Cheapest things to make "from scratch"?

[Nimbus254]

So, I'm on a "make it from scratch" kick right now. Probably because I have a Sam's Club membership, and flour/spices, etc. are cheap there, so I want to learn to make as many things from scratch that I can.

I'm open to any kinds of recipes from rolls/bread (no bread machine here, though) to hot cocoa mix. Not meals necessarily, but things that will be cheaper to make on my own than it would be to buy it at the store.

If anyone can suggest some recipes or even some cookbooks that would have these kinds of recipes, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

[Domestic Gal]

I would suggest you go to recipezarr and type in what you want to make.OR just google home made recipe for ?? you are looking for.
Just read the reviews. There are 1000's of recipes for just about anything.
I make lots of things from scratch some took a few recipes that we liked and some are family recipes.
It depends on your tastes and what you like.
Church cookbooks are good cookbooks for tried and true recipes.

[rrpate]

home made noodles...mmmmmm need a big stock pot full of stock.. coffee cakes... cake in general... lots of different recipes out there... but the main ingredients.. flour. eggs. shortening or oil.. depends on recipes. pancakes, cornbread/muffins. pot pies, pie crust a breeze with pastry cutter ..if you don't have one use a fork...home made gravy with meat drippings better than any canned or jar... OF COURSE ALL THE ABOVE ARE FATTENING AS HECK! you can cut down sugar in some recipes using apple sauce... if you want to go the long route..and get yeast you can make some rising breads or rolls... don't need machine..its a work out kneading them.. hehehe but the rewards are great....

Bread - All Recipes register here all free recipies... you can find them all over...

[holamelitta]

I love the site All recipes – complete resource for recipes and cooking tips! It has tons of great recipes, and people post their reviews and tell about any changes they made to the recipe. There is also an old Betty Crocker cookbook (like from the 70's or 80') that has a lot of good "made-from-scratch" recipes in it. I know there are newer BC cookbooks, but I haven't seen those and don't know if the recipes are as good or not. If you live in an area that has 4-H or Home Extension clubs, you might see if you can find some of their cookbooks. I still have my 4-H cookbooks from 15-20 years ago, and they really do have some pretty good recipes in them. And, as a pp said, church cookbooks are always great resources!

I really like making pizza crust with this recipe: Ricardo's Pizza Crust - All Recipes. We have not eaten frozen pizza since I found that recipe several months ago - it is so much better!

[loladooder99]

Flour tortillas are easy to make and cheaper. All you need is flour,water and shortening and some baking soda i think. look on the website called hillbillyhousewife. This website has recipes to make all kinds of things homemade.

[Nimbus254]

Thank you for your suggestions!

I'm very familiar with Allrecipes.com and go on there quite a bit. I've already tried making chicken stock (had chicken carcasses and extra carrots/celery/onions on hand). It's Food-Savered in the freezer (in 14.5 oz. quantities). I haven't used any of it yet, so I don't know how well it turned out. I probably should've tasted it before freezing it.

And I've tried pizza dough, which I thought was delicious, but will roll out next time instead of spreading it with my hands as the recipe recommended.

And banana muffins because I had some very ripe bananas that I didn't know what to do with. I found out those freeze very well, and it's easy to pop them in the microwave for a few seconds and it's like they're freshly baked.

I bought a jar of yeast, but have yet to open it. I've never made anything that has to rise before, so I'm a little scared to attempt it , even though I have a bagel recipe I'm dying to try.

I read an article recently where the author tried to make a few things from scratch to see which were cost-effective to make yourself. And I was surprised to learn how simple it was to make things like yogurt, where you really only need milk and a little bit of yogurt to start. So that was the impetus for starting this thread. I haven't tried the yogurt thing yet, though. But I'm going to!

[lgoodwin]

Fry bread is Yummy and easy/cheap from scratch.
Yeast bread is yummy, but not as easy!

[TheWoman]

Honestly, if you are cooking from scratch only to save money you are probably better off using that time to get deals on HCW and using prepared foods. That said, there are plenty of advantages to cooking from scratch. Not only can you customize the food to your taste (most prepared foods are too salty IMO) but homemade foods are usually healthier than the store bought varieties.

I like to use whole wheat flour when I bake. True, I could probably buy bisquick cheaper, but it is white flour and shortening when I could use whole wheat and vegetable oil or real butter.

[shelleyf]

Here is a recipe I have been making for years. It is so cheap and very easy but the best part is that it is delicious. I taught my 11 yr. old to make it. Everyone that comes over eats them right up! If you have Hershey kisses you could make peanut butter blossoms. Just press lightly a hershey kiss in the center of each cookie immediately after coming out of the oven. They will set and crack the cookies but that is normal.

Peanut Butter Cookies
2 eggs
2 cups peanut butter
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put wax paper on a baking sheet. Drop by spoonful onto baking sheet. Cook for about 7 to 9 minutes. Ovens vary so check to see if they are browning. Remove from oven and let sit on baking sheet for about 5 minutes then lift them off with spatula. These are so easy and I found them years ago when I was looking in a cookbook for something cheap and I had all the ingredients on hand. It is a very requested recipe among family and friends. The best part is there is no flour in this recipe which makes it so much easier.

[wealthybarney]

I love Hillbillyhousewife.com & a book written in the 1990's by Amy Daczyczyn called: "The Tightwad Gazette."--online on sale at Amazon for $10. Even though this book is old, it has cost breakdowns & the math involved to compare to buying lowest sale, then buying sale AND couponing!!
Another book is called: "Make a Mix Cookery" from the 1980's-can't remember the author, but how to make even your own spice mixes & baking mixes, dry spaghetti mix, dry soup mixes, dry cookie mix, etc.

Tons of scratch recipes at both sites. My DH loves Kraft Catalina Salad Drsng. Ever since I followed the recipe from both sites for it, I have saved $$ even with the $.49 sales!
He says homemade tastes better, & we don't get all of that estrogen enhancing soy bean oil that we don't need, being in our 40's.