Chocolate and Chocolate Sauce
We love chocolate but we’re picky. Most of the semi-sweet ones are too sweet for our taste. A few times we accidentally bought “dark” chocolate that contains milk – a taste we both do not care for. About a year ago, George decided to make our own chocolate with cocoa powder and a little maple syrup. We have not bought chocolate since.
We’ve also been making our own chocolate sauce to use with our crepes and pancakes since 2016 or so and it’s always a hit at family brunches!
Bread
Another item that is crossed off our shopping list permanently is bread. George has made a variety of different ones but has recently perfected the French baguette and Ciabatta.
Ketchup
Store-bought ketchup is loaded with sugar and salt. We make our own and we love it! It’s very easy to make actually. Give it a try.
Granola & granola bars
Similarly, we have trouble finding good granola that isn’t loaded with sugar. It’s really hard to find any in the grocery store that doesn’t have over 30g of sugar per cup. So of course, George decided to give it a shot and his home made granola is the best. We will never buy granola again.
George is also perfecting the recipe for granola bars!
Crackers
After many iterations, George has perfected his cracker recipe. The crackers are unsalted (unless it’s the cheese one) but delicious. We have not bought crackers for nearly a year.
Potato Chips
Unsalted potato chips are a rare find in grocery stores. The only one we know of is from the Kettle brand, and it’s not always in stock. When Sherry accidentally ordered five bags of potatoes instead of five potatoes, we decided to try making our own baked, unsalted potato chips.
Ice Cream and Sorbet
We both dislike the taste of milk in ice cream. While there are a few non-dairy options at the store, they are still usually too sweet for our taste. So, of course, we make our own. Recipe to follow soon.
Jam
Ever since our experiment with the strawberry tree fruit, we’ve decided home made jam is absolutely the way to go.
Tortillas
I don’t know about you but every time we buy tortillas from the grocery store, we end up having them in the fridge for a long time. There’s only two of us and way too many tortillas in that bag! Making your own tortillas is actually quite simple, and once you go fresh, you won’t go back.
Lasagna Noodles
George has been making lasagna from scratch and claims that it is easier to make the noodles fresh than it is to use the store-bought one. I have no idea if it’s true, because my expertise lies in the consumption, not confection, of lasagnas. All I can say is that the taste is excellent.
Sparkling water & ginger ale
One of us does not like to drink water unless it’s sparkling. While we liked drinking LaCroix and Perrier, we increasingly felt like we were creating so much waste. It’s also very heavy to carry home. We decided to buy a carbonator instead.
We calculated that the original cost of our carbonator would be offset after about 3 months of use, then we’re actually saving money. Each CO2 bottle costs about $35 retail and can carbonate about 60L of water. However, if you reorder via Sodastream and return your empty bottles, you can get subsequent bottles for $14.99. Once you have your carbonator, you can make your own home-made ginger ale.
Discount: Use our link to get 20% off your first Sodastream order. We may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you if you use this link.
Pizza Crust
Ok, we haven’t really bought those at the store before. But we do have a pretty good recipe for it if you want to try and make your own!
Sherry & George 