Make your own pantry staples

Money is tight for families everywhere but especially if you have 4 kids. Our food budget is only $400 for the month. Yes, you read that right, $400. I cook and plan meals out for 2 weeks at a time. Over the past 2 weeks I have really felt the pinch at the grocery store. I am an avid coupon cutter and user. I have not been able to stretch my grocery dollar as much as I used to. With our food taxes and so called “convenience” foods being more expensive I have been on a mission to slash every cent that I can. I have been doing a little experiment to see if making "homemade" items is truly less expensive than their box/jar/package counterparts. I was pretty certain that yes it is cheaper and healthier to make the item from scratch but I wanted to see for myself and actually put this theory into action.

My kids LOVE instant oatmeal, but let’s face it Quaker Oats brand is $4.99 for 10 servings. That is just about .50 per packet (.49 to be exact). Sure you can find it on sale and use a coupon but you have to time it just right and lately it has NOT been on sale nor have I found any significant coupons to bring the price down to something I could live with. So my first experiment was born.
I bought an 18oz bag of quick cooking oats from Fresh and Easy, and made my own "instant" oatmeal. My kids like the maple and brown sugar kind. We know how much sugar is in those individual pouches so I put in a scant amount of brown sugar and ½ cup of liquid to. I poured 1/2 cup quick cooking oats, milk, and brown sugar into a bowl and cooked in the microwave for a little less than 1 min. Eureka! "instant" oatmeal. My kids ate every drop, never questioned the taste or consistency and I saved money. My homemade version was far healthier than the pre-packaged version.
Here's the breakdown as I see it:

• 1/2 cup quick cooking oats .10 per 1/2 cup serving ($1.28 for 18 ounce bag)
• 1/8 tsp brown sugar .001 per 1/8 tsp serving (.99 for 1 lb.)
• 1/2 cup milk .06 per 1/2 cup serving ($1.79 per gallon)

One serving was less than 17 cents. For 10 servings (the same as pre-packaged name brand) the total would be $1.70. Now let’s see, $1.70 versus $4.99. That's a savings of $3.29! To me that is significant AND I control the amount of sugar in my kids' breakfast. You cannot beat that.

This is just one of the examples of how you can make your own "convenience" foods AND save money at the same time.

Here are a few more pantry staples that I have made over the past 2 weeks and have eliminated the package/jar or box versions:

• Taco seasoning
• Spanish Rice
• Salsa
• Pancake mix
• Sweet and Sour sauce

All of the above examples tasted BETTER than their box counterpart. This is a slow progression for me. There are a few items that I need to fill my pantry with in order to make a smooth transition from a box cooker to truly homemade. I am happy with the results so far and will continue to try new recipes for my pantry staples and hopefully to save money. When you are a family of 6, every penny saved helps.