Frugal Friday: When to Buy and When to Make Homemade

As any long-time readers know, I love to cook from scratch.  Not only does it often save a significant amount of money, but I love the process and creativity and the knowledge that I am feeding my family with the work of my own hands.  My homemade versions of snacks and other foods are also healthier and can be customized to my family's tastes.

However, you also know I am not above the occasional great deal on packaged foods!

In fact, I actively seek out deals, even on foods that I could and have made myself.

First of all, there is the time factor involved.  Time is valuable as well, and at this stage of my life I just couldn't keep up with making all of our bread, crackers, jam, snacks, and so on.  Also, there are sometimes taste and other preferences to consider when choosing homemade over store bought or the reverse.  Sometimes my kids strongly prefer one over the other.  For instance, they like my homemade pizza best, but they actually usually would rather eat packaged granola bars.  I have also found that sometimes the homemade version is less practical.  With the granola bars, it really is easier to take along the already packaged and less crumbly store bought versions when we're on the go.

So how do I choose what to buy and what to make homemade?  Right now, I have a little system whereby I try to balance savings on time and money.  Basically, if in a given week/month I am able to find a certain item at my target price or lower, then I buy as much as my budget or coupons will allow.  That frees me up to make other types of foods homemade.  So for instance with my recent deal on cereals and breakfast bars, I won't be making homemade oatmeal mix or granola bars for a few weeks.  Instead, I can focus on making bread or savory snacks or dinners for the freezer.

My target price is usually the best price that I can get on a semi-regular basis by combining sales and coupons.  I have learned these numbers for different products over the good length of time that I have been couponing.  These are not necessarily the rock-bottom, lowest prices I have ever gotten on the items, but they are also not deals that I can get any time.  My target prices may still be a little higher than what it would cost to make the item myself, but at that point I chalk up the difference to the time saved.  As I mentioned, I can't make everything from scratch, so at some point I have to accept a slightly higher cost.

There are also some items that I always make from scratch or always buy pre-made.  For instance, I would be unlikely to purchase any type of sauce, such as stir-fry sauce or enchilada sauce, since I can so easily whip it together myself.  I would usually never buy muffins, since the cost from a store bakery is so much higher than homemade.  However, I always buy jarred marinara sauce, since we go through about a jar a week, and I could never keep up with that homemade.  Also, after making my own bread exclusively for a couple of years, I now buy all our sandwich bread at the Dollar Tree.  I can get 100% whole wheat Nature's Own bread there for a dollar a loaf, and for several reasons it is a lot more practical for the kids' sandwiches, especially now that I pack lunches for school.

As with so many frugal habits and practices, it is all a balancing act between saving time and money and doing what fits into my lifestyle.

What do you make from scratch and what do you make homemade?  How do you choose?

Check out Frugal Fridays at Life as Mom for more money-saving ideas.

Homemade Cooking From-Scratch Projects

Just because I haven't posted as many homemade projects over the last year doesn't mean that we haven't been doing them!  Here is a roundup of some of our projects from summer-fall 2011.

Peach Ice Cream - This was super fun to try with the girls - what kid wouldn't want to make ice cream?  I had gotten this large ice cream maker at a yard sale a while back, and we had never used it before.  It is the kind that uses rock salt and ice, which, let me tell you, is a bit of a messy process.  The resulting ice cream tasted fresh and delicious, but I had trouble getting it the right consistency.  In the end I just put it in the freezer to harden it up.  This project was one that was all about the experience, rather than about saving money and doing it on a regular basis.

Wheat Thins - This is a great recipe and shockingly easy.  We have made them a number of times - whenever I can't get a good deal on store-bought crackers.  My Silpat baking matis so helpful for rolling them out and transferring them to the cookie sheet.

Kale Chips - This was one of the many, many recipes using kale and other greens that we made during our CSA summer.  I wouldn't say that anyone in the family was ready to replace regular chips with these, but most of us liked them.  It is pretty great when all three of your preshool kids are asking for more kale!

Tomato Sauce - I had never really made homemade tomato sauce before, and I was excited to try it.  The first recipe we made was this one from Jamie Oliver.  I really liked the fresh taste, although my husband thought it was a bit bland.  My 5 year old enjoyed getting to chop the tomatoes!

Fried Okra - When I was in kindergarten in North Carolina in the '80's, one of my favorite foods in the cafeteria was fried okra!  It was fun to recall that memory and try making it myself.  I think I was the member of the family who ate most of this, but I certainly enjoyed it.  You do have to watch out for the tough, chewy pods though.

