I am working on cutting back the amount of money I spend on groceries. Over the years I have tried making my own convenience mixes and I spent the better part of today replenishing part of my stock.
This first recipe isn't a mix, but it is a substitute for one. I love chocolate milk and have in the past bought Nestle's Quick or Ovaltine for that purpose. Prices have gone up and I just can't justify paying that much for an indulgence. So I made a batch of chocolate syrup, similar to Hershey's.
Chocolate Syrup
1/2 Cup dry cocoa
1 1/2 Cups sugar
1 Cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Sift cocoa. Whisk into water over medium heat. Add sugar and stir to dissolve. Bring to a rolling boil and stir constantly for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in salt and vanilla. Cool. Store in fridge. Will keep for several months.
I have stopped buying brown sugar. I make my own, usually 4 cups at a time. For every cup of granulated sugar I add 1 Tablespoon of molasses. Using either a stand mixer or a hand held one, I stir the sugar and molasses together on a medium speed setting, scraping the sides of the bowl now and then, until they are completely combined. I can't tell the difference between store bought brown sugar and my homemade.
I am getting low on laundry soap, so I made another batch.
Laundry Soap
1 bar Fels Naptha soap (I use whatever bars of soap I have on hand - 1 bath size bar or 2 smaller bars.)
1 Cup Washing Soda
1 Cup Borax
(Washing Soda and Borax can be found in the laundry soap section of the grocery store.)
Finely grate the soap. Stir in the Washing Soda and Borax and blend well. Use 1 Tablespoon per washer load.
I dearly love a cup of cocoa in the evenings or sometimes I will have cocoa and toast for breakfast. This isn't the Swiss Miss type of cocoa, but more like what Mother made by heating milk and adding cocoa powder and sugar.
Hot Cocoa Mix
5 Cups dry milk
3 Cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 Cups cocoa powder
1 Cup dry coffee creamer (like Creamora)
Sift the ingredients together and mix until well blended.
To use, stir 1/3 Cup of the mix into a mug of hot water.
Toss in a few mini marshmallows for an extra treat.
I know that the Jiffy cornbread mixes are fairly inexpensive, but I like the taste of my homemade mix better.
Jiffy Cornbread Mix
4 Cups flour
4 cups yellow cornmeal
2 Cups dry milk
3/4 Cups sugar
1/4 Cup baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Put all the ingredients in a large bowl and blend well.
To use: Beat 1 egg and 1 Cup of water together with a fork. Stir in 2 1/3 Cups of the mix and 1/4 Cup melted butter. Bake at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes. This makes an 8 x 8 pan of cornbread or 12 corn muffins. Good just buttered but even better with a little honey drizzled on.
That was enough for one day. I have a few other mixes to make, but that will keep until next week, as I have other projects going that need to be finished. I store all my mixes in canning jars, well labeled, so I don't accidentally try to wash a load of clothes with cornbread mix. Don>t ask. :)
I like to have convenience foods like mixes on hand, but don't like paying the prices in the stores. And by making my own mixes, I know what is in them. Win - win!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Many thanks groceries are so expensive!
ReplyDeletedeb...I like mixes because they make it easier for me to cook for myself, but the prices are making it hard to stretch a dollar. I can sit st my kitchen table and put together mixes and save money. Just makes sense to me.
DeleteHi Vicki, I really had no idea that's all brown sugar was lol!
ReplyDeleteHey Jenn...I didn't know that either until I saw a video of someone making their own brown sugar. I tried it and it worked! I keep both granulated sugar and molasses in my food storage, so now I never have to buy brown sugar. Amazing what we can learn from YouTube. :)
DeleteI love all your posts but really love the ones that I start to read and grab a notebook at the same time. I have fond memories of Jiffy mix and was sad when I couldn't find it here in Canada. Thanks! Can't wait for the other recipes.
ReplyDeleteGot into the garden over the weekend to plant out my peas that I started and my greens. Also put in some seeds right into the ground.
I tired to comment on your last post but captcha didn't like me for some reason. hope this works.
SJ in Vancouver
SJ...Sometimes I will resort to a recipe post when I have nothing else to write about, but this time I really am working on building up my supply of homemade mixes. They just make cooking so much easier when I don't feel up to standing at the stove. I used to buy lots of the Jiffy mixes, too. Prices here have gone up on them and when I found a recipe for a cornbread copycat, I tried it and liked it. I will post more soon.
DeleteI have tried to get rid of the captcha every way possible. Blogger 'Help' tells me I am stuck with it. There are some blogs that have it and I have just ignored it when commenting and my comment published anyway. And some make me use it. I wish I could make it go away, but no luck so far.
Nobody is planting much of anything here. There has been severe flooding in some areas that is not only sad for those poor folks who are affected by all the water, but I fear it will cause food prices to skyrocket. We, on the other hand, are told to expect up to a foot of snow starting Thursday. Swell! Today is in the 50's, so I am enjoying the spring breezes while I still can. :)
I make all of those minus the chocolate syrup. I'll have to try that one. Thanks for the recipe
ReplyDeleteKristina...I love using the homemade mixes, not only because they cost less than store bought, but mostly because I know what is in them. The chocolate syrup not only makes a good glass of chocolate milk, but is good over ice cream as well.
