Here is the next installment of EML‘s money saving tips.
Homemade
Making things from scratch is a great way to save money and you have the added benefit of knowing exactly what is in your food. While it does take some planning it is well worth the effort and time. For the past week, I have been trying to make more things rather than just buying them and so far I have been happy with the results.
These are some of the things I have made in the past week:
Wheat bread
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Whole-Wheat-Honey-Bread/Detail.aspx
This was good, but got hard very quickly. I am still trying to find a better recipe.
White bread
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Light-Oat-Bread/Detail.aspx
This one is really good.
Wheat hamburger buns
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Honey-Wheat-Sandwich-Rolls/Detail.aspx
I used all wheat flour and added some vidal wheat gluten. I would use something that is at least 4 inch to form the buns or they will be a little small.
Apple sauce
http://www.pickyourown.org/applesauce.htm
Apples were dirt cheap last week so I bought 12 lbs and made 4 quarts of apple sauce. It came out to be around $1 cheaper than store bought apple sauce.
Baby food
Home-made baby food is so easy to make that I don’t think I would ever buy jars of food. Using a steam basket, I place the vegetable/fruit and steam for 10-15 mins. Then I just place in the blender and make the puree. If it needs to be thinned downed, then I add the water from the pan. I pour the puree into ice cube trays and freeze. Once they are frozen, I pop them out and store them into a freezer bag/container. Then when my daughter wants to eat, I just take out 2-3 cubes and defrost in the microwave. I currently have around 12 different fruits and vegetable in the freezer ready to be eaten.
Snack Packs
I used to buy the pre-made snack bags of chips, crackers, etc for my husband’s lunch because it was just easier, but I knew that it cost more so last week I decided to make my own. It is actually very easy if I do it all at one time. I divided the chips, etc into serving sizes and then put them in those fold over lunch bags which are cheaper than the Ziploc snack bags. Then to keep them fresh I put everything into a Tupperware.
To make bread products, I would recommended getting a bread machine. It makes things much easier. I was able to get mine for free, but I always see them at thrift stores for $10-$20. I think it would pay for itself after a few weeks depending on how often you use it. The average loaf of wheat bread cost $3-$5 and it only cost me around .80 – $1 for an all wheat loaf. I will make the dough in the machine and then bake in the oven, but when I am short on time I just put everything in the machine and 2 hours later I have a loaf of bread.
This week I am going to try making some tortillas, waffles/pancakes mix, English muffins, granola, and hot chocolate mix. I will let you know if I find any good recipes. Let me know what home-made items you make to save some money.