I'm there with you. I don't do store bought bread any longer. What I make taste better, I know what goes into it. I have WAY more variety plus the machine makes killer pizza and pasta dough. It will even make Jams and Preserves.
My next purchase is going to be a food dehydrator.
I'm going to be getting back to much more processing of my own food.
My wife makes a lot of our stuff herself... The kids help her and I think they will do the same thing when they are on their own...
She makes our laundry detergents and fabric softener
Ice cream
http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-ICE-100-Compressor-Cream-Gelato/dp/B006UKLUFS/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1406646533&sr=8-6&keywords=ice+cream+machine that thing works awesome, has its own cooling compressor ice cream in 20 minutes..
Bread {she makes 6 at a time and then freezes them , because they don't stay fresh as long as store bought for some reason}
Pasta {not ravioli I have to buy them because she is vegan}
All our peanut butter {except the pb2 which I eat, well I kind of make that since I have to mix it, lol}
Jams and jellies, {except for my sarabeths strawberry}
she even makes the kids crackers, lol..., she makes granola bars, fake lara bars, and out own soda {not really side, more like seltza water with fruit flavor and no sugar lol....}
At first years ago, I figured we would save a ton of money not buying this stuff {she didn't make as much back then}, BUT NO, you can not make any of it as cheap as you can buy it {with the exception of the laundry detergents}....
She has a good system though, she makes some things every week, like the bread and pasta, she makes ice cream when we are going to eat it, so dinner is done and she turns the machine on by the time we are done eating its ready. She makes the jams maybe twice a year when the fruits she wants are available locally, she makes laundry detergent once a month or so, and Peanut butter a few times a year..
The kids love it, they just hate when she makes them hats and gloves, lol.... as do I....
She always says that I am letting poison in my body when I eat deli meat and meat in general, lol I always tell her that I am getting my body used to it, she is going to be the one that gets sick when she gets exposed to it, because her body has no idea what it is...
Although a few times a year she eats french fries from Mcdonalds, she orders them with no salt like that helps, I tell her that they just lick the salt off and put them in the container.. It's not often, mostly if we are out late and have been drinking and pass a mcdonalds at just the right moment, she doesn't even have to ask, I will just pull in and she will smile, something I haven't seen in a little while now and miss...
