Today I have been taking stock of what I have learned and managed to change during these past few weeks of deliberately not buying and using the remaining processed foods, that were in our diets, as much as possible. There are a few things that stand out, some of which surprise me.
The main and perhaps most important thing is the taste - I think that I had either forgotten or somehow, never fully realized that homemade jams just taste far better. For some strange reason, I had it in my head that I would not be able to duplicate a good quality shop bought jam or spread as far as taste is concerned.
Of course, the very first thing that we all noticed about my homemade concoctions was the flavour bursting through, the fragrance spills out as soon as the jar is opened and even the colours are strikingly different. Today we are eating peach jam which tastes and looks like peaches, with a hint of apple, and the smell is exactly like ripe peach.
Another point to be made here is that making these jams (and any of the other condiments) has not taken much extra time. I usually wait until the house is quiet and the children are in bed, so that I can handle the boiling water bath and sterilize jars without kids underfoot. It has become a time for myself, perhaps in the same way that others spend time on their creative pursuits, cooking is my outlet and my way to be innovative in my life.
I went to the cupboards and counted the finished jars to see what I was up to, as of right now I have a total 34 jars of jams, apple sauce, apple butter and apricot/fig preserves. My goal is to have about 50 or so with a few being made every month for special occasions. At first that number seemed huge, but not anymore, it's totally doable.
Something else that stands out here is that the children prefer the apple butter and apple sauce that I have made while they have not really ever shown much interest in it before. Further to this, is that I am finding more ways to use these sauces - not only at breakfast on toast or in porridge, apple butter tastes lovely on the side with lamb dinner or on a goat's cheese sandwich as well.
Finding new ways to make and use these homemade foods goes hand in hand so it is important to trust your instincts and play with it. If at first you don't succeed, try again - this is really important, because when it comes to cooking many people give up easily when something doesn't turn out right. Although I never gave up on cooking, I did think that there were certain things that I could not make or that were on the 'difficult to make' scale.
In the past I have made my own mustards and mayonnaise with different results, some good and some disasters. This time around, I didn't really follow any recipes, I actually looked at the ingredients on the back of a natural organic mustard jar and then put them together the way that I thought they should go, plus or minus a few things. My mustard turned out great and is now 'aging' in the fridge after being mixed with honey.
Perhaps the best thing of all is that once you have had and made your own foods (I cook each and everyday all of our meals) nothing else compares. It is no longer a 'treat' to eat out or spend excess money on food items that can be easily made at home with much better results. I remember those days of spending a fortune on a meal only to feel bloated and heartburn afterwards.
Finally, one of the best things to come out of making more of my own foods is that I know exactly what is in each jar. There is no label to be read or company to be trusted (did they only put in what they said they put in?) nor is there unnecessary contamination from chlorinated, fluoridated or medicated water supplies that I try so hard to avoid.
All in all, this has been a great learning curve for me, one that I hope will take me much further than I first imagined, now I think I am ready to branch out into other types of foods such as pickles, chutneys and my own tomato free pasta sauce.
Today I am baking savory muffins (goat's cheese and rosemary) while last night I made another batch of apple butter, this weekend I want to do something different with a fish dish...
Back to the kitchen!
April
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| All that's left of my muffins! |
