What other traditionally storebought food items can I make myself to save money?

[loraxc]

I already make my own bread and we don't buy a lot of packaged foods at all...but I'm wondering what else I could branch out into that would truly save me money the way breadmaking does.

Cheese?
Vinegar?
Mustard and ketchup?
Pickles?
Yogurt? (seems like the most likely...but we only eat about a quart a week, if that)
Applesauce?
What else?

ETA: Canning intimidates me and I don't have a deep freeze. I also do not want to invest in new equipment of any kind unless it's really cheap.

[MamaChicken]

subbing

[nameisrio]

Applesauce is really easy. Quarter and core apples and put them in a covered pan with a little water. Cook on medium till they are tender. Scoop the flesh out of the skins and puree in a food processor or blender. 4 apples makes about a cup. Great baby food!

[artemis33]

As a PP mentioned, applesauce is very easy. And for canning it, it only needs a water bath so you don't really need any special equipment (though a jar lifter is very handy) - just a stock pot that is deep enough to hold the jars and let them be covered by an inch or two of water. Or you could just make small batches and eat is right up

Mayo is pretty easy as well. It may take a couple tries to get the flavor just how you want it. Also adding the oil very very slowly until it emulsifies is critical!!! I use sunflower oil in mine.

Yogurt is easy too. I just use a quart canning jar, and usually make a couple at a time. I put it in a small cooler with a hot water bottle to keep it warm (there are various techniques for achieving this).

Vinegar pickles are easy. Fermented pickles are a little trickier/more time consuming.


That said, I've been buying my mayo, yogurt and fermented pickles (Bubbies - yum!) lately I got pregnant during prime harvest season and abandoned my pickle efforts, and just got lazy on the other stuff. I'm almost out of mayo though and am going to whip up a fresh batch of homemade instead of buying more

Otherwise, most baked goods are pretty easy and also so much better homemade. Granola, biscuits, pancakes, waffles, muffins, cinnamon rolls (for a treat), and pizza dough are all things I do homemade here. With some things - like biscuits and pizza dough for example - I just make up double or triple batches at once and freeze some unbaked so that I have them available in the future with less effort. Using a food processor makes it simple and fast as well!

[ewp11100]

Originally Posted by artemis33

As a PP mentioned, applesauce is very easy. And for canning it, it only needs a water bath so you don't really need any special equipment (though a jar lifter is very handy) - just a stock pot that is deep enough to hold the jars and let them be covered by an inch or two of water. Or you could just make small batches and eat is right up

I have barrowed a friends canning equipment in the past. Can is just use a big stock pot? I thought the glass jars had to be held off the bottom of the pot by the wire rack taht comes with canning equipment? Can it be done without?

[hillymum]

Making tomato sause for meals such as lasagna or spagetti bolognaise is really easy. Fluffy pancakes (the normal American kind) and crepes are reall easy to make from scratch and can be customised.
I make desserts from scratch such as apple pies/crumble/cobbler, pinapple upside down cakes etc. The kids love to help! Pastry for the pies is really easy to make.
Cookie dough can be frozed and sliced for baking when needed.

I make lots of stews/casseroles from scratch in the crock pot. Really easy and once I have the herbs/spices they last for ages.
I imagine making pasta wouldn't be too hard as long as you have the tools but I have never tried.

[allnaturalmom]

Homemade soups, pasta, and tomato sauce...

Making me hungry, lol!

[newbymom05]

It's my understanding that vinegar is really tricky to make. I don't think you can save money on ketchup unless you're using tomatoes you grew, and you'd need A LOT of tomatoes. Pickles are the same--where I am, unless I'm buying the refrigerated gourmet deli pickles (not Vlasic or whatever, the kind that are fermented), the cukes for canning are more expensive than buying a jar of Vlasic w/ a coupon. Mustard, eh, you can get it for around $1 w/ a coupon, and how much can you use? You can make your own mayo, but IME it's kind of a pain, I just watch for $2.50 and then stock up.

I make our own applesauce b/c I like to, but using organic apples, I only save $1-2 a pint if that, I barely save anything if I compare it to conventional applesauce on sale. Honestly, I'll only do it if I'm in the canning mood.

