Last Updated on June 20, 2024 by Michelle
Are there kitchen essentials you can make yourself? Absolutely! Not only will making them yourself save you money, it will also save you trips to the store.
But maybe the best part? You can make these kitchen essentials exactly the way your family likes them… saltier, spicier, or sweeter… whatever floats their boat, or butters their bread.
Kitchen Essentials you can Make Yourself
We’ve talked about this topic in numerous podcast episodes over on the Simple Doesn’t Mean Easy podcast, including the new episode: 5 Foods you Should Know More About (full disclosure: this was released on April 1st, just keep that in mind.)
In this episode we break down 4 categories of kitchen essentials that you definitely can make yourself.
Bread is one kitchen essential you can make yourself
Suave marketers had us all convinced, for way too many decades, that soft, pure white, ultra-processed, perfectly sliced bread in pretty cellophane packages –bread that lasts on the store shelves and in your pantry for months on end–is the way to go.
But here’s the thing… We not only CAN make our own breads, we will dramatically feel better if we do.
In fact, if we start milling our own flour for making our own bread we will see all kinds of benefits, even potential weight loss (since whole grains fill us up a lot better and more productively, with the good stuff). I just got this message on instagram today from a follower who has experienced the same thing:
How to Make Sourdough Bread, without discard
Sourdough Bread Made with Fresh Milled Flour
Dinner Rolls Made with Fresh Flour
Candy–yes, you can make it yourself
One could argue that candy is not a kitchen essential, but I would argue we all crave it, at least occasionally, so why not have the good stuff on hand?
Make Maple Sugar (& sprinkles!)
That last one is so amazing it even made it to Fox News (a nationally syndicated reporter called me just last week and interviewed me for this article)
Fats are kitchen essentials you can make yourself
First thing we should clear up before I share some articles I’ve written about fats as a kitchen essential? Fats can be the good stuff, guys, despite the crazy things my generation believed from the commercials.
In fact, my friend RuthAnn Zimmerman and I went into great depth on this idea right here: Are Tallow and Lard Good Fats?
Complete Guide to Rendering Lard
How to Bake With Lard (& Why You Should)
Sugary drinks are kitchen essentials you can make yourself
Okay, okay, in no universe are sugary drinks essential in your kitchen BUT if you use complex, all-natural sugars they won’t spike your glucose levels and you’ll be adding essential nutrients to your diet. Read my Complete Guide to Sugars for lots of insights on this and for some help in choosing the best sugars for your family.
Then experiment with some of these recipes, tweak them until your family decides they’re perfect and you have a much better alternative than any sugary drinks you’d be buying at the store.
Make delicious homemade coke (soda)
Make Sweet Iced Tea that’s organic and delicious
Make a much-better Hot Chocolate Mix
Try out some of our favorite Kombucha Flavors
Hope that got your wheels turning a little and has inspired you to start considering more kitchen essentials you can make yourself. Because let me tell you, once you catch the “bug” to do this thing, it gets pretty exciting.
Tell me about your pantry staple questions!
If you have any questions about making your own pantry staples, leave a comment below. And please tag me on ig to show me your own kitchen essentials that you make yourself! @souly.rested.
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I just started making my own ginger ale and my family loves it!
that’s awesome. Some of my favorite things to make myself is amazing drinks (kombucha, homemade coke, hot chocolate mix).
How do you store your homemade bread??
Great question! I like to keep it wrapped in beeswax wrap.
Making beeswax wraps is on my “need to do list”!
It’s a good goal 🙂
We recently learned to render lard after purchasing an organically raised hog. It made me feel very accomplished!
As it should! It’s so great to make your family’s own healthy fats.