Rapid Eye Reality

Home of Brad Willis: writer, traveler, and suburban warrior

Don’t buy it. Make it. Part 2

by · February 17, 2009

Busy, busy over here, so here’s just a quick follow-up to a post from last week.

After posting about the food you should make at home rather than buying it at a store, my wife and a friend reminded me of a couple I forgot to put on the list.

Hummus–While the process of finding and/or making your tahini is not something your mama like you taught you, it’s not that hard to do. Toast some sesame seeds, mix them with a little bit of water, lemon juice, oregano, and garlic and boom…tahini. Mix that with chickpeas, lemon juice, more garlic and some cumin and boom…hummus. I actually prefer black bean hummus to traditional hummus, but you do what you want.

Whipped cream–Seriously, never buy Cool Whip. It’s ridiculous. You need whip cream, sugar, and vanilla extract. A stand mixer with a whisk attachment makes it so fast (and so incredibly good), you will wonder why you ever spent whipped cream in a plastic tub.

Finally, while I seriously doubt the folks at The Kitchn are cribbing from Rapid Eye Reality, we did come up with the same idea at the same time. Here are a few more DIY foods from the good people over at that fine blog.

Brad Willis

Brad Willis is a writer based in Greenville, South Carolina. Willis spent a decade as an award-winning broadcast journalist. He has worked as a freelance writer, columnist, and professional blogger since 2005. He has also served as a commentator and guest on a wide variety of television, radio, and internet shows.

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2 Responses

  1. Astin says:
    February 17, 2009 at 3:57 pm

    Ugh Cool Whip (make sure you pronounce the “h”). Edible oil products != whipped cream.

    Marshmallows! Corn syrup, gelatin, water, and powdered sugar… and a stand mixer. So much tastier than the store-bought ones.

    Tortillas.

    Bread – Water, flour, yeast. Sugar, salt, eggs, herbs, and whatever else if desired. Also – smells great.

    Cookies.

    Low-yield nuclear weaponry. Cheaper, less trackable, and glowier.

  2. Chilly says:
    February 18, 2009 at 12:10 am

    Cool Whip doesn’t even list dairy as the first ingredient. Soooo bad. I love making my own whipped cream, barring that, use the stuff in a can, at least it came from a cow, plus whippets are cool.

    The mother of a high school girlfriend would come home from work and make tortillas as fast as I could eat them. That was the beginning of the end for my waist.