Skip to main content

Three simple ideas: Cook from scratch

Lately I've been sharing with you simple ideas for getting started with simple living.  As many of us have discovered, simple living isn't simple, certainly when you're getting started, there are lots of new skills to learn and its important to find a routine that works.  I've already shared simple ideas for growing your own food, and for saving money on groceries.  Here's a few ideas of things that you can cook from scratch that will save you money and be better for your body.

Simple: Homemade bread
I didn't think that making bread was easy at first, but have got myself into a system and haven't bought any bread since April 2012, so it must not be too hard after all! More here on the bread recipe that I've settled on.  If you have a bread maker (or can buy one secondhand from someone else who gave up on the breadmaking dream), its even easier to make bread.

eight acres: three simple ideas - cooking from scratch


Simpler: Chicken or beef stock
One thing that I have been trying very hard to keep doing is making my own stocks. They are so tasty and good for you compared to the stock cubes I used before. They will make everything you cook taste rich and delicious. The easiest method is to keep various bones and vege scraps in the freezer until you're ready to make stock, then pile the whole lot into a slow cooker and cook for 12-24 hours, then freeze or can the finished stock. If you don't have a slow cooker, a large pot is fine too. I wrote a brief explanation of my stock method here and here too.  The slow cooker certainly makes it easier, and you can pick up a cheap one from Big W for $50 that seems to do the job just as good as my expensive one that broke.

eight acres: three simple ideas - cooking from scratch


Simplest: Casserole or roast in the slow cooker
I really do use my slow cooker a lot and its very useful for cheaper cuts of meat, like rolled roasts and chuck steak.  You can let the meat cook for a long time until its tender, and not use as much electricity as turning on the oven for that time.  Casserole is also a great way to use up left over bits and pieces.  I will throw in any veges from the fridge that are not looking so fresh, bacon or salami, wine, the last bit of sauce in the bottle, leftover dips, rice, mashed potato, its amazing what you can add to casserole!  I don't really have a recipe as such, as long as you add some stock and lots of veges, it will have lots of flavour after cooking for most of the day.

eight acres: three simple ideas - cooking from scratch


What do you think? What are some other ideas to get started with a simple life? I will have more next week....



Comments

  1. I used my slow cooker yesterday to cook a chicken and then put all the bones back in with some herbs carrot onion celery to make chicken stock. I've only made chicken stock once before and was reminded recently to make it in the slow cooker. Today I'm making spag bog in the slow cooker and it's a family favourite. Regards Kathy A, Brisbane

    ReplyDelete
  2. Some great tips there and like you say simple anyone can do them and start making a switch over to a simple life.
    we freeze left overs from a meal, we often find there is enough there for another serving, so pop it into a container then there is always a meal on hand.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Bread making is really great, I love it, but like you said, you need a routine. I need to work on that, and how to make gluten free bread. Its so expensive in the shops and full of preservatives. If you know of a good gluten free bread recipe please pass it on!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Slow cookers are great, especially in the hot weather we're having just now. No hot kitchens. Looking forward to trying that bread recipe too.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks, I appreciate all your comments, suggestions and questions, but I don't always get time to reply right away. If you need me to reply personally to a question, please leave your email address in the comment or in your profile, or email me directly on eight.acres.liz at gmail.com

Popular posts from this blog

Chicken tractor guest post

Sign up for my weekly email updates here , you will find out more about chickens, soap and our farmlife, straight to your inbox, never miss a post!  New soap website and shop opening soon.... Tanya from Lovely Greens invited me to write a guest post on chicken tractors for her blog.  I can't believe how many page views I get for chicken tractors, they seem to be a real area of interest and I hope that the information on my blog has helped people.  I find that when I use something everyday, I forget the details that other people may not be aware of, so in this post for Tanya, I tried to just write everything I could think of that I haven't covered in previous posts.  I tried to explain everything we do and why, so that people in other locations and situations can figure out how best to use chicken tractors with their own chickens. The dogs like to hang out behind the chicken tractors and eat chicken poo.  Dogs are gross! If you want to read more about chicken tractor

The new Eight Acres website is live!

Very soon this blogspot address will automatically redirect to the new Eight Acres site, but in the meantime, you can check it out here .  You will find all my soaps, ebooks and beeswax/honey products there, as well as the blog (needs a tidy up, but its all there!).  I will be gradually updating all my social media links and updating and sharing blog posts over the next few months.  I'm very excited to share this new website with you!

Garden Update - July 2013

This month I'm joining the Garden Share Collective , which was started last month by Lizzie from Strayed from the Table , to allow vege gardeners to share their successes and failures and generally encourage everyone to grow more of their own food organically.  This first month, I'll give a detailed update on everything that's growing in my garden, for anyone who hasn't been following for long.  I'll do my normal farm update on Tuesday as well. If you've just joined me, welcome to my vege garden.  I recently wrote about gardening in our sub-tropical climate , so if you're wondering about the huge shade structure, that's for protecting the garden during our hot, humid summers.  At the moment though, the garden is full of brassicas, which grow best here in winter, and are suitably frost-proof.  The garden is about 12 m long by 5 m wide, and surrounded in chicken mesh to keep out the chickens and the bandicoots.  The garden has spilled out around the edg