Do you buy processed food because it saves you time (not money) or because you are so accustomed to it that you wouldn’t know what to do without it? Let me give you an example.
Pancakes
This past weekend I spent time with relatives. The relative I’m talking about is probably the best cook that I know. She can boil water and make it taste good. There’s nothing on earth she cannot cook and cook well (or so I thought).
While we were there the kids wanted pancakes, and of course, whatever the kids want, the kids get when it comes to food. She made as many pancakes as she could, but ran out of pancake mix, so she made other breakfast foods instead.
Pre-Programmed Habit
This cook didn’t need pancake mix. After all, pancakes from scratch are easy to make. All you need is flour, milk, eggs, a rising agent and some flavor in the form of vanilla extract, bananas if you have them or plain if you don’t. (Here’s my quick, never fail, economical no measure homemade pancake recipe).
She had all of the ingredients in her home to make homemade pancakes but she was so accustomed to purchasing the store-bought batter that she never entertained the thought of making pancakes from scratch.
Free Your Mind
If you truly want to learn to save money at the grocery store, you have to get rid of the “can’t do” mentality and think “why not?” Stop and ask yourself, “Is there a physical or mental barrier that’s stopping me from accomplishing the culinary task at hand?”
Another Culinary Example
My hubby loves to have snacks while watching the weekend sporting event du jour. Usually it consists of pepperoni, provolone and crackers. While preparing the little snack, I realized I was out of crackers. I had two choices. I could either go to the store and buy crackers or think out of the box for an in-house solution.
Homemade Crackers
- I grabbed a couple of organic soft tortillas that I had in the fridge (I usually keep them on hand because they’re great for so many different recipes). I cut them into bite sized triangles.
- I pulled out the skillet, barely lined it with olive oil and let it get hot. I then threw the triangle pieces into the skillet for about 5 or 10 seconds; just enough for them to brown and crisp up a bit. I tuned them over so both sides were brown and viola…homemade crackers (you could season them if you so choose).
My hubby actually liked the homemade crackers better than the store bought ones. The cost to make the crackers: Each 11″ soft tortilla cost .31 each (I used 2) and a tablespoon of olive oil cost pennies.
For less than a dollar I was able to make homemade crackers to complete the snack. It was much cheaper and quicker than getting in the car and driving to the store (waiting on line to pay) and then driving back home.
Lesson Learned
It pays (or saves) to think out of the box.
Tags: cooking from scratch to save money, no more processed foods, think out of the box