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Ok, here's my ranting gist first of all about what im up against here.

Stepdad is being extremely negative about it and is trying to stop me from learning how to make my own foods (such as bread, sauces, growing my own herbs) because he says its too expensive to make them then to just buy them at the store.

I have research to do on how to keep herbs healthy during winter months (which involves getting a UV light if they need consistent sunlight) and i really want to learn to make my own stuff but its disheartening and making me feel rather uncomfortable and not so sure of myself with him telling me its not worth it financially.

My question and struggles:

In this day and age, is it really worth it? ive been trying to research speciality stores like farmers markets or baking stores and the like but im not getting any results at all so i cant compare prices for the most inexpensive products to make my food from. I have absolutely no idea how to source these places out.

Im Canadian, lower mainland of BC to be exact and our big supermarkets are Superstore, Thrifty Foods, Save on Foods, Price Mart, Walmart, and Safeway. Can anyone help? I need to find out where local supplies are for grains, seeds, and specialty flours (like bread flour) and herbs. I have a local farmer market beside me which I have yet to sift through but i hope to do that tomorrow if im feeling up to it.

I've found here at least it's a bit 50/50. Most of the time here speciality stores are really costly for some reason. More so if it's organic.

Ahhk, if prices dont vary much, then i just need to find suppliers then~

Well that is just here anyway could be totally differnt over there!

Every weekend my dad makes bread in our bread maker. Have you thought about getting one of those?

cowmuflage wrote:Well that is just here anyway could be totally differnt over there!

Every weekend my dad makes bread in our bread maker. Have you thought about getting one of those?

Oh nono i dont mean hardware for mixing and cooking, i mean ingredients to make the bread out of XD I'll be baking mine in the oven on a sheet. I found a youtube video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dsB_ORXpK0 which i'll follow as a guideline for prep and cooking

Edit: I might go with her method of using cereal, but im interested in incorperating hearty seeds in it as well such as sunflower, sesame, millet, quinoa (not sure if those last two are seeds but eh, im too lazy to research WHAT they are rather then where i can find them since they're healthy) XD Lots and lots of nummy seeds to bite into. I loooove eating seeds and nuts.

Alright. I went to the Superstore and found all the ingredients i needed. Cost without tax $34.60 (not sure how much it was with tax cause i bought a few essential supplies that had nothing to do with homemade foods). Im trying it out right now and will hopefully in a couple hours have a delicious fresh loaf of bread.

Im looking to make other things as well, i'd absolutely love to have pointers, tips, and recipies on how to make other things such as sauces, smoothies, different types of breads (im making half-multigrain bread. I dont like whole wheat flour so im using white), and even just little things to make the house smell amaaaazing.. i tried one technique to make the house smell nice which was to boil orange peel and cinnamon... it smelled great but it sure didnt fill the house up. It hardly even wafted away from the pot. :/

I would absolutely love, love, LOVE for different tea flavoring techniques too. Just no green tea. i dont like the taste or the smell of anything that is green tea related. Irregardless of what is mixed into it, i can definitely taste it >_<

Personally I just buy the teas. XD

Keke thats what i do but its so expensive since you have to buy a whole box just to try a flavor out. I long to experiment but the prices send me running xD

Xak, go to Costco and buy the 4lb bag of "truRoots" Quinoa they have.
If your goal is to eat well, and at not too huge a cost, THAT is one of the best things you could do.
I presume that they will have it at your Costco as well.. they have it all over Quebec.

Quinoa easily replaces rice and pasta as a side dish, however, it has the added benefit of being EXTREMELY protein-rich, low-carb, healthy, etc...

I found a great quinoa recipe book, and now make a flourless chocolate cake, incredible fruit/nut/quinoa chocolate energy bars (STUPIDLY easy to make, and incredibly cheap too.. by the way, all ingredients available at Costco, and cheaper than anywhere else).

I'll happily send you recipes if you want.

I've become a quinoa-fanatic.

