Supporting your health can also support your bank account.
Once you eat from scratch, it soooo hard to go back.
I spent the majority of my early adult life buying groceries on auto-pilot or choosing familiar items that I saw my parents purchase. I never put much thought into making my own pantry items from scratch, until I moved out of state and couldn't find my go-to brands.
After many (and I do mean MANY) failed attempts, and finally perfecting my recipes, I realized how easy it was to recreate my favorite sauces and spreads...and there was no turning back.
Convenience food has its place, but you can keep a closer eye on the ingredients you consume while saving tons of cash if you cook from scratch and learn to make your own convenience items at home.
Below is my list of the top three items I will NEVER purchase pre-made again.
#1 - Non-Dairy Milk
The global rise in plant-based living has led to non-dairy milk becoming more popular than ever as people look for dairy-free alternatives. Store-bought nut and seed milk are a lot more expensive than scratch-made and the ingredients required to keep them fresh and on the shelves longer are often questionable.
Making your own plant milk at home is easy, cost-effective, and if you're using my recipe, much more delicious than store-bought. If you have a high-speed blender and a few pantry staples you can whip up a fresh batch in no time.
The WellNeith® Eats Digital Recipe Book, my new recipe ebook, has 6 simple seed and nut milk recipes for you to try.
#2 - Juice
Now listen, I barely have time to drink anything but my spring water, but when I need a cup of juice you can guarantee it will never again be poured from a carton.
I use to be obsessed with buying fresh juices and smoothies from local juice shops until I did a liquid detox and saw my juice budget skyrocket. I figured I could make them myself so I started pressing fresh juice using my sister's juicer. I already knew the taste of fresh juice was phenomenal but the control I now had over the juice combinations changed everything.
One sip of my own creative juice combo sparked a love for juicing.
The WellNeith® Eats Digital Recipe Book, my new recipe ebook, has 6 yummy juice/smoothie recipes for you to try.
"Once you eat from scratch, it soooo hard to go back." – Neith Ra
#3 - Salad Dressing
I love salads so much that I eat one as a main dish or a side almost daily, and this requires my salad dressing to be both nutritious and delicious. I've learned that the best way to achieve this is by making the dressing myself.
When you make your own salad dressing you know it's fresh. Store-bought dressing are packed full of preservatives and have been sitting on the shelves for months. Homemade dressing has real ingredients that you control like avocado oil, fresh shallots, and key lime juice vs. the long list of hard to pronounce ingredients on the back of your usual bottled brand.
And it's cheaper! You pay a premium whenever you buy anything ready-made, so making your own salad dressing will save you money.
The WellNeith® Eats Digital Recipe Book, my new recipe ebook, has several tasty salad dressing recipes for you to try.
Bonus #4 - Household Cleaner
Now this is technically not a pantry item but making your own household products will change your life and increase your peace of mind.
Traditional cleaning products are costly and full of hazardous ingredients. You can ensure that your home is fresh, clean and disinfected with safe materials by making your own household cleaners.
Many studies have revealed, that the air quality in most homes is worse than the air quality outside. In fact, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that indoor air might be two to a thousand times more polluted than the air outside. One of the main reasons for poor air quality is the fact that harmful cleaning products emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that don’t leave your home. By using homemade products, you stop polluting your home, and improve its air quality.
Below is my favorite natural cleaning recipe:
All-purpose kitchen cleaner
1. In a glass spray bottle, combine equal parts distilled white vinegar and water.
2. Add 5-10 drops of your favorite essential oils (I like lemongrass and peppermint)
3. Give it a shake and spray and wipe as you would normally
4. Enjoy!
Have you been inspired?
I hope this blog post has sparked your creativity and inspired you to try making at least one staple pantry item from scratch.
For more recipes, purchase The WellNeith® Eats Digital Recipe Book, and enjoy
42 fast and easy plant-powered recipes, from flavorful Portobello tacos that take just minutes to prepare to a slow-simmered vegetable broth that you can freeze for later. I hope to expand your horizons-to inspire you to try new foods and new ingredients. But the bottom line is that I want you to make these recipes, enjoy them, share them, post them on social media…and tag me @wellneith Order your digital copy of WellNeith® Eats recipe e-book HERE!