Yogurt saves us $$ when I do it, but I hate to have to sit around and watch it. I'm buying some today because I'd rather spend the extra $2-$3 than deal w/ it. Of course $2 a week over the course of a year is different, YMMV!

This is obviously JMO, but I think the people who really save $$ on canning and producing food themselves are people w/ free supplies or contacts for greatly reduced sources. I think the rest of us just do it for fun and to control what we eat.

[mnnice]

I make jams and jellies. Freezer strawberry jam would be a jgood jam to start with (just sugar, berries, and pectin) I just save the jars and plastic lids that natural peanut comes in to freeze the jam in (with generous headspace). Going to the u-pick strawberry place is one of my favorite things. We made grape jelly (cooked) from wild grapes last year (which is DS1 favorite)

I also make homemade chocolate syrup. It just required cocoa powder, sugar, water, and vanilla. I can't remember the exact proportions I just googled and found it at allrecipes.

[notjustmamie]

If you make yogurt, you can use your quart or so and let the rest ripen into fresh cream-style cheese.

[BfBobby]

Crackers, granola, fruit leathers...

[lmonter]

Originally Posted by ewp11100

Can is just use a big stock pot? I thought the glass jars had to be held off the bottom of the pot by the wire rack taht comes with canning equipment? Can it be done without?

You can put down some spare rings (that hold the flat canning lids on the jars) on the bottom of the pot to keep jars off the bottom there. Works in a pinch I've heard.


Vinegar can be pretty tricky from what I've heard. I seem to remember someone saying that only about one out of four homemade batches of vinegar actually turns out right. Might almost have a better success rate with homemade beer...

Applesauce. Well, depends on how much you're talking about. I aim for something like 200 quarts to can for the year (this year I fell miserably below that - darn pregnancy). Hand peeling and prepping that many apples may make you go insane, so I've got a Squeezo for that and tomato sauce and such.
It's time consuming if you're going for any kind of quantity, and honestly, cost-wise you might not break even. I get a steal of a deal from my orchard guy, but even then, if you add in my time from all the prep and canning... it's a good thing I'm a food snob, otherwise it just wouldn't be worth it. But I like knowing exactly where some of my food comes from, and that there are no additives in there besides lemon juice and sometimes sugar. If you have to buy your apples from the store for $.50-$1/lb, the cost will *really* add up though.

Pickles, only if you grow your own cukes would you come out ahead money wise. Oh, and if you have some of the not-so-common spices already in your pantry/kitchen.

Yogurt/cheese, you need whole, preferably raw, milk for. And a lot of it. Might be best if you have your own cow, vs. having to buy gallons of milk from the store for those purposes.

Jam/jellies... again, this is going to depend. If you grow your own, yes, it'll be cheaper than the store (or if you're trying to avoid HFCS and/or dyes). If you have to buy the berries or whatnot from the store/farmer's market/overpriced u-pick, well... cost-wise it may be a wash or more expensive. But you'll have control over what goes into the final product, and can potentially make enough of the good stuff to last the year.


Growing some of your own produce may be your best bet, actually. Like some strawberry plants, some lettuce, a tomato plant or two, that kind of thing. Easily could do those in containers, or in-ground, whatever your living situation.

[wombatclay]

Hmmmm... in terms of cost, a lot depends on what your family eats and how much it costs. Based on what my family eats and local prices, I make:

Yogurt- super easy, and you can make it with the bulk powdered milk (which saves on the final price). I mix up the milk in a quart jar, add a scoop or two of starter (also known as "any commercial plain yogurt with active cultures"), put the lid on the jar and put the jar along with a hot water bottle into a thermal grocery bag (sold for 99 cents at my local Wegmans). No watching necessary... I just check on it after about 4 hours to make sure it's setting up. And after about 8 hours its good to go.

Yogurt cheese- take the yogurt and dump it into a wire mesh strainer (the holes on a spaghetti colander are too big alone but you can line it with a clean kitchen cloth). Let it drip overnight (catch the liquid, it's whey and can be used in soups or anything that calls for water) and the resulting "cheese" will be roughly the texture of cream cheese and just as yummy! My kiddos like this mixed with grated apple, DH likes it with a bit of honey or just dolloped on top of oatmeal.

