There are so many things that we people buy at the store (I have been guilty) that can simply be made at home and for much less money. When we make things at home - we not only save some money, but we know exactly what is in our food!!!! That is huge. No fillers, no chemicals, no ingredients you CAN'T pronounce!!!!!
People love the convenience and the stores take advantage of it. They charge you a small fortune for basic and simple eating. Take a few minutes and do your preparations and you too can have tasty and healthier foods at home. I bet in most cases, we all have the ingredients on hand - we just don't want to spend the extra time!
A FEW IDEAS
- French fries - so easy. Just peel (or not) and cut clean potatoes. Season and go! Can fry, bake or air fry - super easy and super tasty.
- Chicken nuggets - easy-peasy. Cut you chicken into bite size pieces or even strips, coat with egg or buttermilk - coat with your favorite coating (flour, bread crumbs, cornmeal, etc.). Fry, bake or air fry. YUM
- Brown sugar - plain old sugar with molasses added. Light to dark - depends on amount of molasses.
- Seasoning mixes - you can make just about any flavor combination that you can think off. You can add salt or go salt free
- Shredded cheese - oh my goodness, DO IT yourself!!!! When you buy already shredded cheese you are also consuming wood pulp and goodness knows what else - to prevent clumping. Shred it as you need it
- Croutons - is simply dry and seasoned bread. Use older bread (day old) and make up a bunch if you eat salads regularly. Cut or tear bread - drizzle with a bit of oil or butter - add your seasoning and dry. Can oven dry or dry in the microwave. You can air dry easily if you didn't use oil.
- Drinks - tea and lemonade - super easy and tasty to make at home. Of course there is water too - add a slice of lemon or a squirt of lemon juice to jazz it up for a fresh taste
- Lunches - whether eating at home or taking it to work. Think about leftovers - use them. Make simple items that are filling and easy. Think about roll-ups - you can put absolutely anything in them and have a meal. Soups or casseroles. Sandwiches - there is no limit to having an inexpensive lunch
- Tartar sauce - super easy. Mayo, relish and maybe a bit of lemon juice and horseradish (if you choose). Make it as you need it.
- Hummus - super easy. Chickpeas, a dab of oil and flavorings of your choice. Healthy and tasty - no need to keep dip on hand all the time. Open a can of chickpeas and GO!
- Fancy coffees - stay out of the shops!!!!!!! Make your own. You may need to experiment a little - but it is so easy to make your own. Saves a small fortune!!!!!! Those fancy coffees are expensive. There are recipes all over the internet for making your own
- Sweets and snacks - so easy and so much variety. Make cookies, muffins, pies or cakes. You can make super easy homemade ice cream or freezes. Smoothies, homemade chips - fry, oven or air fry. Have fresh fruit or fresh veggies with some hummus! Popsicles (made with Kool-Aid or fruit juice). Yogurt or frozen yogurt. Pizza bites. Dip, cheeseballs, spreads. Ice cream sandwiches - use cookies and ice cream - so much variety! Use your imagination. SAVE $$$$
- Breakfast foods - make batches of pancakes or waffles and freeze. Can heat in the toaster or microwave. Breakfast burritos - add whatever you want. Wrap and freeze. Breakfast biscuits or bagels. Add egg, sausage, ham, bacon, cheese or whatever you want. These are easy to grab, heat and go!!!!! So tasty, inexpensive and tastes much better than fast food.
We can save so much money by just doing things at home. Stop going out to eat and going out for snacks. Make your own. You will be amazed at how much better homemade tastes than store bought.
THURSDAY I will list a few quick and easy recipes for those "make it instead of buy it" ideas. Mixes, soups and drinks, misc.
******************* NOTICE TO ALL:********************
On a different note - here is a heads up. Blogger and Google are changing things up again. UGH! We all know I hate change. I will show you the notice I got. For those of you who get EMAIL notices of the blog - not sure - but those may stop for a bit. My notice (when expanded) says I may not have to do anything - but who knows!!!! If you stop getting notices for a bit - please remember I post EVERY Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday - so check another way!!!! I literally haven't figured out how to fix this - their directions are as clear as mud!
PLEASE let me know if email notices STOP as of July - so I can try to figure this out. Hopefully all just goes on as normal!!!!!!!
Hopefully all just keeps going like it is. Fingers crossed!!!!
Have a great day - see you tomorrow. Stay cool and safe my friends!!!!
Food prepared by your own lily white hands is ever so much better! So glad you pointed out that there is wood pulp in shredded cheese. We watch a guy on YouTube who goes to restaurants (usually fast food) and goes through the ingredients in the items. We thought we might try Chick Fil A sometime but not now. There are tons of salad dressings, usually filled with yucky ingredients. It is so easy to make a tasty dressing. Good point about brown sugar, which clumps up just about as soon as you buy it.
