Tis the season that we all start thinking about our new year resolutions and health goals. I believe one of the best things we can do for our health is to cook from scratch as much as possible with whole, non-processed ingredients. In our busier than ever world, we often rely on those heavily processed store-bought items or fast food or take out that’s loaded with sodium and calories. I know the thought of cooking from scratch can be overwhelming and time consuming. Therefore, I like to keep it simple here in the Retro Dinner Diva kitchen. My goal is that cooking is fun and worthwhile!
I believe in starting with the basics: simply swapping out those prepared or processed items that you buy most frequently at the store, with a homemade recipe. You know? Those convenient items, such as canned condensed cream soups, spice packets, pasta sauce, etc. These items are often loaded with high sodium, corn syrup/sugar, and unwanted additives (like monosodium glutamate). By replacing these items with homemade recipes, you’ll immediately be eating healthier, you’ll feel better about what your putting on the table for you family and/or yourself, and you’ll be on your to being a diva in the kitchen!
Here are 3 of my tips for getting started with cooking from scratch:
Start slowly and simply. Don’t try to do everything or replace every processed ingredient in your house at once. Pick just one of the recipes below that you buy often and learn how to make it homemade. Tweak it to your family’s taste. See how it works for you. I suggest starting with something simple that doesn’t involve cooking, like the homemade taco seasoning or salad dressing.
Multiply, multiply, multiply. Part of the reason people get discouraged with cooking from scratch is the additional time it takes. To make it more worthwhile, I highly recommend making things in big batches and then – where appropriate – freezing them. For example, if you’re going to make homemade cream soup or pasta sauce or chicken broth, why not double, triple, or even quadruple the recipe, then store the extra for a busy day? If browning ground beef, don’t just brown 1 pound, go ahead and brown 5 pounds and then freeze some for later.
Get social! Turn your from-scratch cooking into a social activity. Get your family and/or friends together for an afternoon of cooking from scratch. There’s something soul-soothing about being a part of a group with the same mission – so go round up your dinner divas tribe and get to cooking. You’ll have more fun when you team up with friends, and you can walk away with a few different items, instead of just one.
Ready to get cooking now? Here are (6) basic items to get you started with from-scratch cooking and reducing processed ingredients in your meals:
1 – CONDENSED CREAM SOUPS
I love me some comfort food. However, it seems that comfort food recipe after recipe online calls for canned soup. Now, I’m not completely knocking canned soup….sometimes you just have to buy a can, right? There’s no canned soup snobbery here. However, this is something that can easily be made at home and is so much better for you.
I believe in starting with the basics: simply swapping out those prepared or processed items that you buy most frequently at the store, with a homemade recipe. You know? Those convenient items, such as canned condensed cream soups, spice packets, pasta sauce, etc. These items are often loaded with high sodium, corn syrup/sugar, and unwanted additives (like monosodium glutamate). By replacing these items with homemade recipes, you’ll immediately be eating healthier, you’ll feel better about what your putting on the table for you family and/or yourself, and you’ll be on your to being a diva in the kitchen!
Here are 3 of my tips for getting started with cooking from scratch:
Start slowly and simply. Don’t try to do everything or replace every processed ingredient in your house at once. Pick just one of the recipes below that you buy often and learn how to make it homemade. Tweak it to your family’s taste. See how it works for you. I suggest starting with something simple that doesn’t involve cooking, like the homemade taco seasoning or salad dressing.
Multiply, multiply, multiply. Part of the reason people get discouraged with cooking from scratch is the additional time it takes. To make it more worthwhile, I highly recommend making things in big batches and then – where appropriate – freezing them. For example, if you’re going to make homemade cream soup or pasta sauce or chicken broth, why not double, triple, or even quadruple the recipe, then store the extra for a busy day? If browning ground beef, don’t just brown 1 pound, go ahead and brown 5 pounds and then freeze some for later.
