81: DIY your Pantry with Kris Bordessa

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Have you ever walked through the grocery store and looked at all those pre-made items like mayo, ketchup, and sour cream? Have you ever wondered how you could DIY your pantry and start making those things yourself?

I had the opportunity to talk with Kris Bordessa recently about how to DIY your pantry — and her book Attainable Sustainable: The Lost Art of Self-Reliant Living. (That’s an affiliate link, friends.) Kris was so fun to talk to (listen to the actual interview by pressing the play button at the top of this post!) and she blew my mind about how easy some of these pantry items are.

Y’all, why are we buying this stuff pre-made at the store?

Why should you DIY your pantry?

The great thing about DIYing anything is that it’s a step towards self-reliance.

“It’s really an awareness thing,” says Kris Bordessa of Attainable Sustainable, “and getting to the point where you realize oh, I can probably figure out how to do this at home.”

Here are two mason jars of homemade mayo, two easy things to make when you DIY your pantry. — *Homemade mayo and homemade salad dressing? Yep. Simple.*

For me, the choice to DIY my pantry is because I hate going to the grocery store. The less I go, the happier I am. By learning to make my own pantry items, my grocery list is much shorter. It’s a move from buying pre-made items to buying ingredients—and those ingredients often help you make multiple items.

Kris says, “People eat every single day. For a lot of people, that (means going to) the supermarket. What’s going in your cart every single week that you could replace, that you could do at home instead of buying?”

Choosing to DIY your pantry also means you will use less single-use plastic. Which works out great because condiments in glass jars look way cuter anyway. 😉

Additionally, if you DIY your pantry it will save you money, and let’s be honest — what you’re making is going to taste better, too!

DIY your pantry by starting with condiments

Condiments are a great place to start your DIYing, because you can make them regardless of where you live. Garden space or permission to have chickens doesn’t matter.

I have enjoyed making my own chicken broth, salad dressings, BBQ sauce, mayo, relish, and ketchup for awhile now, but after talking with Kris, I was inspired to try making my own sour cream.

She shared with me two recipes: a simple homemade sour cream, and a thicker creme fraiche style sour cream. Both are easy and only take two ingredients! Easy!

Jar of homemade mayo with a spoon sticking out of it — *Homemade sour cream is SO easy, and so delicious. Two ingredients!!*

I’m already making my own ketchup, so Kris also inspired me to start making my own mustard. Who knew THAT was so easy??

Again, the most basic way to make it is only two ingredients! No lie—and the recipe is in her new book!

Two small jars of mustard seeds for homemade mustard — *Bring out the brats we made from our home raised pork. Let’s turn these jars into mustard!*

I’m continuing to make my way through her new book, and have plans to tackle homemade Caesar dressing, hummus, apple cider vinegar…the list goes on!

Too busy to DIY your pantry?

When I talk to people about moving towards a more from-scratch based life, the common response (from a place of excitement or frustration) is Gah! We have to make everything from scratch!

No, friends. You don’t.

Going from zero to 60 is a good way to end up in burnout mode.

“I’m a big proponent for doing one thing at a time,” says Kris. “Is there one little thing we can tackle each day that will start working us towards (a DIY pantry)? Find something you use a lot that you could replace easily.”

Hear that? Kris says it’s okay to slow your roll. It’s good to DIY your pantry, but don’t feel you have to DIY your pantry all at once! Do what you can, do what you have time for.

While learning to DIY my pantry, I sit in a chair reading Attainable Sustainable with a dog on my lap. — *My dog even hops up in the chair to check out Attainable Sustainable: The Lost Art of Self Reliant Living*

Need help to DIY your pantry?

*Remember, you can hear our actual interview by pressing the triangle play button near the top of this post!*

Kris’s book Attainable Sustainable: The Lost Art of Self-Reliant Living is full of easy recipes with great instructions. This book has already spent a lot of time on my kitchen counter, and it’s helping me to do all the things I wasn’t already doing.

Learning on the homestead never stops!

Check out Attainable Sustainable: The Lost Art of Self Reliant Living

Kris’s book isn’t just about pantry recipes. It runs the whole gamut of self-reliance topics from gardening, raising animals, foraging, crafting, natural remedies—you name it, it’s in there.

Two jars of mustard seeds sitting on the book, "Attainable Sustainable" by Kris Bordessa.

Her book is divided into sections called Eat, Make, Clean, Grown, Farm, and Trek. And even as someone who is pretty well versed in homesteading and self-reliance topics, I learned a TON from this book—and now have a new list of projects to accomplish!

I encourage you to grab Kris’s book here:

Attainable Sustainable: The Lost Art of Self Reliant Living

You can find my friend Kris Bordessa at:

Website: https://www.attainable-sustainable.net/
Her forum: https://forum.attainable-sustainable.net/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/attainablesustainable/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/attainsustain/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/attainablesustainable/

Sour cream: https://www.attainable-sustainable.net/how-to-make-sour-cream
Creme fraiche: https://www.attainable-sustainable.net/creme-fraiche-recipe/