| There are a ton of granola bar recipes around here... this is one I found that looked the easiest: Quote  riginally Posted by rgarloughI found a recipe for a bar like granola thing. By bar, I mean more like a 'bar' = cookie bar. Definitely not a crunchy bar. In a large bowl, mix together 2 cups "instant" oatmeal, 1 cup flour (of your choice), 3/4 cup brown sugar, a dash of salt and any of your choices of 'dry' ingrediants - nuts, dried fruit, chocolate chips, etc. |
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Originally Posted by lmonter
 Do you have a little hand rotary grater thingie? We have an old one (like 7yo if not older) that's not near as fancy as that one at BBB, and I grate an entire wedge of romano (from Costco) in an evening (with no interruptions, probably less than an hour or so). You might even be able to find a decent one at a thrift store if need be. Leave some in the fridge to use, freeze the rest of the grated cheese in the freezer. If you have to straight-up hand grate it with a regular plane grater, yeah it's a pita and takes forever, and hurts your hands.
 :I do make our own spaghetti sauce from mostly scratch, using a tweaked recipe of MIL's. Scroll to the bottom of this entry, and you'll see the separate ingredients and then the finished product. I do pre-chop some of the stuff and cook the sausage beforehand so the day I'm chained to the stove for 4 hours isn't so much longer because of prep time. For all of that (tomato sauce, onions, mushrooms, green peppers, spices, olive oil, sausage, tomato sauce, tomato paste, olives and maybe something else) I spent about $15 total - $7 of that was sausage, and $1.89 of that was a 106oz can of tomato sauce from Costco. Figuring out the servings, it was like $.42-$.50/serving, plus the pasta is about $.10/serving because I have a giant stash of it downstairs. Don't know if that's cheaper than the stuff you get though, but my dh sure appreciates it...  ETA: My serving size for spaghetti sauce is about 6 ounces, my boys *really* like their sauce and the yummy chunky stuff in it. |
I really appreciate it.|
Originally Posted by Judegirl
It seems to me that instant oatmeal is awfully expensive...I'm not sure how much this would save...?
Jude |
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Originally Posted by greenegirl
I checked my cookbooks and do not have a recipe for rice milk. However, in Rodale's Basic Natural Food Cookbook, they have the following description of how to make nut or seed milk:
It seems to me that a similar process would work with rice. I think you should try making 1 cup and see how you like it. You could always play around with the process a little until you got a product your family enjoyed. |
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Originally Posted by kewb
I don't normally buy convenience foods but I came up with the following:
1. Get back to grating my own hunk of romano cheese. 2. Make my own garlic and herb seasoning packets. 3. Make my own seasoned cou-cous so I can buy in bulk rather then the convenient little box. |
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Originally Posted by bec
Oh, another convenience food that I've cut out was deli meats. These are for Katie's school lunches. Instead, I bought a turkey breast, roasted it, sliced it, and froze half of it, putting the other half for sandwhiches. I also bought a Turkey Ham and am slicing it. This has saved a lot of money, as turkey ham is around $8/pound, and Turkey breast $7-8/pound. I got the breast for $1.59/pound and the turkey ham for $2.25/pound.
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Originally Posted by Momtwice
Joining the thread...how exactly did you slice it thin enough for a sandwich? I end up with these thick slabs of meat...
To the OP the website in the OP is fantastic! |
It is quite a bit thicker than deli meat, even so, but it is working. The kid isn't complaining, at any rate.
) will definitely save.|
Originally Posted by wife&mommy
I would love to know how to do your #2 and #3 as well!
I have been taking couscous, making as normal, and then putting spices and about 1/4 cup parmesan cheese in at the end and it is really good. I saw Racheal Ray make one the other day that looked yummy too with herbs and peas. |
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Originally Posted by lmonter
I do make our own spaghetti sauce from mostly scratch, using a tweaked recipe of MIL's. Scroll to the bottom of this entry, and you'll see the separate ingredients and then the finished product. I do pre-chop some of the stuff and cook the sausage beforehand so the day I'm chained to the stove for 4 hours isn't so much longer because of prep time. For all of that (tomato sauce, onions, mushrooms, green peppers, spices, olive oil, sausage, tomato sauce, tomato paste, olives and maybe something else) I spent about $15 total - $7 of that was sausage, and $1.89 of that was a 106oz can of tomato sauce from Costco. Figuring out the servings, it was like $.42-$.50/serving, plus the pasta is about $.10/serving because I have a giant stash of it downstairs. Don't know if that's cheaper than the stuff you get though, but my dh sure appreciates it...
ETA: My serving size for spaghetti sauce is about 6 ounces, my boys *really* like their sauce and the yummy chunky stuff in it. |
I know I'm a bit late, but can I please join in too? I've been lurking since this thread was started, and after crunching some numbers came to the embarrassing realization that we are spending AS MUCH or MORE on our food than we are on our mortgage. That is just STUPID and ridiculous. And well, I guess I need some serious help. 
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