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I love your instant ice tea tip as I drink weak tea anyways and use the bag twice. I always make my own ice tea but I just filled a mason jar with some mint from my garden and getting ready to make my own ice tea this way. Now I won't have to wait for my large pitcher of ice tea to cool. Thanks. :top:
Quote:
Originally Posted by tennyis
A lot of people would love to have my recipes. But that one is a secret. I baked for the local farmer's market for 5 years, and perfected quite a few recipes, which I can't share for that reason. Yes, it cost about $2 for the ingredients for the Brownies Recipe, was a sell-out at the market, and for 5 years I earned enough money to support myself for July to September solely from my baking profits. The recipes were cheap but very good, and I sold the baked goods cheap, so had lots of regular customers.
But to each his own; if you prefer a recipe that costs you over $11.00, so be it. I won't try to convince you otherwise. I live on an earned income of less than $5,000 per year, so I've naturally utilized and perfected many homemaking skills which have resulted in giving me a good quality of living with very little expense.
Initially, when I saw this thread, I viewed it as a sharing place for those who love to bake & cook from scratch, enjoying the unrivalled benefits money-wise and healthwise. But it seems that this thread contains posts from two viewpoints--those who are genuinely frugal (kindred spirits), and those who aren't. I have no desire to compete or dispute about who's right. This is the way I live, and I wouldn't change it for anything. Even with couponning for over 3 years now, I have tried many processed foods, and find that I have no interest in buying them regularly. Too expensive, portions too small, don't taste very good, not worth it.
I prefer real food, and I know from experience that real food doesn't have to cost big.
My next post will be on frugal cooking & baking with apples.
just a question..those of you who freeze,when,say,i want to take a premade frozen meal to work how would i cook it? would i let it defrost in the fridge or take it out at work to defrost or just straight cook from frozen via mike?
Comparing like to like, scratch is generally cheaper.
I can get a 2-3 lb stewing hen for under a buck a pound, as well as onions, celery, and carrots. From that, I can make 7 litres of chicken stock (I pressure can in 1-litre jars). To purchase 7 litres of pre-made chicken stock, I would be paying probably 3 to 5 times my cost.
It's the same for pasta. If you took that whole bag of flour and eggs, you would have an enormous amount of fresh pasta. To purchase fresh pasta in the same quantity, you would probably have to pay at least 10 times the cost.
Do you use a pressure canner? How big? And if you don't mind, what brand?Quote:
Originally Posted by TheOriginalTruffles
I use my pressure cookers to make turkey stock, and I freeze it, but it takes a lot of room in the freezer. Would love to learn how to can it instead.
If you are pressure canning you must use a canner, not a cooker. Mine is about 15 years old but it is similar to this:Quote:
Originally Posted by blueeyetea
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Presto-23-...Canner/2625289
I love my canner. When I lived in a smaller place and didn't have the freezer room, I even canned beef stew.
awesome thread and great ideas. I'll be cooking more from scratch soon so these tips are timely! thanks!!!
actually yes you can ;) my brownie recipe takes about 6tbsp of cocoa powder. 1 container of cocoa powder is $3-$4 dollars and would probably be enough for like 5 batches of brownies!!!! ;) it's also a secret family recipe.. but only uses flour, butter, eggs, sugar, cocoa, baking soda...Quote:
Originally Posted by tennyis
Great ideas ladies.
Some of these have been stated before but here's what I am trying to do on a regular basis :
*Use my slowcooker and my nre rice cooker!!!( I just got it yesterday and I love it :P
*buy what's in season
*Spend 1 day(usually on the weekend) cooking up a storm and freezing it.
*making a meal plan so things don't get wasted
*cleaning and storing all fruits and veggies as soon as I get home even though I am tired so it doesn't get "lost" in the fridge somewhere or the old " Aw, I don't really feel like cleaning and prepping it now"
I also use my Vac Sealer and after buying things like cheese or meats (on sale of course)I divide it into manageable portions and remove the air for storage.
Brownies (using cocoa powder)
1/2 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.
In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook.
Allrecipes.com
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Best-Brownies/Detail.aspx
never tried them using just cocoa powder, in my recipe I use 12oz of dark chocolate. I will for sure try the recipe posted here to see the difference in them.
I don't know if I prefer spending the extra 9 bucks but you wont give me your recipe so I have no way of knowing lol. I have been on a diet for a while now, and rarely ever eat junk food so I have a feeling I would prefer my recipe and not mind spending the extra money since I might only make it every other month and when I eat something unhealthy I want to make sure I really enjoy it lol.
I'm not trying to start a debate with you, and I would love to come up with more ideas on saving money and cooking from scratch for less. I tend to watch a lot of cooking shows and have acquired a taste for expensive ingredients so that likely has a lot to do with my feeling that it is not cheaper.
