes we enjoy include:

Whole Wheat Deep Dish Crust
French Bread Pizza
Thin, but chewy pizza crust {we love this one}
Bread Machine Dough

Most of these recipes make two pizza crusts – if your family doesn’t need to pizzas, save the other crust for later.

 

Freezing Pizza Crust

Super easy to do.  Prepare the crust as directed, then wrap the dough up in plastic wrap and freeze.  The day you’re planning to make pizza, take the dough out of the freezer and place the dough in a lightly greased bowl.  If you will be gone all day, leave the dough, covered, in your refrigerator.  If you take the dough out about 4 hours before dinner, leave it on the counter to thaw. 

At dinnertime, prepare the crust as directed in the recipe. 

Topping Ideas

Just by switching up the toppings, you have an entirely new pizza, even if you have it on your menu once a week!  Better yet – try a breakfast pizza for dinner.  Yum!

Sauces	Proteins & Cheeses	Veggies
Tomato paste with Italian seasoning Tomato sauce, garlic and herbs Freezer-Friendly pizza sauce Pureed white beans with garlic Ricotta cheese with garlic Pesto BBQ sauce Alfredo sauce Salsa (or taco seasoning) No sauce	Chicken Chicken sausage Ground beef Pepperoni Italian sausage Eggs Bacon Beans   Mozzarella Cheddar Monterrey Jack Feta Cheese Parmesan	Peppers Spinach Mushrooms Olives Zucchini Tomatoes Broccoli Asparagus Lettuce Pickles Green Onions

 

Calzones & Stromboli

For a change up, try a pizza pocket, calzone or stromboli!  The dough is the same – it’s just how you prepare and package the goods. 

Baking Tips 

• Bake the pizza in a pre-heated oven.
• Bake the pizza at around 400 – 500 degrees F for 15ish minutes.  Baking at a higher temperature helps form that bubbly cheese we all love.
• Try grilling pizza in the summer – it’s the best. 

Give it a try – maybe even for Halloween?  A quick, fast & festive dinner before trick-o-treating. 

{Shape the pizza crust as a pumpkin; use spinach leaves for the top of the pumpkin and pepperoni for the face; if desired, mix in pumpkin puree with the pizza sauce}

What’s your favorite pizza topping combo?  I’m always looking for new ideas. 

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