If you recall from this post, I mentioned that I wanted to start making more things at home. I wanted to start saving on costs but I also wanted to be more in control of our food.

The three B’s that I was going to start making at home were:

• Broth/Stock
• Butter
• Beans

I have kept to my promise and have made all of these things at home.

Broth/Stock

I have made stock several times now, both chicken and a beef stock.  However I’m finding that because it’s summer, I’m not using nearly as much broth as I used to.  I still use it for making rice but with warmer temperatures soups, stews, and braised meats aren’t so abundant.

Stock will keep for several weeks in the fridge (I’ve double checked this and also have done it without issues) but I also felt the pressure to use it up.  For right now I’m only going to make stock on occasion and rely on boxed stock to see me through summer.

Once the cooler weather comes back I’m going to revisit making my own stock and not purchase boxed stock.  I’m also going to look into pressure canning so I can seal and store my stock in the pantry.

For now boxed will work and I’ve reduced how much I purchase at the store.

Butter

I’ve made my own butter and this has shown to be a lot more cost effective than purchasing butter.

The butter I would buy was unsalted Kerry Gold butter, which is grass-fed Irish butter (again if you are buying, make sure to get the good stuff).  The cheapest I could find that was at my Whole Foods for $2.79 for 1/2 a pound of butter.

I can purchase a half gallon of  local grass-fed cream for $9.99 (Whole Foods to the rescue again with the cheapest price).

From that half gallon of cream I can get just over two pounds of butter along with a quart of buttermilk.  All for $9.99.

At $2.79 for 1/2 pound of butter, it would cost me $11.16 (2.79 x 4) to get 2 pounds of butter which doesn’t even include the additional bonus of buttermilk.

Win win! So I’ll stick with making my own butter when I can.

Beans

I still have a few cans of beans to get through to clear out my pantry but I have made black beans in the meantime.  I purchased a pound of organic black beans and cooked them up which yielded me about 6 cups of black beans total.  I used two cups for a recipe and froze the remaining beans in 2 cup portions.

This I also like a great deal and will continue to make beans at home and freeze portions of them.

 

I’m happy with the progress that I’ve made with this little adventure!  I like making things at home and taking a day just to be in the kitchen and filling the house with great smells and yummy foods.

What are things that you stopped purchasing and started making at home?