One More Recipe!!! *updated

Homemade Graham Crackers

Here's a recipe I got from my cousin's wife just this morning and I made them in like ten minutes and my kids love them.  They are especially good with a glass of milk!
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 Tbl. brown sugar
1/2 cup butter (room temp.)
2 Tbl. honey
2 Tbl. milk

Mix dry ingredients. Cut in butter. Add the honey & milk. It will be crumby. I ended up mixing by hand but I bet a food processor would do the trick. Roll out on parchment paper until 1/4 in. thick and transfer to cookie sheet - paper and all. Score with fork and cut with roller. I made mine mini-sized and they are soo cute.  Bake 5 min. at 400 until lightly brown.

*For the life of me I CANNOT get them crackery in 5 minutes even though my cousin swears she can.  I must cook them for 10-12 minutes.  So, see which you like!

Scratching the Itch.

I love this picture of Peter.  He got into some Pero and somehow managed to get it perfectly on his face so he looks like an old hobo.  I love it but it has very little to do with this post...

In an effort to save loads of money AND still eat healthy - I have resorted to making nearly everything from scratch.  And in doing so I've been pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable it actually is - AND that it really does save us several hundred dollars a month!  I also love the feeling that if I've got a few basic ingredients I can feed my family really well.   In making things from scratch I aim for not inferior, cheap food, but actually superior quality and taste; and for the most part I haven't been disappointed.   Most of what I make is so good that even if I win the lottery it's going to be hard not to continue to make it myself.  Here are some of my "go to" recipes and some estimates on how much moo-la they are saving me:


(I linked the recipe's original if I found it online - otherwise I note where I found it - the cornbread picture is not mine and was taken from the original site)

Just Like Wheat Thins(taken from Jamie's wonderful book)
These really are just like wheat thins and have great flavor except I haven't yet gotten them as thin.  Each time I make them they get better.  They cost around $.88 to make and yield nearly twice as much as you'd get in a 12 ounce box for around $3.


Ingredients
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/2 c white flour
1/4 c sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 c butter
3/4 c buttermilk
1/4 c wheat germ


Sift the first five ingredients together.  Add the butter and process in a food processor.  Add the buttermilk, and process until it forms a ball.  Set it aside for 10 minutes.  Cut the dough into four parts.  Grease cookie sheets and sprinkle them with wheat germ.  Roll each piece out on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with salt.  Cut into diamond shapes with a pastry wheel.  Baker at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.  Cool and put into a covered container.

Flour Tortillas (that don't need lard or shortening!)
 Once you taste these babies you'll have a hard time going back to the super unhealthy version you find at the store.  They're moist, soft, and healthy!  They can't cost me more than a quarter to make - and I double the recipe every time.

Ingredients:
Two cups of all-purpose flour (can make them whole wheat by substituting one cup of whole-wheat flour for white flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
3/4 cups of warm milk

Method:
Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and oil.
Slowly add the warm milk.
Stir until a loose, sticky ball is formed.
Knead for two minutes on a floured surface. Dough should be firm and soft.
Place dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for 20 minutes.
After the dough has rested, break off eight sections, roll them into balls in your hands, place on a plate (make sure they aren’t touching) and then cover balls with damp cloth or plastic wrap for 10 minutes. (It’s very important to let the dough rest, otherwise it will be like elastic and won’t roll out to a proper thickness and shape.)
After dough has rested, one at a time place a dough ball on a floured surface, pat it out into a four-inch circle, and then roll with a rolling pin from the center until it’s thin and about eight inches in diameter. (If you roll out pie crusts you’ll have no problem with this.) Don’t over work the dough, or it’ll be stiff. Keep rolled-out tortillas covered until ready to cook.
In a dry iron skillet or comal heated on high, cook the tortilla about thirty seconds on each side. It should start to puff a bit when it’s done.
Keep cooked tortillas covered wrapped in a napkin until ready to eat.
Can be reheated in a dry iron skillet, over your gas-burner flame or in the oven wrapped in foil.
While you probably won’t have any leftovers, you can store in the fridge tightly wrapped in foil or plastic for a day or so.
Makes eight tortillas.

