One thing that has been a drain to our grocery budget is the bill. By that, I mean the piece of paper that it’s printed on. It’s in Chinese. My spoken Chinese is decent, but reading Chinese…well, not so good. After our most recent grocery trip, I painstakingly translated the bill and figured out what each item on the grocery bill cost us. We are paying more than we should for several prepackaged items because they are imported. We have bought these things because either: 1) They were more convenient to buy than make ourselves; or 2) I haven’t been able to find a recipe we like as much as the prepackaged variety.
I’ve decided that this year I’m going to attempt to find recipes that our family loves for those things that are much cheaper to buy fresh than prepackaged. There are a few things that we already do. We make all of our own bread, pizza sauce, apple sauce, and granola. This year, I want to add more to the list! My list below is not quite complete. Maybe you have some ideas for things that are cheaper and healthier if I make them myself.
January: Homemade Sour Cream
February: Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
March: Homemade Cottage Cheese
April: Homemade Refried Beans
May: I’ll reduce my grocery bill by taking a trip to the U.S. and eating at everyone else’s house! :-)
June: Homemade Green Beans
July: Homemade Granola Bars
August: Homemade Pickles
September: Homemade Baked Beans
October: Homemade Salsa
November: Homemade Taco Seasoning
December: To be determined
I want to do all of these things NOW, but some of them have been on my list for quite a long time. By tackling one a month, I hope to be able to find recipes that our family loves and that save us money. Some of these things are simple fixes as soon as I find the right recipe. If I find a recipe sooner than I have planned, I’ll probably change our habits sooner than it’s scheduled. I’ll only be reporting here once a month, though!
This month’s grocery budget reducer: Sour Cream!
Did you know that if you add 1 cup of cold whipping cream with 1 Tablespoon of vinegar (I use white vinegar), you get sour cream! I didn’t, and I’ve lived in a place where I can get whipping cream just about anywhere, and say a prayer that just MAYBE the import store will still have one package of sour cream for taco night!
Does anyone have an idea for finishing off my list for this year? What are ways that you are working to reduce your grocery budget?
Sharing this post at The Southern Product Queen, Celebrating Family, We Are That Family, Crystal & Co., Women Living Well, & The Better Mom.
I found a taco seasoning mix I really like and recommend–NO MSG, and cheaper, too.
1 T chili posder
2 tsp onion powder
1 t each–cumi+9n9, garlic powder, paprika, oregano, sugar, salt, and pepper.
I mix a big batch (like triple this recipe) and use often! It'll help with your homemade refried beans too.
Also, a lil lemon juice or vinegar added to milk will give you sour milk or buttermilk for baking, too.
Easy.
And if you store the container of sourcream, or anything else–spaghetti sauce, cottage cheese, yogurt–upside down, they last about 3 times as long. NO exaggeration. It limits the exposure to air and the spores it contains.
Such good tips, Alice. I like the homemade seasoning recipes a lot! And I have never heard of storing containers upside down. Makes sense! Thanks!
*TIME SENSITIVE* Greetings from Kristen Welch (www.wearethatfamily.com) and Jen De Groot. We're compiling the best tips submitted to Works for Me Wednesday into an e-book and would love to include you. Please contact us at thatworks4me (at) gmail (dot) com as soon as possible for more details. Thanks! P.S. I really want to make pickles too!
Alice, thank you so much for your tips! I'll definitely try that taco seasoning recipe. We get a lot of MSG in Chinese food when we eat out, so I'm really looking for ways to eliminate it completely in foods that I cook. Great tips!
I am trying to make most of my recipes from scratch as well. I have a super easy pasta sauce, taco seasoning, ranch mix, and lots of others. I make the pasta sauce all the time now and do not buy the jar stuff anymore. You can always use fresh tomatoes instead of canned, but I used canned because tomatoes aren't cheap right now. Hopefully this year I will be in my new house and able to can my own
I'm a new follower from the one stop linky party and look forward to reading more about your journey!
Erika – My Road to Savings
Erika, welcome! Is your pasta sauce on your blog? I'll have to check it out! I think I may try ranch mix as well after we run out of what we have now. Thanks for the ideas!
These are some good tips. I am always looking for ways to save on groceries. I will have to incorporate some of these. I am a new FB fan visiting from Milk and Cuddles. Vicky from Mess For Less
budget101.com has hundreds of recipes for mixes and sauces. It's great for saving money but I don't know if the ingredients are available there.
Martha
We use homemade yogurt in place of sour cream.
I have a couple of killer granola bar recipes, I'll have to look them up for you.
What do you mean by homemade green beans? Home canned? I'm stumped.
I think I make everything on your list except cottage cheese, that's one of the top ones on my list for this year too! I wish I was at home cause I have all these recipes bookmarked…
Erin, it feels funny putting green beans on the list. When I was a kid I would eat green beans by the can…as in I was hungry so I'd just go open a can of green beans and eat them straight out of the can…all of them! I loved them! I've passed the love of canned green beans onto the kids. We don't like fresh green beans. Every time I've tried to make them, half of them end up in the trash. So, my goal is to find a recipe for fresh green beans that we don't have to throw away.
This is a great post! Thanks for sharing it at my linky party! I'm going to share it on my fb page and twitter! Have a wonferdul day!
Thanks so much, Southern Product Queen!
The problem I have with the homemade sour cream, isw that I can buy a 2cup (500ml) tub of sour cream for less than $2 but a litre of whipping cream costs me $6-7 – not a savings for me.
Sounds like an educational and thrifty year!
I have been posting all my spaghetti sauce recipes as I make each version a little different. Maybe you'll find one you like!
We love the recipe for Tart & Tangy Baked Beans in The Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen.
Kim, that's a good consideration. I feel like I've seen whipping cream for cheaper, but I never buy it. I haven't thought about that. Michelle may be able to get it for cheaper. Not sure.
'Becca, ooh I would love to browse through your spaghetti sauce recipes! Thanks!
Love the ideas! Congrats, your post was my #3 most clicked post on Mommy Solutions last week. So you are being featured on my page. http://www.crystalandcomp.com/2012/02/the-mommy-club-share-your-resources-and-solutions-29/
Have a great week and feel free to stop in link up again this week!
Crystal
Michelle, I feel for you, trying to cook western food in China is not always easy! Can you share your granola recipe? My husband loves to eat granola for breakfast, but it’s really expensive if you can even find it in a store here.
Here’s Michelle’s granola recipe. http://gettingthroughtheday.com/cooking/honey-bunch-of-oats-copycat-granola.html We LOVE it!