Do you have any recipes for tomoato sauce that you can make for less then a $1 a jar? I find by the time I buy the fresh tomato, spices, etc it costs me around 4 dollars a jar. I also use white wine in mine so thats not exactly keeping the costs down lol.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Valiant
Hunt's tomato sauce has coupons, save $2 wub 4 cans.
I waited till it was on sale and then got it for under $1 per can.
Add some white sugar to cut the acid. Add herbs and spices, freshly ground in your mortar. Finely chop some white onions, and cook in olive oil for a few minutes, then add the sauce and cook together till done. If you want to thicken it some more, add 1 tsp cornstarch mixed in a bit of water, to the final few moments of cooking.
During the many years I made tomato sauce (before Hunts' coupons & SC), I just waited till autumn when surplus ripe tomatoes were on sale for $1 a bag. Then I bought a few bags, made my sauce, and froze it in containers, thawing and using it as needed. So in this case, I was able to make a container of tomato sauce for far less than $1.
How about defrosting it overnight in the fridge ,just follow the food guide for defrosting food Microwave I guess at work unless theres a oven. :lolsign:Quote:
Originally Posted by TudorChick
I have cooked for many years and have used pounds of shortening,finally starting to understand that theres a better more healthy way to cook ,like using canola oil and applesauce instead of shortening.chocolate tofu pudding :shrug: anyone?
Great potato salad reciepe Thanx :top:
Good tip for buying a bunch in autumn and then freezing them! I never thought of doing that. I really need to get a deep freezer and start doing more of this.
See to me using Hunts tomato sauce isn't really cooking from scratch. I have high blood pressure so I really have to watch my sodium intake and a can of Hunts according to there website has about 1500mg of sodium!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Valiant
I buy a bag of ripe apples (6-8) in the bargain bin for $1. The best ones will be firm, may have a few wrinkles or the odd cut or tiny hole, but not heavily bruised, moldy or rotten.
Wash the apples well. Then pare the skin off all the apples. Sometimes I remove the core with my corer, other times I just make a long cut on one side of the apple, then cut again 1/4 inch beside it, then wiggle my knife into the cut and crack the slice away from the apple. Continue for the whole apple. This way there is no waste. Wash apple wedges, drain, dry on dish towel. Then measure portions and freeze in bags for apple pie or cake.
Or wash apple wedges and place in a pot. Add 1-2 cups water, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 slight dash of cinnamon. Cook till tender-crisp. 3-4 slices makes a nice fruit dessert as is, or more can be used as the base for apple cobbler dessert.
Or cook till tender, cool, and blend in blender till smooth. Return to pot; add 1tbsp flour to 1/4 cup of water and make a smooth paste; add to apples and cook till bubbling to make applesauce.
Use applesauce as is, or use it for muffins, applesauce loaf, etc.
PS: I do not use the cores, because of the cyanide in the appleseeds.
I put them in the garden soil to compost. And I don't use the peelings because of pesticides and wax residues.
The apple seeds will often grow into a nice little ornamental apple tree, but probably won't produce fruit.
All this from the basic $1 bag of apples.
(won't be back for awhile, so happy scratch-cooking!)
First time I lurk on that side of SC!!!
I'm baking, cooking from the scratch almost all the time and find this way cheaper than pre-mix from grocery store. When you do stuff from the scratch, you search the deals on scratch! This is often a lifestyle at all. Like couponning!
If for coupon hunting I love the city, I prefered so far my campain and wood to give me (often for free) so many fruits and veggies. This is time to do stockpile by freezing, canning and dehydrating stuff when they are in season. Mine is already started!
I have canned my asparagus soup for the year and freeze some asparagus too.
I have freeze my comestible fern, yes this is free when you know where to go.
I have made my lilac jelly last week, this have cost the sugar and lemon.
I also can my rhubarbe compote, an other easy thing to obtain for free here in my area. Again, this have cost only the sugar.
Button of daisy are in perfect time now in my area, so I will do button daisy pickling, that is my fancy caper! I do the same with nasturtium. This is also free or I just have do buy vinegar or do my vinegar with a vinegar-mother.
I have learn (and still learning) stuff about wild plant that are comestible. So early in spring I started to use it to cook and eat.
Now I'm waiting the local strawberry and the wild one because I'm living on the wood/campain.
The wild blackberry are in flower here right now, just go for a walk and I spot them, in few week I will go and grab it to freeze it, do compote, jam and jelly. Not far of my house, there is a wild apple tree, in fall I take the apple and make compote, jelly and pectin for furter purpose in the year.
My neightboor a dairy farmer have automn raspberry in his garden. He have to much and he give me the extra. I just have to pick it every 2 days. Last year I've got more than 60 liters of raspberry from him for free. And it was only 1/4 of the production of his plant.
I buy my stuff at bushel level when this is the season and I process it for the year.
