5 Things to Make From Scratch
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If you’ve been around for any length of time, you already know that I love the domestic arts and am a homebody at heart. I’m most likely what’s referred to now as an urban homesteader: living in an apartment and using what I have to homestead. There are still some things I haven’t invested in or gone too deep with, like grinding my own flour, buying completely organic, etc., but I’m happy with the balance for now!
Why ‘from scratch’?
Chances are, you’ve already been doing your own research lately. Maybe you’re starting to realize just how many ingredients are in the foods, drinks, cleaners, and other normal household items we buy and use every day. It can feel overwhelming, especially if you do TOO much research.
But fear not: it is possible to start small and begin slowly converting to a from-scratch household without too much stress. It might even be fun!
Here are five things I love to make from scratch in my own household.
Blend your own teas
This is so fun! The sheer availability of herbs today at any home improvement store or local greenhouse is so wonderful. Stock up on several little herb plants and keep them on your windowsill or shelf, gathering what you want, when you want. Or, plant an herb garden!
This book has been instrumental in my herb and tea making adventures. I highly recommend it to get started with your tea blending.
I live in an apartment currently, and am unable to create my own herbal garden sadly, but I have used this book as a resource when gathering lavender, chamomile, and peppermint from my mom’s garden.
Did you know you can even make tea from basil? I didn’t. I love how this book gives the details, health benefits, and history on each herb, along with little blending recipes.
When harvesting and drying your herbs, you can either hang aesthetic bunches around your kitchen, or invest in a dehydrator to cut drying time in half. You can even dry most herbs in your oven: set it to the lowest possible temperature, lay your clean herbs on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, and let dry for several hours, checking often to make sure they don’t burn.
You can keep your herbs and tea blends in little glass jars like these cute ones.
Voila – your very own supply of peppermint, lavender, or chamomile tea! Or try playing around with blends, just make sure to do your research and follow recipes to be careful!
Make your own all-purpose cleaner
This is one thing I’ve been making from scratch for years. I keep a spray bottle for just this purpose, and fill it up whenever I need it. Here’s how I make mine!
You’ll need:
White vinegar
Used lemon or orange halves
Water
Whenever you use lemons or oranges, put the leftover rinds (it’s okay if there’s pulp too) in a 32 oz glass ball jar. Fill the jar up with lemons and cover with white vinegar. Let it sit for 2 weeks or more. Strain the vinegar into your spray bottle, and fill the rest with water. Shake to mix. This cleaner works WONDERS on a greasy stove, a dirty countertop, and even works as a linoleum/floor cleaner. I’ve used it to clean stains off my carpet and upholstery too.
Bake your own sourdough sandwich bread
This might feel a bit more involved, but I promise, sourdough doesn’t have to be scary! When I first began my own starter, I followed the King Arthur recipe, because I knew I wouldn’t be able to afford fancy flour or grind my own. It’s been about 4 or 5 years now, and my starter is still going strong!
Sourdough is so good for you. It’s digestible, great for your gut, and it’s frugal, too. I love knowing that I am getting several loaves of bread out of a 5lb bag of flour, instead of spending $6 a loaf on ‘good’ bread from the store (which still seems to have more than its fair share of ingredients!). This way, I know exactly what’s going into my loaf.
Something I love to do every week is bake sandwich bread for my husband’s lunches. B is a stonemason, and works very hard every day. He needs lots of good nutrition to keep going! I love making him a big sandwich every day for his lunch (along with fresh fruit/vegetables, cookies, pasta salad, crackers, or whatever else is available).
My favorite recipe I’ve found thus far is from Katelynn over at Calico & Twine. Even though I do have a kitchen scale, I love that she’s converted her recipe to simple kitchen measurements. I’ve made this recipe so many times that I almost have it memorized! I love that it’s a one-day recipe too, and doesn’t require a really long proofing.
Make your own probiotic sodas for gut health
This is something I just recently started doing this last summer! Whenever I go through a big life change or a stressful season, something I love to do to cope is find a new recipe or item to make by hand. This summer, it happened to be a ginger bug!
Ginger bug is essentially fermented ginger, sugar, and water. Once you’ve made your original ginger bug, you can then use it as a ‘starter’ for additional flavored sodas, using natural fruit juices. I made some absolutely delicious lemonade bug, blackberry bug, and pineapple bug this summer.
Dry your own fruits & fruit leather
I first invested in a cheap dehydrator several years ago from Cosori, and it got me addicted to making my own dried fruit and fruit leather. (The easiest one to start with? Dried apple slices!). When I got married, I added a bigger dehydrator to my wedding registry. It’s so efficient and fun to use, and the possibilities are actually endless. You can make dried fruit, fruit leather, and even make your own jerky!
I hope this post was inspiring and gave you some fun ideas to try out! Making things from scratch is so rewarding, and it feels good to know that you are caring for your home and family in ways that are healthy. Not everything is accessible (I know for me, I can’t afford to buy organic with everything), so sometimes we have to get creative with what we choose to make from scratch, but I hope this post inspired you to try new things. Comment and let me know which one you will try first!
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