More Tomato Sauce - Near the end of the summer, the farm had an awesome deal on ten pounds of tomatoes!  I decided to go for it and made another big batch of sauce.  With this recipe I first blanched and skinned the tomatoes.  This sauce had fewer veggies and I thought tasted more like a jarred sauce (in a good way).

Raspberry Lemonade - This one is pretty self-explanatory.  I think I made this after our raspberries from the farm were a bit manhandled by "helpful" little hands!

Potato Chips - This was so much fun and something else I have always wanted to try.  We had a great time harvesting potatoes at the farm, and then we came home and made potato chips.  The key with these is of course to slice them as thinly as possible.  I don't have a mandolin cutter, so I just had to do the best I could with a nice.  The thinnest chips came out the crispiest, but all of them were absolutely delicious.  Homemade chips do not stay crispy long, however, so this is something to make and enjoy on a weekend, rather than to stockpile for long-term snacking.

I really love trying new homemade cooking projects, especially with my kids.  Sometimes I find that making the item is a great way to save money, and I incorporate it into my routine.  Other times it is just a fun experience to see how something is made.  It is really important to me that my children understand where their food comes from and that they are involved in preparing it.

What do you like to make homemade?

Homemade Refrigerator Jam

 On our second attempt of strawberry picking out at our CSA farm, we managed to pick enough to attempt some homemade strawberry jam!

Now, I have never done canning in my life - though I would like to learn - so I knew I would definitely be making some refrigerator jam.  The recipe that the farm sent in their weekly email included instant pectin, but by the time we got back from the farm on Wednesday, we were far too dirty and exhausted to make a trip out for that.  Luckily, allrecipes.com came to the rescue, with a recipe that required only pantry staples: strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice.

I was little a nervous about this project, but the girls were really excited about it, so we dived in head first!

First, you mash the berries.  The girls helped with this!

Then you put them in a saucepan with the sugar and lemon juice, heating on low until the sugar dissolves.

A word of advice: use a big saucepan!  After I turned up the heat it quickly bubbled up crazily and was boiling over everywhere!  I didn't know what to do, because it was supposed to boil for ten minutes.  I ended up reducing the heat somewhat and switching burners and was able to control it.  But cleaning the stove was no fun.

The jam was supposed to boil for about ten minutes or until it reached 220 degrees.  However, my candy thermometer reached just about 220 degrees right away, so I went more by the timing.    I tested a few drops on a plate in the freezer, but in the end I just decided that it had boiled long enough and hoped for the best.  I definitely half expected for the stuff not to gel and end up like strawberry syrup - or else harden into hard candy!

Imagine my surprise only a few hours later when we tasted a bite - perfect consistency!  It really looks and tastes like strawberry jam.

This recipe is quite sweet - I would prefer a little less sweet in order for the fresh berry taste to stand out more.  Some of the commenters on the recipe suggested using less sugar, but I was too nervous to change the recipe at all the first time.  My kids have no problem with the sweetness. ;-)

We are so proud of ourselves for our own homemade jam!

Check out more frugal ideas at Frugal Fridays.

Homemade Crackers

When I saw a link to Homemade Wheat Thins recently, I got all excited.  Trying to make homemade crackers has been on my to-do list for a while, since my girls love crackers.  They can eat a whole box in a matter of two or three days.

This recipe looked pretty quick and easy and used ingredients I always have on hand, so on a recent afternoon we gave it a try.  The dough was very easy to mix up and roll out.

I think my Silpat Baking Mat was key to the ease of rolling these very thin and not dealing with sticking.  I love that mat!  The cutout crackers were stable enough that the girls could help me transfer them to the baking sheet.  (Of course, I wasn't worrying about perfect shapes!)

I sprinkled them with Kosher salt.  Mine needed the longer end of the baking time - 9-10 minutes.  

Verdict: easy and delicious!  They seem to keep well (although we've eaten them up in a few days!), but they're not quite as crisp as store-bought crackers.

As for the cost breakdown - the biggest expense here is for the whole stick of butter (for a double recipe). Still, I estimate that a double recipe cost me about $1.00.  I don't know exactly how many crackers it made; next time I plan to weigh them to compare it to a box of Wheat Thins.  My guess is that I made the same or a little more than a store bought box.  