ReplyDeleteI will check for new posts if they don't show up via email.
Yep - so much better made by hand. There are so many yucky things in the things we buy. People would be just amazed!! A while back I stopped at Taco Bell and used a GC I had. It had been at least 2 years for me - that was not ground beef!!!!! I don't know what it was - weird consistency!!!
DeleteWe tend to pull down the blinders and ignore the yucky stuff.
Thanks - hopefully you still get notices.
Is the food I make healthier than store bought if I use my brown hands since I don't have lily white hands.
DeleteSure enough sweet pea! Any hands from home make it better!!!!
DeleteThank you for posting this. People need to know to pay attention to what is in your food. It is SO much better to make your own with ingredients that you are familiar with. The 'stuff' that has been allowed to sneak into 'food' is crazy to me. Funny what you said about taco bell. About 6 or 7 years ago we went to a pretty well known steak house and after taking one bite of the steak I told my husband I don't know what this is but it is not cow. I always vote for what I want with my money. And why is a meal at most restaurants so salty and so many more calories than if you would have made at home? The salt masks the taste of all the fillers and chemicals that the low quality ingredients are full of. It's crazy to me that a country such as the US is so far behind on food quality than even some third world countries. Most of them do not allow the chemicals that we do. Keep up the good work Cheryl.
ReplyDeleteWell thank you! It is amazing what we allow to be put in our bodies! I know we are all guilty at times - but it really is scary when you start reading ingredients. Just YUCK!
DeleteThey use so many methods to cover the nastiness - you are right.
Home made just better!!!
I DO SO MANY OF THESE THINGS. I just wish could bake more, but Hubs can not stay out of it and heck neither can I. I love to have a cookie jar full of cookies. I LOVE THE BACON PANCAKE IDEA. I am going to try that. My capital key is sticking.....
ReplyDeleteI don't do sweets often - I like them too much. I understand. My Mom always had a huge jar of homemade cookies sitting on the counter. I miss that.
DeleteEnjoy!
I love making my own seasonings. They are so much fun and taste so much better.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
I do too - you can really have fun experimenting. So many options.
DeleteBlessings
We do primarily homemade unless deals at our discount store are too good to pass up. We often get 5 pound bags of shredded cheese for 5.99 and they are restaurant cheese and often they do not have anticaking agents in them. Today we bought an entire case of soft chocolate cookies for 1.99 because we have kids and grandchildren visiting soon and it will be so good to have those on hand. I have an old fashioned French fry cutter like my grandmother used and it is great for getting them in the oven quick.
ReplyDeleteWOW - what prices!!! That is great. Wonderful to find shredded cheese with no anti-caking.
DeleteI bet those cookies would make good ice cream sandwiches!!!!
I have one of those old fashioned cutters too - it was Mom's. I usually just use a knife - but it is neat to use that once in a while.
Thanks Cheryl, these are such good tips and reminders! I'm guilty of buying the shredded cheese because they put it on sale so often but it definitely doesn't taste as good or have the same texture so I need to start grating my own for sure. Homemade ice cream sandwiches sound so good for summer snacks. I need to try that! Looking forward to the recipes tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right about the cheese - it gets bought because it is easy and convenient. It doesn't melt like plain old cheese.
DeleteHave a good one.
Love this!! People need to realize just how much they can actually do for themselves. I am SO looking forward to some additional tips and reminders from you. Even though I do most things on my own instead of buying pre-made, I always love others ideas. You can't know it all so I enjoy when others like you suggest quick and easy do it yourself ideas. Thank you!!
ReplyDeleteI love that everyone shares their ideas! That is all I hoped for on this blog. A sharing and caring community!!!
DeleteEver since I learned that shredded cheese had sawdust or wood pulp in it, I no longer buy it. How gross!
ReplyDeleteIsn't that just disgusting? ICK! Same here - it is so easy to shred yourself.
DeleteWood pulp in shredded cheese? 🙀 🤢 guess I’ll start shredded my own. My husband says it’s always better when I shred it, no wonder!
ReplyDeleteYep - we would me amazed at what they put in the food we buy.
DeleteThe pulp is the anti-clumping agent - disgusting!!!!
Home shredded does taste better and it melts better (ever wonder why cheese is hard to melt!!!?)
No worries about missing your posts here - I just look regularly ;). I'm going to make a Frappuccino - thanks for the idea. Mmmm, bacon in a pancake sounds heavenly.
ReplyDeleteThanks - I hope no one misses anything and things keep working as usual.
DeleteThey are soooooo good!!!! Bacon and pancakes - a perfect match!
One can always count on blogger changing. I would love to know why...a few years ago they changed, and then all my photos were like they were out of focus, unless you clicked to expand the view. Another blogger told me what to go in and change in the html. Why mine and not everyone?
ReplyDelete