The Wonders Of "Homemade Pantry"

Good Morning!  Back in August in my Brooke's Beautiful Finds post, I told you all about this book, "Homemade Pantry"

that I saw in a boutique in Oregon. Well, I finally broke down and bought it on Amazon. And I am SO glad I did! I have owned it for a day and I am obsessed! This woman is amazing. She shows you how to make EVERYTHING! Creme Fraiche (which is a French cream cheese that is to die for), yogurt, poptarts (I have made these before using a different recipe and although time consuming, its lots of fun...AND in this book, she shows you how to make them into pizza pockets! WHAT!?? This woman is a genius!), chips, twinkies.....yes, homemade twinkies. That sold me right there. Yeah, I'll be making those.....Today.

She is so thorough about giving you all the information you need that it just makes it a great staple recipe book. For example, I for one, would be terrified to attempt making yogurt, but she makes it so simple and she gives you a list of all the things that could go wrong and exactly how to fix them. I definitely will be trying the Creme Fraiche recipe. Its so yummy. I just got the idea to put some on my eggs the other morning and felt like I was eating at a fancy breakfast spot. Heaven. Anyway.

The other great thing about this book is that with each recipe she lists how you can store it, whether that be at room temp., the refrigerator or the freezer (and most of the time these foods can be stored in all 3) and then she tells you exactly how long they will last for each of those places. Since I am always questioning what things need to be thrown out and when, I love that. Most recipe books don't think to put that in and I think its great. All you have to do is stick a post-it on the container writing the expiration date and then you won't have to worry about it.

Another thing I love about this book is that she has a handful of recipes that would be great for "car snacks". (snack bars, fruit roll ups) She even mentions it as being, "The most important meal of the day". No kidding. The late afternoon, early evening is the only time I ever have to run errands with my girls and if I don't have a snack to tide them over til dinner, the errand running quickly ends. Enough said.

I can't say enough things about this book and if you are even remotely interested in getting it, get it! You won't be disappointed. You can even see some sample recipes on amazon's "look inside" feature. Its huge too! Like the bible of recipes! They are all basic, fun and recipes for things that everyone uses in their day to day life. (did I mention ketchup, cake mix and tomato sauce?) Plus, she makes every one of them easy and approachable. Love her! I think I have pretty much decided that I am going to make every recipe in the book. Yep!
If anyone buys it or owns it, let me know what you think and what recipes you have tried! I would love to hear from you!

P.S. I already made the Instant Oatmeal for my girls and the loved it! I have to say, it has the same consistency as store bought instant oatmeal (some would call it "gluey"), which I happen to like about instant oatmeal, but some people don't. Its great because it makes a large batch and can be kept in a container on the counter for a month!