Hmmm, i must get a costco card then. I dont shop there because i dont have access to it through transit (my only source of transportation when no one is willing to drive me around) but also because we do all our shopping at Superstore. A little box of it was $6 >_< i bought it of course cause i really really wanted it but yea, I think its time i drag stepdad to costco and sign up so we can do all our grocery shopping there instead. His sister gets tons and tons of stuff from there for like half the price.

I would love, love love love for your recipies i want to make granola bars, specifically sweet but healthy ones. I love nuts, im not one for dried fruit however, so maybe substitutes to fruit, if you know of any, would be amazing, and while ive never eaten quinoa before, ive never had any trouble with things like barley and cuscus(sp?) so quinoa cant be that bad xD

couscous the food so nice they named it twice!.

*agrees* i should research it and barley some more. I dont have couscous in the house but i got barley (which i forgot to add to my bread..) that i should work on. I bought the barley for my rat but theres no reason i cant indulge in her goodies too! XD

Edit: BREEEEAD! MY HOUSE SMELLS SO AMAZING! I want to eat it now ;^; its not cool enough to open up..

quinoa is a high protein "ancient" grain.
equal weight of quinoa and chicken contains the same amount of protein.
so low fat, high protein, also low glycemic index (good for us diabetics).

it has a sort of "nutty" flavour to it, maybe reminiscent of bulgur. it can be ground into a flour (I do it in my food processor.. NEVER buy quinoa flour.. it costs WAY too much).

the energy bar recipe I have you would never really know that there's dried fruit in it.. it's all chopped in the food processor.

generally speaking, making your own foods is less expensive, but it partially depends on where you live.
we used to make our own tofu. we'd buy like 40lb bags of soya beans. but now, tofu is dirt cheap, so it's just not worth the work. (except home-made tofu is really MUCH better tasting)

For herbs, there's nothing that replaces freshly-picked ones from your own pots. The flavour is very different to dried ones. Most of them are quite attractive so you can grow them as semi-ornamental, semi-practical. They can look really lovely.

Lemon balm is extremely hardy and makes a great tea. I used to pick it straight from the bush and just steep it for 10 mins or so. Add a little honey. Yum. And such a beautiful smell. Peppermint also, of course

Oh wow, i think quinoa and i are going to get along well <3 nd for stepdad too, he's diabetic. Bread tastes good! Less savory, i forgot to add brown sugar to it.. all that went in for sweetness was 1 tbsp of honey. Though i think i'll price out agave syrup or whatever that cactus derived sweetener is.. and i definitely need a food processor TT_TT i'll have to plan a day to scour liquidation world and value village and see if i can find a used one (and make sure it works before buying).

Ooooo never heard of Lemon balm... i love lemon. It's an amazing flavor and i drink hot lemon water with honey just for the sake of it, as well as when i have a sore/choked up throat. I'll have to check that out for sure. Ive been soooo busy i havent been able to research herbs tonight but i will tomorrow and do some planning. Once i feel im ready to take on a little gardening (we live in an indoor apartment so it'll be a bit akward) then i'll get my grandma to take me to her local garden store.

Just watch out for your cat. My cats always like going loo on our herb pots so like wash them before use

Xakaal wrote:Ooooo never heard of Lemon balm... i love lemon.

Melissa officinalis. It's my favourite herb It's in the mint family and is pretty tough. I once had a cutting that I forgot I'd taken and found it shrivelled up and dry in my bag a day later. I stuck it in water and it recovered and grew into a large bush.

Ooooo it sounds like a 'happiness' plant xD I definitely want some now.. like, right now for some tea

I have my own herbs on the balcony where the cats can't reach them, because they like to nibble on them. I have Basil http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil for tasty tomato sauces or anything with noodles in an italian style. I use lavender for making little satchels so the clothes smell good and moths stay away. Oregano is a lovely herb for making your own pizza (together with Basil) and I also use it for sauces.
The melissa Wain mentioned grows wild in my parents' garden. Just put a few leaves in a bottle with water, put it into the fridge for a few hours and you have natural lemonade without any sugar or anything bad. If you think the taste is too faint, crush a few of the leaves so their oil comes out better.

Just wanted to say that quinoa, if you can get into it, is absolutely -amazing- for diabetics. My mom is a diabetic and her doctor told her to swap pastas for quinoa.