Thus the homemade version would be a significant savings over the regular price of approximately $3.49/box.  With a sale and a coupon, I can often get crackers for $1.50/box, and occasionally $1.00/box.  So only if I find the best deal would it not be cheaper to make them myself.  Plus, I'm sure that the homemade version is much healthier!

Check out more great frugal tips at Frugal Fridays.

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Homemade Tortilla Chips

I feel like it is so long since I've done a DIY cooking or baking post!  Since Baby #3 came along, it is just so much harder to spend my days making homemade English muffins or bagels!  Still, I absolutely love trying new "from-scratch" projects, and slowly, slowly I'm getting back into them again.

Last week, I was watching some short videos on Swagbucks to earn more bucks, and of course I clicked over to the Food Network videos.  Paula Dean had a video on frying your own tortilla chips, and it looked so easy.  We love chips and salsa around here, and I'm always looking for ways to save on our weekend snack.

As luck would have it, I had just bought two 12-packs of Wegmans corn tortillas for $.50 each, so I decided to try this project that very day.

I fried the chips in canola oil, since that's the oil that I keep around for general baking.  I put about 3/4 inch in my stainless steel skillet, and heated it on my electric stove at about medium high.  I did have to keep turning the temperature down as I cooked, since of course electric stoves don't keep consistent heat.  The biggest problem I have with frying is that I don't have an electric skillet that keeps a constant temperature, so I just have to do my best with adjusting the dial.

Really, it was pretty simple to fry the chips.  After heating the oil until it bubbled when I splashed in a drop of water, I fried each chip for a minute or so on each side.  It was fairly easy to tell when they were done, because they started to really look like chips.  After they came out, I laid them on paper towels to soak up the extra oil and sprinkled them right away with Kosher salt.

The chips were attractive and delicious!  They reminded me of the kind of tortilla chips you get at a nice Mexican restaurant. Since I cut the tortillas into quarters, a package of 12 made 48 thick, substantial chips.  I'll bet that's about as much (at least by weight) as you get in a regular sized bag of tortilla chips, for which I pay $2.50/bag for Wegmans brand.  The packages of tortillas I used are over $1 regular price, but I bet if you purchased those huge bags of corn tortillas you could get as low as $.50 for 12, or even lower.

Of course, any time you fry individual pieces one by one it is a little time-consuming.  And since I certainly couldn't hold a fussy baby while working with hot oil, I had to do this in fits and starts.  Also, although the chips still tasted good a couple of days later, they weren't quite as crispy as store-bought chips.  However, it was neat to make a snack that was a little more traditional "chip" than our homemade corn chips.

I think this project would be great for a weekend or party, or for a Mexican dinner if you have a little extra time.  I definitely plan to try it again.

Check out more great frugal ideas at Frugal Fridays.

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Homemade Hamburger and Hotdog Buns

I've been meaning to share a new DIY food I've tried this summer, but the time has gotten away from me.  However, there still should be plenty of time to barbecue, so why not make some homemade hamburger and hotdog buns?

I'd been wanting to try homemade buns for a while, so when a friend suggested a recipe, I tried it almost immediately.  Verdict: a keeper!  The buns taste like the form that store-bought buns are imitating; a tastier, fresher, better textured version of what you're used to.  It's always good when homemade food tastes like that!

The recipe shared by my friend from a cookbooks of her mom's is pretty similar to this recipe, although mine calls for about 4-1/2 cups of flour and makes up to 16 rolls.  The buns are really simple to make.  I use the dough cycle on the bread machine to mix the dough and for the inital rising.  Then I shape them and let them rise again, then bake them.  It really is hardly more trouble than making my regular sandwich bread.  I also like to substitute a cup of whole wheat flour for one of the cups of bread flour for a little extra nutrition.

I didn't do an exact price comparison, but I'm confident I can make a batch of 16 for less than $1.  Since the cheapest I can find store-bought buns is an 8-pack for $.99, I'm at least cutting costs by 50% in making these. 

Plus, you really impress people if you serve them hamburgers and hot dogs on homemade rolls!

Check out Frugal Fridays at Life as Mom and Mrs. Moneysaver for other frugal ideas!

Bread Machine Sandwich Bread

The time has come to share my recipe for bread machine whole wheat sandwich bread!  I'm proud of this because I actually developed this recipe myself, using two different recipes as a base and with a lot of trial and error.  As you may know, I bake almost all of our bread from scratch; I only buy it if I can get it for pennies on the dollar.   This required having an easy bread recipe that I could make weekly or even more often for sandwiches and toast.