If you bake alot, you search for a deal on flour... Myself I know I use more than 15kg per month, so I buy it in bag of at least 10kg, often 20kg. I have the container at home to keep it good.
If I saw a deal on sugar and vinegar, I buy it and stock it for my futur need in season.
This is a lifestyle, like couponning! Combination of both is fantastic to lower the cost!!!
I'm exhausted just reading that!:tongue:
Good for you!!!!
I'm envious. When I lived in Victoria, I knew where to go to get a lot of free fruit to can. However, here in Edmonton, I have no idea. Before kids, my DH and I lived 3 years in the North and whilst there we had access to a lot of game meat (moose, elk, caribou), fish (trout and salmon), and fowl (mainly grouse). I miss it. I'm hoping when my kids are a little bit older, I'll be able to hook up with some hunters around here.
Even when restaurants make their own sauces they almost always use canned tomatoes.Quote:
Originally Posted by tennyis
Agree. There are some types of tomatoes that are canned immediately after picking that are better than fresh. One of those is San Marzano tomatoes. It's all about knowing your product.Quote:
Originally Posted by muggos0101
To: 2010ontest :-)
Your post was such a delight to read with so much interesting information, that I've printed it out for myself to give me tips on wild-crafting and wild edible plants. Please post often and share with us again; you know so many things I've only read and dreamed about doing, though I have delved into wildcrafting also.
But with your expert mentoring:smartass:, those of us who respect and love the wild things and the wild foods, will enjoy them like you.
I really want to thank everybody for their input. Much appreciated. Have started to cook and freeze meals. Makes things so much easier.
Please share.Quote:
Originally Posted by freshvintage
What did you cook and freeze?
And did you use a coupon for that meal?:cheesygrin:
I am getting hungry reading your post. LOL. It is really nice to read about all the wonderful foods you prepare. I have never heard of Liliac jelly but I like jelly better than jam so I'm sure I would love it. You are very talented to do all of this. Thanks so much for the post and sharing.:)Quote:
Originally Posted by 2010ontest
Thanks Valiant!Quote:
Originally Posted by Valiant
I'm sure you are able to find more info about this and take a look at your local environment :) Myself I have put some money on book to recognize wild plant, wild flower and tree in Canada and more specifickly in Québec where I live. When I go outside I observe, this is the key to identify. I observe alot, in spring, in summer, in fall and in winter. Plant don't have the same look all around the year. In the kitchen, the use come easily to me, I'm like that. Often I made substitution or adaptation from other recipe and this work for me.
Unfortunatly, I don't think I will add alot of recipe or tip here about it. Not because I don't want, but mostly because my mother tongue is french and I have diffculties to wrote it in english... my english is not fluent when this is time to talk about it (I have limited vocabulary!) And because I do already a blog about homecanning, preserving and other thing like that in french ;)
Lilac jelly have a particular taste :) I have 2 different lilac at home, the early one more dark and with double flower share a taste with cherry taste + the specific lilac flavor.Quote:
Originally Posted by Scottishgal
If you have a small round dehydrator (my mother in law give me one, she take it on garage sale or at some kind of help center for few buck) you could dehydrate raspberry and made a wonderfull tasty powder with a mortar and pestle or more easily with a coffee grinder (this cost around 15$ new or you could found it on garage sale). The raspberry powder is so good in alot of baking!!!
With the dehydrator, you could dehydrate also strawberry and other berry fruits to add it with the cereal. My kids love this so much. And dehydrated fruits take less space and are keep at room temperature instead of freezer. I keep it in mason jar or in a big 4L glass jar (those use for pickle by the industry, restorant, cafeteria, etc) that my mother recup at is work for me :)
This year I will try lilac flower dehydrated for toping goat cheese to add on salad :)
congratulation! With time this come easy and easy :)Quote:
Originally Posted by freshvintage
Great information, everyone!
Valiant and 2010ontest - wowsers, thanks for explaining things so well! Lots of ideas!
And 2010 - your English is amazing, so please don't let that stop you from posting. You really wouldn't want to read any posts I would do with my high school French, so hugs to you for doing so well with English! :)
Interesting thread. I've been cooking from scratch since I started making cakes at age 11. It's more time consuming, but can't be beat for savings, taste and health.
These days I've also been saving with wild plants - raspberries, rhubarb, dill, chives, apples and green onions. They're often garden strays which I find in the back lane. Nobody else seems to care about them.
Lately, I've also been using Julia Child's "The Way to Cook". It's full of simple tips which have helped improve my cooking. Don't want your hard-boiled eggs to crack? Stick a pin about a quarter inch into the large end of the egg before boiling.
I will share a link to a website on how to make bone broth:
http://www.natmedtalk.com/recipes/24...one-broth.html
I had never tried it before, gave it a whirl and oh my it was so good! What I love is how you can throw into it what would ordinarily go into the garbage (peels and such) and turn it into a delicious broth!