#1 Make more food from scratch

So for everyone who has known me well in the past 10 years, knows that my husband (Mike) does all of the cooking.  Yes I can make myself breakfast and I like to bake but lunch was leftovers (from whatever Mike made the night before) and supper was whatever Mike was making that night.  I had a few go to meals that I could make up if I was feeling really motivated but the majority of the time, I came home from work and dinner was cooking.

So after ending my vanbatical early (see vanbatical blog if you want to learn more about the vanbatical), I found myself with some free time, a desire to actually spend time cooking (and inspiration from cookbook recipe books such as Oh She Glows) and continued motivation to make a difference by decreasing my plastic/carbon/human foot print.  So cooking "from scratch" seemed like the logical next step.

So being 1 week into 2019.  Here is where I am at: 

Home made dog biscuits (I used to make these but for some reason stopped doing it).  They aren't super hard and so far Maverick finds them pretty tasty.

A freezer bag (reused) full of veggie scraps so I can make my own veggie stock/broth (stay tuned for how this turns out).   (I consulted a few websites who all recommended sticking to carrots, onions, garlic, celery and fresh herbs; limiting other vegetables like peppers and peas; and avoiding potatoes and squash).

Working on finding a good (but relatively healthy) bread recipe.  I think I have the white bread down but struggle when I start adding rye or whole wheat flour.  Home made Naan and tortilla are also fun. And what it seems to come down to is planning for the "rising time".

Dried black beans and lentils.  These seem to be the easiest to rehydrate although I may still give kidney beans another try.  Chickpeas took forever.  And not that buying them from a can isn't making things from scratch but it does create waste (as Zero Waste Home will tell you that recycling is still waste) so I've been trying to buy the dried stuff in bulk.

Veggie burgers.  Things we always bought and kept in the freezer I am now trying to make on my own.  I likely wouldn't be BBQ'ing the ones I am making just yet but they have been pretty tasty so far (just a little crumbly at times).

As a side note to these posts, I can almost start to relate to self help book authors.  How do you share your ideas in a way that says you are still learning (ie don't have all the answers) but hey, here is an idea someone might want to try but this might not work for everyone because everyone is different.  It's challenging finding that right tone.  Definitely still learning on the blogging front too.