copying what you buy, youself at home

[herbwormwood]

Does anyone buy stuff and then copy it at home in order to save money and be less reliant on the consumerist society? One of the first things I tried was tub of M&S pasta salad. Also aloo sag and other curries which we had at a restaurant.
Today I tried to copy a supermarket's Moroccan Style Hummus with Roasted Red Pepper.

It was divine from the supermarket Jeff bought it from but it was expensive and the tub was very small.
So...I looked at the ingredients list and thought about what I had in the kitchen.
I soaked a mug of dried chickpeas for 48 hours. I then cooked them about an hour, whilst roasting the outer part of a whole red pepper with some sunflower seeds and sunflower oil.
I cooled the cooked chick peas and pepper. I let the pepper brown a little on the edges. I then put them in a blender with sunflower oil, tahini, water, juice of 1 lemon, some Fern's Garlic Pickle, 1/4 tsp ground ginger, 1/4 tsp ground coriander, 1/4 tsp ground cumin seeds, 1/4 tsp ground turmeric, and 1 tsp salt. I blended it until very smooth, put it in a dish with a little of the roasted pepper as garnish. Very nice.

If you have any other "copying stories you can post them here. Say what you copied and how you did it, please be specific as you can for ingredients and quantities. Maybe say how much money you saved.

[Mr Flibble]

I generally do it with no vegan items - take a look at the ingredients and % of products which my non vegan counterparts say is good, then figure out whether the flavour itself comes from vegan ingrediants (herbs, spices, veg, mushroom etc) and see if I can make it myself. A lot of the time sauces and marinades that make meat taste nice are eitehr vegan or easily made so. I don't bother writting down thou, sorry ;)

[ConsciousCuisine]

I just taste a dish and if it has flavor combinations I have not tried yet, I duplicate it, often with results better than the original because I can identify which of the 5 flavors it lacks and balance things out accordingly, adjusting seasonings as needed. I don't need to see the ingredients...tasting it is enough for me! ;)

[sugarmouse]

i do this and will write any good copies down from now on!Lol

mostly i ve done it with different types of burgers n sandwiches from non-ethical shops, so i dnt have to shop at them.

iv done it with boxed salads aswell but i alwys differ those slightly as i dont like many of them:)i think good idea for a threead though!

[coconut]

I've made hummus by copying the ingredients printed on shop-bought tubs. No matter how I tried I could never get it to taste as good as they do at the factory :rolleyes: It's a lot richer and flavorful than the stuff I made. I'm sure they're adding something that doesn't get printed on the label.

[Tigerlily]

It could be amount and quality of the tahini and olive oil. :)

[coconut]

Maybe. Or the lemon juice. At the moment I'm fine with buying the stuff. I did see a raw hummus recipe where you use sprouted chick peas - may give that one a go sometime.

[herbwormwood]

I've made hummus by copying the ingredients printed on shop-bought tubs. No matter how I tried I could never get it to taste as good as they do at the factory :rolleyes: It's a lot richer and flavorful than the stuff I made. I'm sure they're adding something that doesn't get printed on the label.

I think they put a lot of salt and oil in. Maybe more than you expect.
Also do you use a blender, try blending it for longer.

[Pilaf]

After tasting Nutritional Yeast dressing and Chreese once, I have managed to make more or less acceptable home variations using the Nutritional Yeast and spices/ingredients I can find at the market.

[tipsy]

pilaf, id be interested in knowing what combo works for you... i have tried to recreate chreese, but it never turns out good...:rolleyes:

i very often copy things i buy at the deli... both of my favorite local deli's list ingredients on the stickers, so even if i bring my own container, i can know what is all in it... makes it easy to copy....:D

[Pilaf]

pilaf, id be interested in knowing what combo works for you... i have tried to recreate chreese, but it never turns out good...:rolleyes:

i very often copy things i buy at the deli... both of my favorite local deli's list ingredients on the stickers, so even if i bring my own container, i can know what is all in it... makes it easy to copy....:D

Believe it or not, I actually use a bit of soymilk in there, and several types of seasalt and seasonings.

It's not perfect yet..for instance, it doesn't have the distinctive flavor of "Cheddar" or "Mozerella" I could order online, but...it's like.. "American Chreese"..sorta generic.

As for the salad dressing, it's more complicated..I use several kinds of oil, vinegar (sometimes mustard), seasonings and of course the Nutritional Yeast, and mix them all vigorously in a bowl or cup. If I want a more creamy, ranchy texture I add soymilk.

[Haniska]

I have my chreese recipe posted around here someone, I prefer it to the box kind, always found that to be too bland.
I also can never get my hummus to match the store bought!
I replace chkn patties with bean burgers made from soybeans or chickpeas with chicken or rib spice.
Pudding mixes tend to be corn starch, sweeteners and flavoring so I never buy them. Also I make my own veg gravies for the same reason. I use blended bananas and water on my cereal instead of veg milks. I've also made soy milk but I am trying to reduce my phytate consumption a bit lately.

[Jane M]

Haniska, I have the same problem with hummus....wth am I doing wrong? It is almost as cheap to buy as make anyway, at least here it is.

I'm a platent copier of store bought convenience foods. I feel that what I make is superior ... healthy ego there.

[cedarblue]

re; hummous.

i never follow a recipe and add or leave out the tahini depending if i've got any. normally i just put chickpeas, bit of garlic (not too much initially, you can always add more), lemon juice, splash or two of water or soya milk and maybe a teaspoon of tahini (the light version), i sometimes think it tastesbetter without this tho'. blend it all up and add a drop more liquid if its a bit claggy. adding a bit of parsely makes it go green and add another load of vitC too. sometimes some sea salt and pepper too. you can also add roasted peppers for another variation.

my husband made some a while ago following a recipe which said '1/2pt of tahini' :eek: - it was vile :(