5 more homemade foods that are better than store-bought

By Halley Molstad, CD, RD, Gundersen Nutrition Therapy

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In a previous article, we listed 5 foods you should consider making at home rather than buying from the store. Here are 5 more:

• Flavored water - Flavored water is available everywhere, but you can make simple and inexpensive recipes at home. Add tea bags, fruit and sliced cucumbers or herbs to your water for flavorful drinks without added sugars or artificial sweeteners. Try our cold brew raspberry hibiscus tea.
• Pasta sauce - Store bought pasta sauce is convenient, but often contains unnecessary sodium and sugar. Making your own pasta sauce is easy. Try our pesto alfredo, spicy pasta with shrimp, easy stovetop mac and cheese, italian sausage and tortellini or sundried tomato pesto pasta.
• Potato and pasta salads - Make your own signature salad! Summer barbeques often lead to plates heaped with hamburgers, chips and potato salads. By making your own salad you can add extra veggies and use healthy fats such as olive oil or lower fat products such as Greek yogurt in place of heavy mayonnaise dressings. Try our green bean and pesto potato salad or pizza pasta salad.
• Pancake mix - Pancake mix can be easily made from items that may already be in your pantry. Find a recipe that you like and double the recipe. Add the dry ingredient to an air-tight container and mix well. When you are ready to make pancakes, measure out the necessary amount and add the wet ingredients. This will save you money and help you avoid excess salt and possible trans fats in store bought mixes. Try our whole wheat cinnamon pancakes.
• Frozen cookie dough - Making your own frozen cookie dough provides portion control and avoids the preservatives and trans fats that can be found in packaged cookies. To make your own frozen cookie dough, use your favorite recipe to make cookie dough, then roll into about 1 inch balls. Set on a tray and freeze. When your dough is frozen, transfer to a freezer bag. When you have a craving for something sweet, pull a couple cookie dough balls out of the freezer and bake. (Remember this may take little longer than usual due to starting with frozen dough!) Try our quinoa coconut chocolate chunk cookies or pumpkin cranberry walnut cookies.