Cooking from Scratch
I grew up watching my grandma and mom cook from scratch. I watched them and other ladies in our area stretch meals to make them feed more people. While I too cooked from scratch when I first got married, it wasn’t until late 2008 early 2009 that I dove much deeper into cooking from scratch. I decided to take an inventory of all the food items I was regularly purchasing at the store. I decided to see how many of those items I could make from scratch, improvise, or do without. By 2010 I built a bare bone basic stock of simple single ingredient items and since then I have been affordably feeding my family and company wholesome quality and mostly organic food for literally hundreds of dollars less each month than the average family.
For a visual of what we stock in order to make our own ingredients and food items; here are some videos.
Pantry Tour Intro Video: This video goes over what we do NOT keep in stock and our opinions on pantries.
Pantry Tour Video: In this video, I show you what we keep in stock.
Freezer Tour Video: In this video, I show you how we organize our deep freeze so that nothing is lost, and we always know what we have and how many.
If you’re a subscriber, you can also access more recipes in our AGH Subscriber Exclusive Library.
Fermented Baked Oatmeal
Some people cannot eat and digest oats without being in pain. Fermenting your oats before eating may help!
Homemade Bread
What is better than a piece of warm fresh bread straight from the oven drizzled with melted butter?
Homemade Gelatin "Jello"
By making your own homemade gelatin, you can control the ingredients and get creative. It really is quite easy; let us show you how.
Spinach Chicken Sourdough Pizza
What better way to use your sourdough discard than by making pizza! Use any toppings you want, but spinach and chicken is our favorite.
How to Part (or cut up) a Whole Chicken
One of the most basic skills in food prep is knowing how to properly and easily cut up a whole chicken. Let me show you how to deskin, debone, separate the thigh from the leg and completely break down a whole chicken.
Homemade Sourdough Bread
Follow along as I show you how to easily make sourdough bread without weighing and the tedious folding and stretching method.
Grandma's Vintage Chocolate Zucchini Cake
Try this tasty moist cake as another way to use up all those summer zucchinis.
Homemade Cream Of....Soups
In this video, I show you different ways to make cream soups as well as several ways to flavor them. Simply pick the method and one you like the best.
Make Your Own Sausage Seasoning
We have been using this recipe to make our own sausage seasoning since 2011. It's a keeper for sure. Feel free to modify it to suit your tastes!
Homemade Pancake Syrup
Admit it, we all like maple syrup on our pancakes (we actually add chocolate chips to our pancakes and that with butter keeps us from having to use syrup; however, maple is delicious). Maple syrup is expensive though! Here's a way to stretch that pricey maple syrup but still get the maple flavored pancake syrup.
Monkey Muffins
Try these healthy, moist, and gooey muffins for breakfast.
Homemade Granola Cereal
Here is a simple base for making your own granola cereal. Feel free to add nuts, seeds, dried fruit, or coconut flakes to it. Sprinkle on top of yogurt or pour milk over to eat as a cereal.
Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix
I created this hot cocoa mix recipe several years ago and it's our favorite.
Homemade Taco Seasoning
We do not buy store bought seasoning packets; instead, we make our own. Here is one for taco seasoning. Feel free to play around with the spices and quantities. I almost always add more salt and other spices while it's cooking as it depends on what flavor I'm going for at that moment.
Fried Dandelion Blossoms
Here's a delicious wild edible. Just try it.
Championship Chocolate Chip Bars
Here's a tasty dessert. It may get stuck in your teeth, but it's delicious.
Homemade Yogurt
Simple way to make homemade yogurt.
Make Your Own Sauerkraut
Simple way to make your own sauerkraut.
How to Make Fried Potatoes Using Home Canned Potatoes
See how to still get crispy fried potatoes using home canned potatoes.
How to Make Scrambled Eggs from Dehydrated Eggs
These scrambled eggs, made from dehydrated and powdered eggs, are NOT grainy or gritty.
