Grist Magazine has assembled a list of five packaged foods that are completely unnecessary -- making them at home is both simple and healthier.
Soup: Store-bought soup usually contains lots of salt, fat, additives, and GMOs -- and soup comes in cans lined with BPA. When you make soup at home, you don't have to add any junk.
Stock and Bouillon: Making stock is even easier than making soup. Instead of composting potato peels, onion skins, leek tops, and eggplant stems, freeze them and make stock when you have enough.
Canned Beans: Just like soup, beans taste better and fresher, and are better for you, if you buy them dried and prepare them at home -- and again, no BPA.
Hummus: Using fresh chickpeas to make hummus takes about six minutes, and you can make it just the way you like it.
Cereal: Most cereal is a combination of high-fructose corn syrup and GM corn. You can make muesli in a matter of minutes.