Linda Larsen - The Everything Almost Homemade Cookbook

ALMOST
HOMEMADE
COOKBOOK Dear Reader, I began cooking when I was eight years old, with a package of date bar mix. Thats when I learned that you must follow the instructions, even if it seems like the mixture will never combine. Too much water made date pudding! Ive always loved using convenience foods. Most are very high quality and can save you money as well as time. If you are an inexperienced cook, making a recipe that starts with a convenience food will make failure almost impossible. And that will give you confidence, which will lead you to cook more and bake more.

And we all know that cooking and baking at home is one of the best and most fun ways to save money. Make the kitchen the heart of your home and get your family members to join in. Everyone should know how to cook and bake. With prices going up every day, its also a good idea to make your own convenience foods. While that may sound counterintuitive, you can use homegrown herbs and vegetables to lower the cost. And since you control what goes into your homemade mix, the nutrition of your cooking will improve.

When you have some frozen pizza crusts ready and waiting for you, youre more likely to make a pizza than go to the take-out window. So lets get started and learn how to use fabulous convenience foods and turn them into delicious, healthy meals for you and your family. Welcome to the Series! These handy, accessible books give you all you need to tackle a difficult project, gain a new hobby, comprehend a fascinating topic, prepare for an exam, or even brush up on something you learned back in school but have since forgotten. You can choose to read an Everything book from cover to cover or just pick out the information you want from our four useful boxes: e-questions, e-facts, e-alerts, and e-ssentials. We give you everything you need to know on the subject, but throw in a lot of fun stuff along the way, too. We now have more than 400 Everything books in print, spanning such wide-ranging categories as weddings, pregnancy, cooking, music instruction, foreign language, crafts, pets, New Age, and so much more.

When youre done reading them all, you can finally say you know Everything! PUBLISHER Karen Cooper DIRECTOR OF ACQUISITIONS AND INNOVATION Paula Munier MANAGING EDITOR, EVERYTHING SERIES Lisa Laing COPY CHIEF Casey Ebert ACQUISITIONS EDITOR Elizabeth Kassab DEVELOPMENT EDITOR Elizabeth Kassab EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Hillary Thompson EVERYTHING SERIES COVER DESIGNER Erin Alexander LAYOUT DESIGNERS Colleen Cunningham, Elisabeth Lariviere, Ashley Vierra, Denise Wallace Visit the entire Everything series at www.everything.com ALMOST
HOMEMADE
COOKBOOK Linda Larsen
BS in Food Science and Nutrition
To my wonderful husband Doug, my best
friend and partner in life. You have made the
journey worthwhile.
I love you! Copyright 2010 by F+W Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced
in any form without permission from the publisher; exceptions
are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews. An Everything Series Book.
Everything and everything.com are registered trademarks of F+W Media, Inc. Published by Adams Media, a division of F+W Media, Inc.
57 Littlefield Street, Avon, MA 02322 U.S.A.
www.adamsmedia.com ISBN 10: 1-60550-062-3
ISBN 13: 978-1-60550-062-1
eISBN: 978-1-44050-009-1 Printed in the United States of America. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
is available from the publisher.

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional advice. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. From a Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the
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For information, please call 1-800-289-0963. Contents Acknowledgments Id like to thank my agent, Barb Doyen, for her invaluable advice and guidance through the years.

My editors at Adams Media have been wonderful, toocaring and knowledgeable. And to everyone who enjoys my books: Thank you! Introduction THE COST OF FAST food restaurants, take-out restaurants, and pizza delivery is soaring. And that cost isnt just to your wallet: it takes its toll on your health and waistline, too. These heavily processed foods are full of fat, sodium, and artificial ingredients. But you just dont have time to cook in your own kitchen. Or do you? Yes, you do.

Cooking at home is no longer the laborious process it was just a generation ago. Everyone wants to spend less time in the kitchen. Just start with a few convenience foods and add fresh foods and your own special touch to create super quick and easy meals that anyone can make. And with just a little more effort, you can make your own convenience foods that are healthier than the versions youll find in your local grocery store. Convenience foods are defined as those that combine more than one ingredient. They can range from a brownie mix to a pasta sauce to a frozen vegetable combination.

Some of these foods can be less expensive than the individual parts, while some cost more. For instance, cake mix is cheaper than buying all the dry ingredients to make a cake from scratch, but refrigerated premade biscuits will almost always cost more than the homemade variety. You must decide which virtue is more important: saving time or saving money. Many people object to these processed ingredients for health reasons. There are a few ways around the high-sodium, high-fat traps. Look for products that are labeled low sodium and low in fat; almost every convenience product has a healthier counterpart.

Or make the convenience foods yourself and control the ingredients that you cook with. Yes, there are homemade alternatives for everything from crescent rolls to soups to cake mixes. If you find that you use one of these foods frequently, take a little bit of time every few weeks to make a large batch of the Almost Homemade recipe. Then making these recipes will be even easier than using the commercial brands because you wont have to make a run to the grocery store! Start right now by picking a few items you already have in your pantry, fridge, or freezer and whipping up some easy, delicious, inexpensive, and healthy meals in minutes. Its really almost homemade. This book has a slightly different format than other