I developed it because I was having trouble finding a recipe that fit all my criteria, which are:
1) mostly whole wheat
2) soft and a little sweet, rather than incredibly dense like some whole wheat breads
3) risen high enough to be a good size for sandwiches
4) using regular ingredients, not making me have to purchse anything exotic or expensive

Here's the recipe I developed:
1-1/8 c. warm water
1 T. white vinegar
1 egg
1-1/2 T. oil
3 T. brown sugar
1 c. bread flour
2-1/3 c. whole wheat flour
1 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda
1-1/2 t. yeast
Put everything in the bread machine in the order listed or in the order recommended by the manufacturer.  Set the machine to "dough" cycle.  When the cycle is finished, remove dough to a greased loaf pan and let rise (covered) in a cold oven for 45 minutes.  Remove cover from pan, leaving pan in oven, and set oven to 350 degrees.  Bake for about 30 minutes, including preheating time.  Let cool for a couple of minutes; remove from pan.

As you can see, there are a few unconventional steps or ingredients in the recipe.  The vinegar and egg help the bread to rise, despite the predominance of whole wheat flour.  I also found that leaving the bread in the oven while it preheats (violating every baking rule) prevented the bread from flattening when I moved it around after rising.

The bread is really delicious, especially on the first day it's made, although I often freeze some slices.  The one aspect I'm still working on is that it can be a bit crumbly, making it not as good for holding together a hearty sandwich.  I'm always open to suggestions for improvement!

Check out Frugal Fridays at Life as Mom and Mrs. Moneysaver.

Adventures in Doughnut Making!

I have been wanting to try making homemade doughnuts absolutely forever!  I mean, I've made homemade bagels, tortillas, granola bars - doughnuts just seemed like the next one to try.

As luck would have it, my February/March issue of Taste of Home included a feature on doughnut making, so Saturday morning I gave it a try.  I chose the yeast doughnut recipe, as opposed to the cake doughtnut recipe, which used baking powder.  (Like any true daughter of the South, I have a weakness for a fluffy Krispy Kreme doughnut, and these seemed similar.)

I started these at about 8:00 or 8:30 on Saturday morning, and we had them for brunch at about 11:00; so they are definitely time-consuming.  It's not that the process is difficult; it was mostly the two risings.  The dough turned out very smooth and easy to work with.

I don't have a doughnut or biscuit cutter, so I use a large glass for the doughnut and a small jar to cut the hole.

Now, the dough was supposed to double in size both at the first rising and when the doughnuts were shaped, but mine did not seem to rise much at all either time.  I conjecture that this may have had to do with the yeast, which was two packets that had been a while in my pantry, instead of in the fridge with my other yeast.  Also, on that snowy morning our kitchen was somewhat cold, which may have affected the rising.  I think the stunted rising may have contributed to my subsequent problem.

I actually did not need a huge amount of oil to fry the doughnuts, and they turned out a beautiful golden color.  While still warm, I dipped them in a thin powdered sugar and water glaze, and topped them with sprinkles or powdered sugar.  I couldn't believe how much they looked like real doughnuts!

However, there was one catch.  When my husband and I excitedly bit into the first batch, we discovered that some of the doughnuts were still doughy inside.  Some were just about completely cooked, but a few were definitely inedible.  

I was pretty disappointed (after 3 hours of work!), so I thought it was worth it to try Michael's suggestion of baking them for a little while at a low temperature, even though I wasn't sure what that would do to the glaze.  We tried first at 250, but ultimately switched to 325.  Actually, it worked.  The glaze did really melt or run, and the doughnuts cooked through.  It definitely dried them out a little, but they were still tasty.  In every other respect, the doughnuts were delicious and very authentic.

I think that if the doughnuts had risen more and been less dense, they might have cooked more thoroughly.  Also, I think the oil getting increasingly hotter as I continued to fry them may have made the later doughnuts brown too quickly, before they were cooked.  This is a problem that is hard to avoid without an electric skillet or a deep fryer, and it is why I have been somewhat leery of deep frying.  I'll be looking for one of those on the yard sale circuit this summer!

Despite the slight setback, I'm rather more into making the doughnuts now than otherwise.  I might try the cake doughnut recipe next time.  And I'll be sure to invite some friends over, because a whole batch of doughnuts is a lot for a small family to eat!

Check out more DIY projects over at A Soft Place to Land.