DeleteVicki, I will be adding each of your recipes for the mixes and syrup to my little notebook for homemade foods. Saving money and having a way to make those items if I am unable to purchase them makes great sense to me as well. Oh, and so happy you had a great doctor's report and time with family. Sounds like you may need to be ready with the green fuzzy blanket and more hot cocoa to get through one last snowstorm....it's coming! Take care, CW
ReplyDeleteCW...I am keeping a notebook of all this kind of stuff, too. It occurred to me, rather belatedly, that if the power ceases to exist, all the computer backup in the world will do no good. Can't run a generator in an apartment. So into spiral notebooks goes everything I need to keep.
DeleteI wonder how grocery prices will be affected by all the flooding. I have been hearing about millions of acres being under water and much livestock lost. I have on hand most everything I need to make the mixes. When some called me crazy for buying sugar and flour in 25 lb. bags, I did it anyway and I am glad I did. I guess I feel somewhat vindicated when a kid asks me if I have any extra dish soap (Right there in that cupboard, Son.) or wants to know if I have an extra jar of mayo (Third shelf down in my closet pantry - same kid.). I stopped ordering bread from the store. Freezer holds several bricks of dry yeast - buckets hold at least 100 lbs. of flour. And I can make the mixes without needing to go to the store. Yep - makes all the sense in the world.
By the way...the hot cocoa mix is even better if you toss in some malt powder. Kind of like a hot chocolate malt!!
I have been hearing the nasty rumor that we could get up to a foot of snow starting Thursday. Most definitely green fuzzy blanket, hot cocoa and a good murder mystery time. :)
Ok, so I thought I was the only one who made my own chocolate syrup!! It is sooo good! Will have to try the cornbread one, hadn't seen that before.
ReplyDeleteAnd congrats on the great report from the doc!! 36# down is fantastic!! Keep it going!!
We are east of you, and supposed to get snow on Thursday also. I hung out clothes today as it was 71. I am so done with snow. We are will into "mud season", I don't want to go backwards, I want spring!!!
Suz...I used to make the chocolate syrup often. If I am going to be honest, I have to admit I have gotten lazy. It was easier to just get store bought than take the time to make it myself. But all the talk about the flooding and the effect it will have on grocery prices sort of knocked me out of my lazy streak. Time to get serious. Past time, actually!
DeleteThanks for the congrats on a good Dr. report. I can't really take a whole lot of credit on the weight loss. The truth is that the water pills work like crazy. :)
We had a lovely day here as well. I just checked the local forecast and it seems we are right in the middle of a good sized storm warning. Nuts!! I want daffodils and lilacs. Mostly lilacs. Soon. Please!
Thank you sharing the recipes!
ReplyDeletesbrgirl...You are welcome. I may turn this into a series as I have lots more of the same kind of 'make it yourself' recipes - some I have tried and others I have not. I think it is always good to have a backup should we not be able to buy some of those things we like.
DeleteMy grandma made frosting for every cake by using cocoa power. My aunt gave my mom a recipe for hot cocoa mix just like yours. We go through so much laundry soap every month with 5 of us that I couldn't make it fast enough. Cake mix goes on sale here about every month or two. 4 for $ 5.00 I think. But we have cut back on sweets. Ok I try then, its cookie time and i fold, or stretch it out over a couple of days...
ReplyDeleteRob...That sounds like the same frosting I have made for years. I really like this cocoa mix. Reminds me of the cocoa Mom used to make. As far as the laundry soap goes, it takes up less space to store than liquid or even powder from the store and lasts a long time because I only need 1 Tablespoon per load. And it is way cheaper to make my own than it is to buy it. I'm all for saving money. :)
DeleteWe buy the soap pods. Smaller takes up less space and its pre measured. I grew tired of the empty soap boxes, which you could burn. The liquid bottles was a recycling nightmare.
DeleteRob...What works for me doesn't necessarily work for someone else. I make my own laundry soap because it is cheap to make and I can get about six months of laundry loads out of a quart jar of soap. And as you know, storage space here is at a premium. :)
DeleteVicki, this is a lot of work. But then again, it saves time and money in the long run. The satisfaction of creating your own mixes with your own preferences, which eliminates some ingredients that you may not want or may negatively impact your health, is like icing on the cake. Great inspiration, thank you!
ReplyDeleteFern
Thanks, Fern...There is some work involved, but I am retired and live in an apartment. I don't have the demands on my time like others do who are farming or homesteading.
DeleteThe reasons are three fold. I need to save money and this making of my own mixes and even the canning and cooking from scratch helps.
I know what goes into each mix or even into the foods I can. My health isn't terrible, but it isn't the best, either, so staying away from foods filled with chemicals is a good thing.
And when I make up several recipes like the cornbread, that is just one more thing I can store for when the time comes that I really need what I have stored. And that time seems to be edging closer every day. Or maybe it is more like a runaway freight train. At any rate, whatever we can do helps.
oooooooo thank you for these!! love making my own!! :)
ReplyDeleteMary...I'm basically a lazy cook, so mixes work for me. :) I've got a few more that I will post in a day or two. Saw your Table Talk this evening - good job. And glad you are feeling better.
Delete