Back to the Land Cooking

My husband and I took on the challenge of not buying food off our land for the year including grocery stores and restaurants.  One of my great disappointments so far is the lack of resources for cooking items with only the ingredients you can find off your own land.  Even the old Mother Earth News magazines keep including things like sugar and baking powder.  I have read things like in pioneer cooking they often used items like hardwood ash when they didn't have salt.  Does anyone know of some good sources for back to the land cooking? Or some good tips?

Yesterday I found this recipe for flour tortillas that taught me so much.  While it uses flour (which I happen to have some left), it taught me so much about making tortillas without a rising agent and the important part being the hydrating and resting to allow natural rising agents and the gluten in the flour to work.  Flour Tortilla instruction

Good luck with your project Sherri. Here's a couple of suggestions for resources for you -
Have you seen A Year in an Off Grid Kitchen and How to Bake Without Baking Pwder?

When we are in the various junk stores, we keep our eyes open for old cook books and old books on housekeeping.   Of course, often the challenge becomes one of translating the terms into more modern terms.

Sherri said, "including things like sugar and baking powder.

Have your bees started producing honey?

I substitute honey for sugar.

For baking powder, look at this book:

How to Bake without Baking Powder

We recently had a book promo so here are some threads that you or others might find to be helpful:

https://permies.com/t/174630/kitchen/Basic-Kitchen-Chemistry

https://permies.com/t/174757/kitchen/DIY-Leavening-Power-Recipes

https://permies.com/t/174767/kitchen/cooks-baking-powder-invented-Resources

https://permies.com/t/174837/kitchen/Eggs-Leavening-Ingredient

Anne:  Yes, we have gotten some honey.  We are also planting a field of sorghum this year for sorghum syrup.  I need to figure out how to make jams and jellies without sugar. . .

John:  Perhaps if I could find a pioneer cooking book or if there is one from someone who lived off the land. . .

Nancy:  No I had not seen those, thanks!

According to this, recipes that call for brown sugar might work with sorghum.  Like, bacon jam and maybe even a marmalade.

Sugar helps form the gel, serves as a preserving agent, firms the fruit and adds flavor. Beet or cane sugar can be used. Brown sugar, sorghum and molasses are not
recommended because of their strong flavor and varying
degree of sweetness. Light corn syrup or mild honey can
be substituted for part of the sugar using recipes that
specify honey or corn syrup.

https://www.fcs.uga.edu/docs/uga_jams_jellies_2019.pdf