When I wrote the original article, “10 Things I Stopped Buying at the Store,” I never expected it to take off like it did. For my little site here, getting 30,000 page views in two days is mind blowing and I never expected the response I got from it. Emails and comments poured in with people telling me how they tried making the crackers, or how they have also been making their own laundry detergent for years and have never looked back.
The whole experience inspired me to broaden my skill set even further and learn how to make more of the things we need and enjoy. Though I tend to focus on more food items, I am starting to expand into making more cleaning products and there will be some future articles about that once I have more experience with them. For now, here are 5 more things I stopped buying at the store!
5 More Things I Stopped Buying at the Store
1. Pickled Food – We no longer buy any pickled food of any kind form the store. Since we grow our own garlic and cucumbers, I just make our own! This year I am doing everything I can to grow some beets so I can pickle those up, too! We grew dill last year and dehydrated up enough to last through this canning season, too! Pickling is incredibly easy and does not require any specialized equipment. You can learn how to pickle food in a single afternoon!
2. Jerky – I have turned into a serious jerky snob. I admit it with a mix of shame and pride though, largely because I have discovered a talent for making some really great peppered jerky. I have done both venison and beef and when people try it for the first time, they usually ask if I sell it or if I would make them some if they bought everything I needed. The funny thing is making jerky is incredibly easy and again, requires no specialized equipment though having a dehydrator does make things smoother.
I also admit I kind of strut around a wee bit because, let’s face it – who doesn’t when they find something they do well? I’ve bartered my skills in exchange for a portion of the end product and gotten lots of free jerky as payment for making some for others. It costs me time and some electricity used for the dehydrator, that’s it! This year will be the third one that a particular group of guys has me make about 10 pounds of jerky for their week long fishing trip. To make that much jerky, it takes about 30 pounds of good lean beef (or venison, elk, etc).
3. Yogurt – We have only just gotten into making yogurt, thanks to a coworker who told me he makes all of his own and loves it. It doesn’t take much time at all and in fact, is a similar process to making cheese. The thing I enjoy is being able to flavor it exactly how I want it to be. When you start to make it yourself, you tend to get spoiled by having everything pretty much tailored to your tastes.
4. Dryer Sheets – I figured since we already make our own laundry soap, why not go a step further and make our own dryer sheets? I went researching and, sure enough, there were numerous ways to make your own dryer sheets. Some methods called for simply diluting store bought fabric softener while others called for vinegar (a natural softener and odor remover) mixed with some essential oils or other natural scents.
In either case, you use squares of cotton cloth that are kept in a watertight container to keep them moist. You don’t want your cloth to be soaked. More like the dampness your clothes are like when they come out of the spin cycle. You can buy cotton kitchen towels or do like we did and just use old t shirts. Ones that are too dingy and have holes make wonderful reusable dryer sheets. Just take one out of the container and toss it in like a regular dryer sheet. I have enjoyed trying different scents!
5. Mozzarella Cheese – Making cheese is so much easier than I thought it would be. Once I made the choice to learn at least the basic process and what actually happens when you are making cheese, I realized it was just no big deal. Making soft cheeses such as feta and mozzarella are incredibly easy to do. You can get as fancy or as basic as you want with just a few tweaks here and there. I put all of the information together, along with some links to tried and true recipes from fellow bloggers in an article you can click here to read.