From Scratch. Hardcore.

I never do things the easy way.

My senior year of college, I made a pledge to stop buying bread. I thought, Why buy when you can make it? Plus, I have a bread maker! Homemade bread is so delicious.

I ended up just never eating bread. (Due to a combination of aversion to lugging huge machines and pure, unadulterated laziness and naps. Lots and lots of naps.)

My little "pledge" didn't stop there- I can count the number of times during our marriage Mike and I have bought bread from the grocery store on one hand.

I confess - I'm, uh, sort of addicted to making things from scratch.

I've made everything from scratch - from ketchup to crackers to hummus.

It started out as avoiding excess packaging and convenience food preservatives. Buying blocks of cheese instead of shredded cheese, avoiding plastic tubs of butter and getting olive oil instead, or never, ever buying brownie mixes.

Then, it became an addiction. I couldn't get enough of it - I wanted to see how much I could make from scratch. I made tons of homemade spaghetti sauce and raspberry jelly last year and froze jars in our freezer. I started buying dried beans instead of canned beans. We ran out of ketchup one day, so I made some. Yep - you can make ketchup (and it's sans high fructose corn syrup. Score!)

I never keep breadcrumbs, eggs, or those frozen veggie bags on hand - I make them all from scratch.

Why am I telling you all of this?

Because I feel the need to justify the 25 pounds of apples currently sitting on my counter.

I'm making applesauce. Jars and jars of applesauce tonight.

I've gotten a lot of questions from people about how affordable it is or isn't to buy local, organic, fair trade, and so on.

The thing is, I've come to realize, is that most people buy frozen dinners, canned beans, canned frosting, canned soup, bagged salad mix, pre-made, pre-mixed, pre-done-for-you convenience food.

And that, my friends, is what racks up the grocery bill.

You might say, "But, Ashleeeey, I have no timmeee! Can't I just buy my Healthy Choice chicken dinner and some Hamburger Helper?"

Sure! But, also - you could save some money and be a little healthier. :) Try cooking in huge batches on the weekend and store the leftovers for later in the week. (For lots of wonderful cooking ideas, check out Eileen. My real-life wonderful friend and also a chef extraordinaire!)

Maybe you're thinking, "Ugh! I'm awful at cooking. And this doesn't seem very 'simple,' Ashley!"

(Apparently, I think you guys are really whiny.)

(No, actually, I'm really whiny and I'm channeling myself here.)

Anyway, man up, Non-cooker! Just follow the recipe. Then, experiment with new recipes and flavors. Give it a shot. You cannot go wrong with allrecipes.com - you simply cannot. They have reviews and you can search by ingredients in your pantry.

Maybe it's not so "simple" to cook more. But for me? It's a hobby. It's relaxing and it makes me feel productive. Chopping vegetables, baking bread, and doing it all myself is surprisingly empowered. And utterly enjoyable.

Give it a try. And check out this awesome article on whether it's cheaper to buy sustainably or conventionally.

[My locally-grown apples, by the way? Cost 90 cents a pound. And it was a fun date with my husband, to boot!]