Do It Yourself
Use these recipes as guidelines. Try them out,
then make them your own. Use the provided tips + variations to fit your preferences or pack in the nutrition. Tweak them to suit your lifestyle or swap out ingredients to make them allergy-friendly. I’ve taken out the nutrient guesswork by adding whole food ingredients with extra vitamins, minerals, fiber, antioxidants & omega-3s.
Check out more free recipes or order The DIY Kitchen Cookbook on Amazon. This Kindle book contains 62 recipes to craft your own make-ahead mixes, seasoning blends, snacks, breakfasts, condiments, dressing & drinks. The included do-it-yourself, copycat recipes are healthier, cleaner versions of what you'd normally buy.
Download a free Kindle app for any device.
DIY-ing in the Kitchen on the Charlotte Today Show!
October 21, 2014 by Melanie Zook
I was on the Charlotte Today show back in 2012 demonstrating some of my favorite DIY (do-it-yourself), copycat, make-your-own recipes. People were looking to eat more whole, less processed, real foods, with fewer ingredients and fewer unnecessary additives like preservatives or artificial colors, sweeteners, or flavors. We made clean, healthier versions of Whole Grain Multigrain Pancake Mix, Cream of Anything Soup Mix, Chocolate Syrup and Taco Seasoning.
Since then, I published an e-cookbook of those and more do-it-yourself recipes that are healthier, cleaner versions of what you’d normally buy in a grocery store. It’s called The DIY Kitchen Cookbook and it’s full of 62 recipes to make your own make-ahead mixes, seasoning blends, snacks, breakfasts, condiments, dressing & drinks.
Available on Amazon.com for $2.99!
This cookbook is a Kindle book, but you do NOT need a Kindle device to download and read a Kindle book. Free apps for just about any desktop, smartphone or tablet are available here on Amazon or in your gadget’s app store.
I’m excited to be on the Charlotte Today show again since publishing The DIY Kitchen Cookbook. We’re again featuring the Cream of Anything Soup Mix—since it’s a reader favorite and my most “pinned” recipe on Pinterest.
Most of the recipes in the e-cookbook have a “Why DIY” section, which explains why you’d want to make your own version of that recipe instead of buy it. So why make your own Cream of Anything Soup Mix? We moms love Crock Pot slow cooker and casseroles recipes, but so many of them call for cream of chicken or other condensed soups. But if you read the back of a can of condensed cream soup, you’ll see some are full of sodium, MSG, less-than-healthy oils. This mix, however, is made with only nonfat dry milk, cornstarch (use organic if GMOs are a concern), dried onions, herbs and spices.
This soup mix can be made ahead and stored in the pantry. DIY recipes really help save space in your pantry or refrigerator. This one jar or canister replaces the rows of cans of soup you may have. I also find that I run fewer errands when I make my own versions of things, which saves time and money. Spend a few hours on a Sunday compiling some of your make-ahead mixes and seasonings and you’re done.
When a recipe calls for a can of cream soup, just combine some of this mix with stock or water & bullion. OR, if a slow cooker recipe calls for it, you don’t even have to prepare it on the stove first! Just add 1/3 cup of dry mix + 1 1/4 cup liquid for each can of soup the recipe calls for. Other great recipes from the cookbook that are like this one include the onion soup mix and the ranch dressing mix.
(For the Cream of Anything Soup recipe, click here or get ALL the recipes here.)
We also sampled the Granola Bars. Why DIY? These bars have simple, nutritious ingredients without the unwanted ones, such as processed soy. Plus, it’s a nice money-saver to make your own. DIY-ing in general is a big money-saver; in fact, the cookbook will pay for itself after making just one recipe.
Have fun with the flavors—my kids love to come up with new fruit, nut and seed combinations. Use these recipes as guidelines, but then make them your own—tweak them to fit your family’s preferences or even allergy restrictions. I’ve added a lot of tips and variations to a lot of the recipes.
When you DIY these and other recipes, you can really pack in the extra nutrition, such as when you add in chia seeds, flax seeds or wheat germ to the Granola Bars. I’ve taken the nutrition guesswork out of these recipes—they’re clean, and when possible, full of vitamins, minerals, fiber, antioxidants and omega-3s.
These are also great to make ahead & freeze for the lunch box!
We’re also chatting about the Fruit Leather (DIY Fruit Roll-Ups). Why DIY? It’s nice to avoid the artificial colors, corn syrup and hydrogenated oils. With all of these recipes, YOU are in control what goes into your food. This version is made with sugar and honey as the sweeteners. I use evaporated cane juice as the sugar—it’s still sugar, but it’s at least organic and fair trade. But you can even experiment with using just honey or even bananas as the sweetener.
DIY recipes are also very “green”.
Premade, processed foods are individually wrapped, then boxed. Think of the packaging waste you can save just by making one tray of granola bars or fruit leather.
Other recipes we’ll sample:
Sports Drink (DIY Gatorade): Avoid the artificial colors, flavors and sweeteners, and brominated vegetable oil (BVO).
Chocolate Hazelnut Spread (DIY Nutella): Skip the excess sugar, palm oil and vanillin (an artificial flavor).
Coffee Creamer: Forgo the artificial flavors and hydrogenated oils, a source of trans fats.
Hot Cocoa Mix: Even a lot of the DIY ones out there on Pinterest are made with powdered coffee creamer, which is made with hydrogenated oils.
Get ALL of these recipes here!
Tips
Wholesale clubs are great for stocking up on the ingredients you’ll need for these DIY mixes, as well as saving errands. But of course, try to buy only what you’ll use.
Keep plenty of storage containers handy. I like glass jars & bowls with lids.
