Making your own - especially when you make several of the same item at one time - will also save you time. Many people think that cooking from scratch is time-consuming but I live at least twenty minutes from a grocery store.
Considering the time it would take me to drive to town, do the shopping and drive back home, cooking from scratch doesn't seem so time intensive after all. Plus I'll save the cost of the gas needed to go to town.
Buying the raw ingredients might cost as much or perhaps a little more than a box or pouch of pre-measured, ready-to-make food, but after making one item you'll still have a partial bag of flour or box of baking soda or can of baking powder. It's definitely more cost-effective.
And we don't need to talk about all the processed stuff in that box or pouch, right? Artificial flavors, sweeteners, colors - we're better off without those.
Here are seven food items that are so easy to make at home. Why not try one or two - or all of them? You'll never need to buy the processed variety again!
Pancake mix - seriously, these are the best pancakes ever! They are so light and fluffy and are easy to make. You'll impress your family with your breakfast ninja skills when you make these.
I've even made them successfully with powdered milk when we were out of milk. Yes, the powdered milk curdled when I added the vinegar!
Bread - In this case, it's a recipe for a bread machine mix that you can keep in the cupboard. No bread machine? I've used this recipe to make a single loaf of bread by hand too.
Make several of these mixes at one time and you can just pull out a bag or Mason jar of mix, combine with the wet ingredients and yeast in your bread machine, and hit the Start button.
Mustard - Are you making sandwiches and realize you're out of mustard? Making your own from scratch is quick and simple. Double the recipe if you use mustard often.
Chili seasoning - Why pay for a tiny packet of pre-measured spices? Buy the various bottles of spices needed and measure enough for several batches of chili at once. I use empty spice jars to store my pre-made seasoning mixes. Don't forget a label!
Sloppy Joes - I admit that a can of sloppy joe sauce is convenient, and we used to buy a lot of those cans when we were first married. This from-scratch version has so much flavor and is so much better for you. And really, since you have to brown the ground beef even if you use the canned sauce, it doesn't take much longer to make.
The recipe calls for chopped green peppers, so when my pepper plants are producing, I chop up a bunch and freeze them. I just pull a handful out of the freezer to throw in this recipe. If you don't have green peppers on hand, omit them. It's just as yummy!
Pie crust - I used to hate making pie crusts from scratch, but they taste so much better. I finally set out to learn now to do it, and honestly, it isn't hard. Just take those directions to heart and do every single step. I have a few tips in this post too that make it so much easier.
Yogurt - We eat yogurt for breakfast, in smoothies, and as snacks. That's a lot of yogurt. This post explains how to make yogurt without a yogurt maker or dehydrator. Add chopped fruit, honey, nuts or other additions that make you and your family happy.
You can leave processed food on the grocery store shelves and make it yourself. Share this post with someone who needs to cut their grocery budget.
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