11 Grocery Store Items You Could Be Making at Home

It's always more fun to DIY. Every week, we'll spare you a trip to the grocery store and show you how to make small batches of great foods at home.

Today: With 11 easy DIY recipes, you can make headway on your ever-growing grocery list, right from the comfort of your kitchen.

Unless you've just survived the Trader Joe's checkout line at 8:30 p.m. on a Sunday, do not expect to be congratulated on your trip to the grocery store. Unlike your parents and your parents' parents — those brave souls who harnessed the dinosaurs and rode them to the spice bazaar — it's easy for you to zip to the supermarket and pick up everything you need.

But if you're in that mid-summer slump and looking for a reason to self-congratulate, try making a few of the items that normally end up on your ever-growing grocery list from scratch. Not only will the homemade versions save you money, but they'll taste better and be better for you, too.

More: Goodbye, Hidden Valley -- make your own Basil Buttermilk Ranch Dressing at home.

We know that at this time of year, you'd rather be in the pool than the kitchen, so we've gathered our most hands-off DIY recipes. You'll still feel the thrill of having accomplished something, and you can even add your own fancy labels.

1. Pickled Ginger by molly yeh

2. Sweetened Condensed Milk by stephanie le

3. Barbecue Sauce by PhoebeLapine

4. Chocolate Syrup by Cara Eisenpress

5. Peanut Sauce by PhoebeLapine

6. Pizza Dough by amber wilson | for the love of the south

7. Homemade Nutella by Carey Nershi

8. Curry Paste by petitbleu

9. Vanilla and Lavender Extracts by Trisha Jones

10. French Onion Dip by Sarah Coates

11. Coconut Milk by Tieghan