Most cooks have time tested family heirloom recipes.  But contrary to the grandma stereotype of an aproned woman rolling dough or stirring a simmering pot with a heavy wooden spoon for hours, many of our modern family recipes came from a processed food package. They call for cans of condensed soup, frozen vegetable medleys and seasoning blends. Our grandparents were raised with the promise that the future would free them from the mundane duty of cooking, and it did, with compromise.

Now that we have the convenience to enjoy cooking, we seek to revive the nostalgia of these no-frills recipes in a more responsible way.  No need to stock up on the processed ingredients that simplified the life of our predecessors, a lot of these flavors can be easily recreated with real slow food.

Even if you don’t consider yourself a scratch cook, you can still ditch the box with little compromise in time. Many convenience foods came about due to a lack of available ingredients and the need to store food for long periods. The list below is intended to demystify these things. Search online for procedures if needed.

7 easy neo-grades

Spice mixes

Spices were once exotic and hard to find, but when you look at the ingredients behind many old-fashioned spice mixes (pumpkin pie spice, Accent, pickling spice), you will find how far we have come.  You may have most of the ingredients in your pantry already.

Cream of mushroom soup 

Sautee up some mushrooms and onions in butter, add flour and make a roux, add milk and cook to thicken.

Salad dressing

This usually has three components: fat (generally oil or mayo), acid (vinegar or lemon juice) and some sort of flavoring be it mustard, garlic, and/or herbs. Chances are, you have these ingredients, and only need to shake them together in a jar for your recipe. If the recipe calls for Miracle Whip, try mixing mayo with either whipped cream, or sour cream and sugar.

Breadcrumbs or croutons

If you have bread you have breadcrumbs or croutons.

Boxed cake

Even today, people will buy boxed cake mixes purely to save them the effort of sifting flour and baking powder together.  Just do it.  (Note: Frosting generally calls for the same ingredients so there is no need to buy that one either.)

Broth or bouillon cubes

In a large pot, combine one onion, 2 ribs of celery, 2 carrots, 4 peppercorns, 3 cloves of garlic, one bay leaf, a handful of available herbs (rosemary, sage, thyme, parsley) and either a handful of mushrooms or the carcass, bone or shell of some fish or animal. Fill with water and boil for about an hour.

Sauces

Except for the overly complicated Worcestershire sauce, most retro sauces are simple by nature. Cocktail, tomato, hollandaise, and tartar sauces all have 3-4 common ingredients.

Summary

Some old recipes will call for unfamiliar brands by name, now long merged into Nestle. Others will specify the use of real ingredients to set them apart for the substitutes more common at that time (dairy sour cream, for example.) Have fun researching these transitional inventions while enjoying the latest trend  in food convenience, the ability to return grandma’s recipes back into great-grandma’s cupboard.