Get social! Turn your from-scratch cooking into a social activity. Get your family and/or friends together for an afternoon of cooking from scratch. There’s something soul-soothing about being a part of a group with the same mission – so go round up your dinner divas tribe and get to cooking. You’ll have more fun when you team up with friends, and you can walk away with a few different items, instead of just one.
Ready to get cooking now? Here are (6) basic items to get you started with from-scratch cooking and reducing processed ingredients in your meals:
1 – CONDENSED CREAM SOUPS
I love me some comfort food. However, it seems that comfort food recipe after recipe online calls for canned soup. Now, I’m not completely knocking canned soup….sometimes you just have to buy a can, right? There’s no canned soup snobbery here. However, this is something that can easily be made at home and is so much better for you.
Below is a recipe for what I call “cream of something” soup. The reason for the “something,” is the main ingredient is interchangeable. Need cream of mushroom? Use mushrooms as the main ingredient. Need cream of chicken? Use chicken as the main ingredient. Got it? If you are going to make this recipe, my recommendation is to definitely multiply this baby and make your effort worthwhile! You can let it cool completely and then freeze in quart size bag equivalents of a can of soup (1.5 cups of this recipe equals 1 can of condensed soup). Presto! Little bags of healthier homemade condensed soup ready to go in your freezer. If you flatten them out and squeeze out all the air, you will find they thaw very easily. Gluten-free? You can use gluten-free broth and almond or rice flour in place of the flour. Dairy-free? You can substitute with earth balance “butter” and almond milk.
Recipe: Condensed Cream of Something Soup
¼ cup butter
1/2 small onion, diced (or 1 shallot)
1/2 cup main ingredient, diced
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1/4 cup flour
1 cup milk
3/4 cup broth (chicken, beef, vegetable)
Salt & Pepper, to taste
Recipe: Condensed Cream of Something Soup
¼ cup butter
1/2 small onion, diced (or 1 shallot)
1/2 cup main ingredient, diced
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1/4 cup flour
1 cup milk
3/4 cup broth (chicken, beef, vegetable)
Salt & Pepper, to taste
Directions: Melt the butter in a stock pan over medium heat. Add the onion and main ingredient (mushrooms, cooked shredded chicken, celery, asparagus, broccoli, etc.) and cook until onion are translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 more minutes. Stir in the flour. Cook for about 2 minutes. Stir in the milk and broth. Bring to a slight boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring regularly, until it reaches desired consistency (about 10-15 minutes). The more you multiply this the longer it will take to thicken. Season to taste with salt and pepper and use as you would a can of condensed Cream of Something Soup in any recipe (1 can equals about 1.5 cups). You can refrigerate up to 4 days or you can multiply recipe and freeze in quart size freezer bags for easy use.
2 – PASTA/SPAGHETTI SAUCE
Recipe: Easy Pasta/Spaghetti Sauce
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
2 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce (may substitute one of the cans for crushed or stewed tomatoes if you like chunks of tomatoes)
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 tablespoon fresh chopped oregano (or 1 tsp dried)
1 tablespoon fresh chopped basil (or 1 tsp dried)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (can be omitted if you prefer)
3/4 teaspoon salt (can be omitted or substituted with a salt-free substitute)
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon brown sugar (optional)
Directions: In a skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until soft. Add garlic and cook for another minute. Stir in tomato products, oregano, basil, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper. Taste sauce and if desired, add sugar. Bring to a low boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, until it is thickened up a bit. If using fresh tomatoes, you can use a handheld blender to puree to your desired consistency/chunkiness.
Use as desired. You can make a large batch of sauce and freeze in gallon Ziploc bags (make sure to cool completely first) for easy use. Or make a large batch and make several meals at once that you can freeze.
See the next 4 recipes over on Healthier Cooking Tips from Retro Dinner Diva, Part 2
See the next 4 recipes over on Healthier Cooking Tips from Retro Dinner Diva, Part 2