Granola- bulk oats + honey + bulk seeds + dried fruit (chopped), spread on a baking sheet and bake till crispy/brown. There are lots of recipes, and some call for expensive items, but you can make a decent granola for cheap. We usually eat it sprinkled on yogurt or oatmeal so a little goes a long way.

Snacks- we do home popped popcorn (you just need a pan with a lid), applesauce (like the above pps, but sometimes I'll dice the apple and microwave it before fork smashing it... the kids call it apple smash ), fruit "leather" (there are recipes online but basically any cheap fruit/juice combo), baked potato chips (slice thin, add oil/salt, bake), cheese sticks (slice block cheese into sticks), jerky (inexpensive meats sliced thin, marinate over night, put on a baking tray in a dehydrator or warm oven... don't "cook", just dehydrate), pudding/tapioca/custard, etc.

I guess maybe look at your top 5-6 foods (the ones you eat every day) and see if you could make those for less per serving than the store. I've found my family doesn't eat enough "condiment" type stuff to justify making it (so no home made mustard for example), but we do eat a lot of salsa so I make that in batches (especially when the produce is cheap during harvest).

[wombatclay]

We do homebrew... don't think we've had an off batch in years. On the other hand, I grew up watching my mom turn out crock after crock of faiiled pickles so my view on pickling is it's hard, and my view on brewing is it's easy.

And OP... if you do drink beer, home brewing is a very economical choice if you drink microbrews or "expensive" beer. You can fudge a lot of the basic equipment and get bottles through freecycle (the Alaskan Bootlegger's Bible is a light hearted but very complete intro book with lots of suggestions for brewing good stuff for less/without "fancy" supplies).

Meads are another easy option, but they can be tricky... bad mead can either taste horrible or taste ok but give you an amazing hangover after very little consumption. So with mead it's worth taking the time to do eveything right.

Hmmmm... hard cider happens more or less on it's own so if you find inexpensive juice you can add a pack of champagne yeast and be good to go in a few days.

(the bootlegger book has recipes for beers, wines, ciders, cisers, etc)

[loraxc]

Thanks for the very helpful replies!

I do make my own baked goods, pancakes, etc., and my own granola. I also make my own pasta sauce. I have a garden, so I do have access to some produce in season (no fruit).

I have a pasta maker and make pasta sometimes, but it is a lot of work and we always just eat it up (never dry it).

I have thought about fruit leather, but doesn't the oven have to be on forever? (I have an electric oven.) I don't have a source for apples where I live (deep South) and I usually buy giant jars of unsweetened applesauce on sale, so that may not be a good one either.

So I think maybe...yogurt, possibly cheese, possibly crackers?

Hmm...what about grinding your own nut butters? Is that possible in a Cuisianrt?

[loraxc]

Oh, we used to homebrew, but found it hard and messy and not little-kid-friendly. Seemed like it took the whole day and our entire concentration. We also had a bad batch once. Maybe I am just not that good at it.

[wombatclay]

Nah... the first few batches are often ick. I lucked out that my dh started brewing with his own mother as a kid so "inherited" an experienced brewer.

I got a dehydrator off of freecycle and use that for fruit leather... I have a gas stove with no pilot light so otherwise I would be running the stove for hours too. I've seen ideas for running the stove for a while then letting it cool and running it again, but no idea how well that works.

I've made nut butter using an old coffee grinder (electric) so I'm sure a cuisinart would work fine. Might be hard to clean though.

[Honey693]

[goldingoddess]

For us big money savers have been;
-granola, my husband eats it everyday for breakfast
-wine, material cost about $4/bottle for amazing wine, great gifts too.
-seitan, this is a meat substitute made from vital wheat gluten, it is very very expensive to buy and the cost is about 1/4 to make it and it is oh so good!

[loraxc]

Oh yes, I was going to ask about seitan!! We enjoy it, but it is soooo expensive. Isn't the wheat gluten that you buy to make it quite pricey, though? And is it hard?