Sandragood1 Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 To the OP, a good way to ease into scratch cooking is to choose a "theme", like "Italian" and gather simple recipes that your family will like. Then look at the common ingredients - especially spices - that you don't already have on hand. Then either plan a week of "Italian" dinners and get everything you need or plan to have an "Italian" night every Wednesday (or whatever). Because you are not purchasing a whole brand new pantry's worth at one shot, you can reap the savings from some cooking at home before investing in the next set of spices and pantry staples. Depending upon your comfort level you can stretch out the process by trying to cook one new meal each week while continuing to do your current dinners, or you can just jump in with a new "Italian" meal every night. I mention "Italian" because there are many simple, healthy recipes out there. The word is in quotes b/c many are not really Italian - just italian style. At some point you add another theme, maybe "Americana" (meatloaf, mashed potatoes & peas, mac n cheese,...) or Mexican (really cheap - lots of bean options). This way you build your skills and your pantry gradually and use your savings from cooking one theme at home to help you purchase the pantry needs for the next. I have done this sort of thing when I want to try a new genre of cooking. Right now I'm looking at Japanese (but w/o sesame =() Sandra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 I make chicken taquitos that way. I can make about 75 with one whole chicken. They freeze really well and are easy to heat up. Please share how you make chicken taquitos. I'd love to have a good recipe for them that freezes well too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 I agree with the others that most things cost less to make from scratch. In fact, I can't think of anything we eat that wouldn't. Let's see, I bake our bread. A loaf of Italian baguette costs $1.79 at our grocery stores. I make our own with about .30 worth of flour, .40 worth of yeast and maybe a penny's worth of salt and sugar. So, I save well over half the cost of buying that. (And it tastes better, too.) I have no idea how much a loaf of wheat sandwich bread costs these days, because I haven't bought any in a long time. I'm guessing about $3? I make three loaves at a time with $1 worth of flour, .60 worth of yeast and a little bit of salt, sugar and oil. It costs me about $2 to make three loaves, or less than a third the cost of buying. I also cook dried beans. A can of black beans costs .79 if I can get it on sale, but a bag costs $1.29 and makes four or five times as much. A jar of marinara sauce, store brand, costs $1.79-ish. I can make a batch that is two or three times as much with .40 of fresh tomatoes, .80 of tomato paste along with some onions and garlic and spices. (I buy many of my spices at Aldi for $1 per jar.) Even if we assume I spend as much as $1 on the spices and such (which I don't), per serving my homemade is half the cost (and, again, better tasting and free of extra chemicals and preservatives AND involves less waste). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrub Jay Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 The key is to compare ingredients. I can find bread in the store that is cheaper than my homemade bread, but it is not the equivalent of the bread I make at home. I can make whole grain, fresh bread for the same cost as the cheapest, mass-produced white bread at the local store. I would pay $5 for the actual equivalent of the bread I make at a bakery. . Do you mind sharing your recipe? Pretty please? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraciWA Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Please share how you make chicken taquitos. I'd love to have a good recipe for them that freezes well too. You can find my recipe in post 40 of this thread!:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrganicAnn Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Another thought is to truly make it from scratch. If you are buy handy ingredients then you are paying more. For example, you can buy the little packets of yeast or a jar of yeast. The yeast in the jar cost less. You can buy garlic cloves or you can buy a jar of pre-chopped garlic. The garlic in cloves cost less. Another thing is that scratch cooking often uses more basic recipes. If you are cooking every meal, you aren't picking the recipes that have 20 ingredients and 5 different steps (except on special occasions or for a recipe you dearly love). So put down the TV chef cook books and pick up the Betty Crocker or the Better Homes and Gardens. Another book suggestion. Cheaper and Better: Homemade Alternatives by Nancy Birnes (I have the book and it is old. It has old prices, but you can still get the gist of how much money you save for each recipe). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 What things that you cook from scratch actually save you money? I haven't looked into it but it seems like it would end up being more expensive to buy all ingredients for items... Every baked good imaginable is cheaper for me to make than to buy. Muffins at the grocery store cost about $3 for 4 of them, or something. I use real butter and nice fruit, and I make a dozen at a time. Cookies are also not that expensive. Butter and things like chocolate or nuts are the most expensive things to buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollyh Posted July 25, 2012 Author Share Posted July 25, 2012 Sorry, I posted the question and then went AWOL yesterday. :) For the purpose of the thread, I am mainly talking about finances only. I know that it will most likely be tastier and more healthy. I also wasn't thinking about the fact that it could be more general of a question than I was meaning. I'm mainly referring to baking. A good portion of our food is fruit/veggies/meat that I will continue purchasing. When I think of something simple like baking choc chip cookies- I would think it would be cheaper to simply buy the costco container of dough than ALL the ingredients needed. I would have thought that bread would be cheaper to buy - but I take it many of you are saying it is not. I really like the idea of working through one "style" of cooking (italian, etc.) and the point about consistently cooking from scratch is a valid point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joker Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Sorry, I posted the question and then went AWOL yesterday. :) For the purpose of the thread, I am mainly talking about finances only. I know that it will most likely be tastier and more healthy. I also wasn't thinking about the fact that it could be more general of a question than I was meaning. I'm mainly referring to baking. A good portion of our food is fruit/veggies/meat that I will continue purchasing. When I think of something simple like baking choc chip cookies- I would think it would be cheaper to simply buy the costco container of dough than ALL the ingredients needed. I would have thought that bread would be cheaper to buy - but I take it many of you are saying it is not. I really like the idea of working through one "style" of cooking (italian, etc.) and the point about consistently cooking from scratch is a valid point. If you don't bake that often, it would probably be cheaper to just buy the dough. I have all the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies already in my pantry and fridge. I don't bake bread yet, but I do make pizza crust often and have those ingredients on hand as well. I use all of those ingredients for other things as well. So, it would cost me nothing to make those right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2squared Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Every baked good imaginable is cheaper for me to make than to buy. Muffins at the grocery store cost about $3 for 4 of them, or something. I use real butter and nice fruit, and I make a dozen at a time. Cookies are also not that expensive. Butter and things like chocolate or nuts are the most expensive things to buy. :iagree: I pick and choose what type of baked goods I'm making to lower my grocery cost. Oatmeal cookies are a staple here since oatmeal is a relatively cheap ingredient. If grocery $ is running low, they don't include choc chips. I never put m&ms in cookies even though I would love to! I make delicious banana choc chip walnut muffins, but cut the walnuts when I need to cut costs. I rarely make blueberry muffins since blueberries are more expensive (for me) than bananas or apples. We have apple trees, so I freeze the apples for future apple pies. I make the crust from scratch, and my apple pies are super cheap. We also have rhubarb, so I make rhubarb crisp for cheap. I prefer a different type, but I use what I can acquire cheaply. Like a PP mentioned, you have to think about how you are acquiring your ingredients. I buy the old, marked down bananas for my baking at $0.39/lb versus the fresh price of $0.69/lb. I buy yeast in bulk from Amazon rather then buying it by the packet or jar. When coconut and nuts go on sale at Christmas, I stock up for the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in NS Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 When I think of something simple like baking choc chip cookies- I would think it would be cheaper to simply buy the costco container of dough than ALL the ingredients needed. But once you stock up on basic baking ingredients such as flour, butter/oil, sugar, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cocoa, oats, etc., then you have more options for baking (and customizing according to whatever inexpensive ingredients you have on hand - summer berries picked cheaply, for example; or chocolate chips that were discounted - I bought Ghiardelli chips a few months ago for $1.19/300 g bag, from Michael's craft store after Christmas!). As well, that Costco container of dough probably has lots of sugar in it - you can put less sugar into your own cookie recipe, cutting costs. Also, what kind of fat does the Costco dough contain? Shortening? Butter? Hydrogenated oil? With your own stockpile, you get to choose what you put into your recipe. I stock up on butter when it goes on sale here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justasque Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 I stock up on butter at holiday time, when it is often on sale. It freezes very well. The baking soda, baking powder, and vanilla are pantry staples for me. I spring for the real vanilla because I can taste the difference. Flour is a staple here, which I use for sauces, bread, pie shells, biscuits, and baked goods. Oatmeal I use for breakfast, in muffins, and in cookies. Walnuts are used in muffins, cookies, and sometimes pasta dishes. It's really just the chips that are specific to cookies. Once you're baking at home, many of the ingredients are the same from recipe to recipe. It's really just the "accent flavors" - the chips, etc. - that are specific to a particular recipe. Also, I also have been cooking long enough that I can "wing it" with ingredients I have on hand, to minimize waste or to make the most of sale or seasonal ingredients. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 I agree with all the other posters. Just about everything is cheaper home cooked from scratch. I just made 50 plus bean and cheese burritos for the freezer (really easy to grab and throw in the toaster oven). I soak dry beans, slow cook them in a crock pot with onions and bacon, then mash them but not fully. Best tasting refried beans without actually being refried. I buy bulk Costco tortillas and cheddar (grated w/my food processor). Total cost around $11 for 50 really big and plump burritos. So, around twenty two cents a burrito and they are three times the size of Taco Bell ones. I do this once a month. Some times for variety I'll make make some with taco flavored hamburger, homemade Spanish rice, and add some mango salsa. This will bump the cost up to around sixty cents, but these are big buggers. One is plenty for a meal. How do you heat these up? I have no experience with frozen burritos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGin Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 What things that you cook from scratch actually save you money? I haven't looked into it but it seems like it would end up being more expensive to buy all ingredients for items... I cook from scratch and the reason it saves me a bunch of money is that each ingredient I buy can be used many different ways. Using the humble potato as an example I can paying $2.00 for a box of au gratin potatoes that makes a side dish for one meal or I can pay $2.50 for 10 lbs of potatoes, $5.00 for 2 lbs of cheese, $3.00 for a gallon of milk, $2.00 for 1 lb of butter. all totaling $12.50 and from which I can make, au gratin potatoes, baked potatoes, fried potatoes, mashed potatoes and potato soup. That's 4 side dishes and a meal plus I can usually make at least one of those side dishes twice. In addition, I won't use all that cheese, butter and milk on those dishes, so I have those for other meals. That's not bad for $12.50 BTW: I'm feeding 5 people, including 3 teenagers one of whom is a 6'1" growing boy. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denise in Florida Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 Start with whatever your family eats the most. If you like pizzas and spaghetti, try making homemade sauce. If you like tacos and enchiladas, try making your own chicken or beef filling. We don't eat much bread (maybe one loaf every two weeks) and I am the only one that eats bagels. Baking bread is not likely to be cost effective for me. We do eat a lot of pickles, olives, pickled veggies, kim chee, etc. So I am trying to start fermenting and pickling. We eat a lot of casseroles, so I buy large quantities of chicken, roast them, shred the meat and boil the bones for broth. I have bags of meat and broth in my freezer. We love pesto and I am growing five kinds of basil this year. I will start making and freezing pesto soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amselby81 Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 I am SO SO SO making these! My dd loves taquitos, but I do not like paying upwards of $6 for a box of 20 frozen ones. Thanks for posting the recipe! I'm imagining that this will cost more than $6, with buying the chicken, cheeses, and tortillas. Still healthier though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 (edited) When I think of something simple like baking choc chip cookies- I would think it would be cheaper to simply buy the costco container of dough than ALL the ingredients needed. - QUOTE] It is cheaper to buy the container if you don't buy semi-bulk ingredients like unbleached flour, organic sugar etc. (I looked it up. lol We don't have Costco.) None of the ingredients are organic, and there are some very questionable (healthwise) ingredients. Processed, non bulk organic supplies are cheaper (Kraft Mac & Cheese, fi). No gettting around it. Edited July 27, 2012 by LibraryLover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brendag Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 Once A Month Cooking whole food fan here! I buy in bulk and do a big cooking day to stock up our big freezer! If you get the recipes ahead of time, you can be on the lookout for sales on the big ticket items like meat. Also, eating meals that contain what is in season will save money. I do cook other meals other than OAMC, but it is so helpful on those days when I don't feel like preparing a meal other than sticking something in the oven or heating up in the microwave. :) Brenda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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