Self Starting "Old Fashioned Girls" by Choice!!!

[Pelican49]

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I love that one too! Most of my cookbooks are "older". When my daughter moved in she brought along some Rachel Ray and Gorden Ramsay.

 

[Whispering Winds]

Some of the best recipes I ever found was the old Church cookbooks and PTO cookbooks that were sold through the years.

 

[phaethona]

One thing that comes to mind is pumpkin pie, soooo many people swear by the canned pumpkin, but using the real thing is really easy and makes a WORLD of difference.
All I do is quarter a small pie pumpkin, clean off the "guts" and put them in a glass dish with an inch or so of water, microwave for 25-30 minutes, and then once it's cooled the pumpkin should scrape right off the skin with a spoon, use the same amount you would use of the canned stuff, and away you go!
After I did this for the first time, I'll never go back

 

[Break an Egg]

Try starting with the basics, do you like beans? Learn how to cook them without cracking a book. Do you like rice? Again just learn the simle stuff. Flavor food with bacon or bacon grease, especially beans or veggies. Also, use plenty of onions and garlic especially in dishes that are going to cook for a while. This gives time for the sugars in the onions and garlic to carmelize.

Also, there are some good recipes here: hillbillyhousewife.com it's mostly about cooking from scratch on a budget.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Wow you guys are awesome! I will have to go check out all these cookbooks!

- i grew up in san diego- where are you at?

We are located now in Jamul, San Diego. Fortunately I have a little bit of land to work with.

If you're a young woman count your blessings.

Also, fortunately I am pretty young, but wish I had gotten into this even earlier! Actually, I wish my parents were into it so I could've learned from them!

Sewing & gardening have become 2 of my favorite things over the years. With sewing it has just been a matter of following the directions on the pattern. Early on there were many mistakes. Now I make Renaissance dresses. It just became a favorite hobby so lots of practice.

Wow that is AMAZING! I recently just started thinking about sewing and I want to learn how to do that so bad!​

 

[Pelican49]

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Pumpkin pie, my all-time favorite. My sister has been trying to find a good recipe for pumpkin pie (from fresh pumpkins) for years. It's never quite right and never quite "spicy" enough. Libby's pumpkin pie mix is the perfect taste for me. I'd LOVE to find a recipe that matches it!

 

[Pelican49]

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We are located now in Jamul, San Diego. Fortunately I have a little bit of land to work with.

If you're a young woman count your blessings.

Also, fortunately I am pretty young, but wish I had gotten into this even earlier! Actually, I wish my parents were into it so I could've learned from them!

Sewing & gardening have become 2 of my favorite things over the years. With sewing it has just been a matter of following the directions on the pattern. Early on there were many mistakes. Now I make Renaissance dresses. It just became a favorite hobby so lots of practice.

Wow that is AMAZING! I recently just started thinking about sewing and I want to learn how to do that so bad!​

Just buy some inexpensive material (stay away from knit, for a while at least), buy a simple pattern and just go for it. When I started there was lots of trial & error, now you have the whole internet for instructions. And knowing the "dummy" books, there's probably one for sewing. LOL.​

 

[Patoot]

I wish I had more land. If I did, I would grow more fruits and veggies, have a couple goats for milking, and lots more chicken. But I don't...

So it's my hubby and I, 4 chickens, and a small backyard. I grow some veggies, but it's not enough to last us the whole year or anything. Tomatoes are really the only thing I have in excess, so all the rest is eaten fresh. I try to live the "old fashioned way" too. I think it's great you are trying to figure it all out. I know for me I get frustrated by the things I can't do, but I try to think about all the things I can do and all the positive changes I have made. Even if I can't have everything from scratch all the time, I can have most things from scratch most of the time. Better than nothing.

As for kitchen gadgets, I really love my crockpot. It's the 3rd one I've had and I love it best. It has 3 different ceramic inserts to suit the size of your meal. It's awesome and the food cooks evenly. The Crockpot with the timers suck by the way. They burn everything. Just FYI. I've tried 2. I also like my Vitamix, but it's VERY expensive and I don't think you need to go there yet. I use my food processor a couple times a month to make almond butter. I try not to microwave any food and I don't use non-stick Teflon pans. I like the cast iron pans and I also found Green Pans at Target which are non-stick, but environmentally friendly and not bad like Teflon.

Here are some natural "old fashioned" ideas for you:

Almond butter - grind almonds in a food processor until pretty fine granules, then add unrefined coconut oil to the right taste and consistency, add a bit of raw honey and a dash of unrefined sea salt and you're done....it's sooooo good! Great on celery.

Chicken soup - take a roast chicken left over and stick it in a pot and cover with water. Add chopped celery and onions. Bring to boil and let cook for about 45 minutes. Take the roast out and let it cool, but leave the veggies in there. Add chopped carrots and bouillon to taste (I use Better Than Bouillon which has no MSG and is all natural). Let that cook for another 20-30 minutes. When the chicken is cool enough, break off the meat into bite size bits. Add to the soup and it's ready to go. You can add rice or noodles if you want. I eat it without any and add a little grated Parmesan cheese. Tasty!

Beef roast - (this is so easy a 6 year old could make it) Put a roast (chuck is probably best) in the crockpot. Cover (does not have to fill the pot) with a can of organic marinara (or one you make), and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Done. Told you it was easy. It's very tender and has a good flavor.

Chicken parm - Put chicken breasts on an oven ready dish and sprinkle with garlic salt, pepper, and a little onion powder. Put a little marinara sauce on each breast and stick in preheated overn (350) for 30 minutes. After the 30 minutes, add some parmesan cheese and mozzarella on top and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes. Done.

Yogurt - easy to make yourself. Get the starter, heat some milk, add to yogurt maker and you're done. You don't need a yogurt maker, but it makes it easier.

I better get back to work (slacker), but I'll try to come back later with more ideas.

Bree

 

[noodleroo]

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I agree with this; I love my old cookbooks from my mother. Some go back into the 1960's and have brand names that don't exist anymore. Anybody still use 'oleo'?

 

[redhen]

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Same here..Those are real home cooking recipes.