I am all about convenience. I have three kids, six and under. They require attention. All. The. Time. They are like little energy suckers. Cute energy suckers, mind you, but energy suckers nonetheless. So if there are ways I can make meal time faster in the kitchen, I want to do it. But convenience foods that you purchase in the grocery store aren't always budget friendly. Not to mention the homemade versions are usually much healthier. Here are 5 convenience foods that you can make for yourself at home.
1.
Pancake Mix. Seriously, when you buy a mix in the store you are probably adding eggs and milk to the mix. If you make the mix at home, you are only adding a bit of sugar, salt, and baking powder to that. Three extra ingredients. Really not all that time consuming. And you can always make a huge batch of this to store in your pantry. Just take your favorite pancake mix, double, triple, quadruple the recipe of just the dry ingredients and store it in an airtight container.
2.
Taco Seasoning. Have you ever looked at the ingredients of storebought taco seasoning? A lot of salt, and other ingredients you probably can't even pronounce. I love that I have a jar of taco seasoning in my pantry at all times for whenever I am in a mexican-type dinner mood.
3.
Yogurt. The yogurt aisle is where I find myself the most frustrated in the grocery store. It seems like almost every brand contains some type of alternative sweetener -sucralose, asparatame, etc. I'm all for cutting back on sugar, but I'd rather have good ole' refined sugar any day over all those weird, bad-tasting,we-don't-know-what-it's-doing-to-us sweeteners. By making yogurt at home you can avoid this. Though yogurt takes hours to make, most of it is just incubating time. The initial work is pretty simple. And you don't need any fancy yogurt maker. I actually got rid of my yogurt maker awhile back because I prefer to use a small cooler and some mason jars. For a tutorial on how to make your own, check out
The Frugal Girl's blog.
4.
Breakfast wraps. Hmm, breakfast wraps. Okay, truth be told I'm not a huge fan, but my husband loves them! You don't have to shell out some cash in the drivethru when the craving hits. Just fill some tortilla wraps with some scrambled eggs, sausage, salsa, and basically whatever you want, wrap them up, freeze them flat on a cookie sheet so they don't stick, and put them in a big freezer bag when they are frozen. Just take one out and pop it in the microwave when you want one!
5.
Granola. I LOVE granola. But everytime I see it in the store I am floored at how they charge so much for a little bag. Especially since it is mostly just OATMEAL!!! I get my oatmeal in bulk, either at the grocery store or a local amish store, and it is cheap. Making my own granola is easy, and a fraction of the cost. Granola recipes are everywhere online, but one that I like to use can be found
here.
Making your own rather than buying can save you money and be healthier for you. And many times it isn't as difficult as it seems, it just takes a bit of practice getting into the groove of things!
