1. Garlic bread. I bought a loaf of french bread for a dollar. How much cheaper would it be if I made my own bread from scratch? I added my own butter, garlic whizzed up in the Magic Bullet and parsley flakes. Cheap and cheerful.
2. Chicken wrap snackers/burritos Try saying that ten times fast. They sell these for two bucks each, but I am sure they could be made a lot cheaper than that at home with grocery store stuff. Imagine with homemade tortillas! Dried beans!
3. Pad Thai. This is essentially a stir fry. Make it at home and eat it with chopsticks.
4. Pizza. I can make gourmet pizza for about half the price of so-so take out pizza, even when I cheat and buy the crust already made.
5. Popcorn/chips Buy a case of microwave popcorn and don't bother with the greasy stuff at the movie theatre. Or better yet, pop from bulk kernels. I always burn it, so I have quit doing this. Try caramel popcorn or marshmallow popcorn for a treat. Buy a big bag of chips and bag them up in snack bags for lunches. I get multi grain rounds and pack a bit of salsa with them. Yum.
6. Chili. I just made a vat of chili for 30-40 people for about .40 a serving at my aunt's party. Seriously, why would I want to pay $4 for a little bowl?
7. Chai tea lattes/espresso. Five bucks a cup?? Puhleese. It's tea/coffee and milk. Enough said.
8. Granola. Oh so freakin' cheap to make at home, plus you know what is in it and you can make a basic one and add other ingredients to your bowl at breakfast. I love this for summer, saves on commercial cereal costs.
9. Yogurt. Again, I love this in the summer for smoothies, baking and breakfast.
10. Jello/ pudding. Buy some containers and pack your own from a big bowl. You get more at lunch and it's cheaper.
2 comments:
Absolutely. I would add lemonade, just dissolve about(as given it is quite sweet)2 - 2 1/2 c sugar in 3 c water over med heat, doesn't need to boil, cool, stir in 1 3/4 c lemon juice. Chill. We pour about an inch into a tall glass and fill rest with cold water. I use Realemon as I find the generics taste kind of metalic, but am still trying.
Also, you need to try homemade potato chips. Pretty time consuming, because you have to cook just a few at a time, but AWESOME. We don't even salt them. And once you make a batch without anyone snitching, you will realize that a typical bag of commercial chips has maybe a potato and a half in it.
Karen
Nice! Great tips Karen!
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