Ask:
I am quitting my part time job as of Jan 27th and I am trying to figure out ways to save us money I see alot of people talking about cooking from scratch and I would love to do this but I really have no idea how to make that transistion.
SO any help recipes, ideas and or websites to check out would be great
Thanks
Ann
Answer:
I cook mostly from scratch. It's easier than you think (I rarely follow recipies, just the basic premise of them). Just think about the things you are eating now, then just make them. The thing is, when you make them you will have more of it for less money, you can freeze the leftovers or use them for lunch. If you give me an idea of what you are eating now, I can probably help you a little more.
I make a big pot of soup at least once per week, so I always have carrots, celery, onions, and garlic on hand. I like to have salads, so salad stuff. If you shop Monday mornings, the meat dept usually marks down there meat for a quick sale, you have to make something that day or freeze it, but there is a huge savings. The healthies items are on the perimater of the store. The stuff in the middle is usually the processed stuff, I try to stay away from that. Big pots of stuff goes the farthest, chili, spaghetti sauce, soup, casseroles. If you make a spaghetti sauce once per week, you can use it one day for sauce and noodles, the next you could make a lasagna or egg plant or chicken parmasian or turn either of those into sandwiches, stretch it further buy making some pizza crust (or buy frozen bread dough) and use your sauce on it and make pizza. You can put just about anything on a pizza crust and add cheese and it is good (taco, bbq, veggies, breakfast stuff).
My favorite cookbooks are the Taste of Home. My mil just got me a subscription for christmas. It has lots of everyday stuff that is easy to make. You can also check out allrecipes.com on line and type in what you have on hand and it will give you suggestions as well as ratings on whether it was good when someone tried it.
Answer:
See if your library as the magazine Taste of Home. Other good ones are Quick Cooking (I think they changed the title to Simple and Delicious). These are a goldmine of great recipes. The series of cookbooks called Top Secret Recipes are also good.
Try hillbillyhousewife.com; miserlymoms.com; menus4moms.com; lazygourmets.com; allrecipes.com (I like this one because it has a rating system so you can see what other cooks said about a certain recipe); recipegoldmine.com
Many recipes are available on foodnetwork.com but most of them are too gourmet for my family. I like to check out 30 minute meals and Paula Dean (my dh calls her the crisco lady)
Answer:
One thing I do, is not buy any pancake mixes, waffle mixes, muffing mixes, cake, cookies, etc. I just keep plenty of flour, all the leavenings, yeast, oil, vanilla, etc. So if I need anything like that, I can just whip up what I want. Just a Betty Crocker cookbook or something similar is all you need. Or of course any of the websites above. I bake my own bread too.
You can do it! It just takes a little more planning, or sometimes a little less planning as I love not having to count on having a cake mix or pancake mix on the shelf when I want to make something
Answer:
yep i agree good ole betty crocker cook book has all your basics you need plus like others said surf the net. also try cambels soup website they have alot of quick simple yummy meals...start slow it is easy once you start.
Answer:
The trick is too cook in large quantities so you can freeze enough for another meal. That way you have some ready made meals when you dont feel like cooking. Learn how to can so you can make jellies and spreads when the fruit is on sale. IT taste way better then store bought , its healthy and you will always have a stocked pantry. I'm make my own bread but with a bread machine. I like to make the fancy ones but teh plain white isnt more then a dollar a loaf anyway so dont feel pressure to make that. I know it was already said but if you learn how to make biscuits and pancake mix from scratch then you will never have to buy the mixes and save some money. I only buy bisquick when they are almost giving it away. If I dont have any then I make my own. You can save the most buy staying out to the snacks. Make your own snacks. I save by only useing powder milk for bakeing. Try aldis or savealot for staple items.
Answer:
I love all the help ladies thank you so much. I love the menu4moms site and the other ones are helpful also.
I guess we really don't have set things we eat because I like to try new things. Here are a couple recipes I would ove to have, feel free to slip in a few of your favorties also.
Spaghetti sauce
cheese sauce
noodles(do you think you can make them cheaper then buying?)
Pizza crust
Also what kinds of things do you make for lunch?
Answer:
people say they love my spagetti sauce
2 cups of canned diced tomatoes ( or fresh when is cheaper)
2 3 oz cans of tomatoes sauce
1 4oz can tomatoe paste
1 cup water
2 cloves chopped garlic
1/2 cup chopped onion ( I buy onions on sale then dice and freeze them)
1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
2 teaspoons of salt
1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 small bay leaves
Combine in a stock pot and simmer 1 hr uncovered.
Thsi should make enuogh for two meals.
Answer:
Basic white sauce: heat 2 T flour and 2 T butter over medium heat till combined. Slowly add 1 c milk. Stir constantly. It takes a bit but it thickens up. Add salt and pepper according to taste. To make cheese sauce add velveeta cut up and heat through till melted.
Mil makes a basic white sauce, adds cooked pea, cut up cooked potatoes, and salt according to taste. Heat through. The girls eat it up.
Answer:
simple lunches: cold meat sandwiches, tomato soup and grilled cheese, salad, potato bar, fruit and cheese tray, egg salad sandwiches, tuna salad sandwiches, pizza made on english muffins.