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Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Make yer own!


Probably the best way I have found to be frugal is to make your own supplies. I have in the last few months began making yogurt, frozen juice pops, smoothies, chocolate syrup, milkshakes, bread, muffins, breadcrumbs, pizza (dough and sauce)... Cooking as much as I can from scratch. This not only saves money, it is healthier as well. Today we wanted snacks, while out at the park and I hadn't packed any fruit or anything. It was a spur of the moment type of trip. Instead of dropping $25 on fast food, (like we did last weekend, oops *slaps wrist*) we bought our groceries that we needed for the menu plan. We had an awesome frugal lunch and used up some bits and pieces of veggies and and such. I try to make the menu plan interesting so it is not a boring chore. It's actually fun if you know ahead of time that you are going to make, say, homemade pizza, to make the dough have it all ready and then decorate the pizzas to eat. Not only is it a fraction of the cost of takeout, it's good family time too. I find the Kid eats more if he helps make it. Yes, it's true, Racheal Ray!
Now that I am working part time I have to be more creative. Yesterday I worked an afternoon shift so I took a few minutes before work to make yogurt and put it into the cooler to incubate while I was away. When I got home eight hours later, the yogurt had set. There is enough for a week at least. Making things from scratch and using my freezer are lifesavers for the budget and delegation of summer time cooking tasks to the Man. A family can not live off of BBQ alone ;)

6 comments:

Lena! said...

I love making yogurt from scratch! You're right, it's so much cheaper AND I think it tastes a lot better too! I love sprinkling a bit of white sugar on it - something my mom used to do for us when we were little :)

hustler said...

This is something I definitely need to work on! And those muffins look awesome!

Bean said...

It does take a bit of extra work, but it's not so bad. I enjoy it. My stuff tastes better!

Brenda said...

Hi...I came across your blog and I hope you don't mind me posting...

I have started this year trying to make a lot of my own foods also (although I'm not at the yogurt making stage...grin), but I do use my crock pot for just about every meal...Hubs and I love homemade pizza...we don't feel so blotted after eating what we make...grin...Love your blog!

Jacquelyn said...

Oh, I'm with you on this. I love cooking and baking anyways, but once you try homemade, the store-bought versions really lose their luster. Right now I'm tackling yogurt - my first culture failed, I'm on my second as we speak!

Bean said...

Welcome new readers, please feel free to comment away, I love it! This is not a private party, it's a Frugal Fiesta!