100% Whole Wheat Bread
I already posted this recipe so I'm just gonna link to that...

I make this recipe about once every 6 days.  It makes 4 large loaves.  The bread I was purchasing before this that was of similar quality was $4 a loaf!  I think they cost me less than $0.50 a loaf.  Doing the math that means every week I save $14 on bread alone!







Pizza Dough(taken from one of my favorite cookbooks)
  I love this recipe and so does my family which means I make it at least once a week.  It makes two big hearty pizzas with chewy, tasty dough.  Because I buy my cheese at Costco in bulk - these pizzas cost me about a dollar a piece - including pepperoni!   Compare that with a large pizza from Domino's or Pizza Hut and I'm saving $14 a piece!  I make mine in a bosch which saves a lot of time since I can skip the double rise time.  The recipe below is the original by hand method.

2 1/2 c warm water
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
pinch of sugar
1 c whole wheat flour
5 c unbleached all purpose flour
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 scant tablespoon salt


    Pour the water into a large mixing bowl and sprinkle the yeast over it.  Add the sugar, whole wheat flour, and 3 cups of the unbleached flour and stir briskly with a wooden spoon for 100 strokes.  Let the mixture rest for 5 minutes.

    Stir the olive oil and salt into the dough.  Stir in enough of the remaining flour, about 1/2 cup at a time, to make a shaggy but kneadble dough; this will require almost 1 1/2 cups of flour.  Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough with floured hands for about 8 minutes, until soft, smooth, and springy.  Pour about a tablespoon of olive oil into a ceramic bowl and smear it around.  Add the dough, rotate it to coat it with oil, and cover the bowl with plasstic wrap.  Set the dough aside in a warmish, draft-free spot for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until doubled in bulk.
    Once the dough has doubled, punch it down and turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.  Knead the dough for about one minutes, then divide the dough in half.  Knead each half into a ball and sprinkle lightly with flour.  Let the balls rest for 10 minutes, then proceed with your recipe. 
    Top it with any combination of sauce and toppings that you like and bake for 20-25 minutes in a 450 degree oven.  I bake mine on a pizza stone which makes some seriously great pizza crust.

Homemade Pasta
 As I've said before - this is some cheap but heavenly food.  I try and make it once a week as well.  I can pair with a tomato based homemade sauce, some pesto, or anything I've got on hand.  So good.





Click Here for the recipe

BEST EVER Cornbread
  When I say "Best Ever" I mean it - no matter how good the main dish is, this cornbread always steals the show - it's like eating cake for dinner.  It's all real food but I can't promise it's low in calories!  I'm not sure how much it costs me - I wish I could buy buttermilk in larger quantities than half gallon.  I can make my own cornmeal by grinding popcorn kernels - and it's good!  I've also made it with whole wheat and no one minded a bit!


Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8 inch square pan.
Melt butter in large skillet. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Quickly add eggs and beat until well blended. Combine buttermilk with baking soda and stir into mixture in pan. Stir in cornmeal, flour, and salt until well blended and few lumps remain. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 





So there you have it!  Just about everything I make is from scratch but these are my basic staples that I use every week.  If you've got some other great from scratch recipes - send em to me!  

And before I forget, happy St. Patrick's Day!

p.s.  Our money saving goals have changed - we are now following Dave Ramsey's plan which means home buying is NOT in the immediate future.  But being debt free is!

Pinching Pennies...

In an effort to buy a home this summer, Mike and I have finally decided to start pinching every penny and saving every dime.  Like, EVERY dime.  We sat down last week as a family to go over the budget and see if there weren't places we could trim the fat.  And boy was there a lot of fat to trim.    Here are some of the things we came up with with an explanation to follow:

• No More Eating Out
• Half Our Food Bill
• Lowering the Utilities
• Haircuts At Home
• Second Hand It
• Babysitters On Trade Only
• Giving More Back
• PRAY!

No More Eating Out
  Ok, so we eat out.  Not a ton but way more than either Mike and I did growing up.  It happens on crazy nights when dinner just didn't come together. And since we don't like eating fast food we then choose healthier and MORE EXPENSIVE options.  And those days have come to an end.  In their place will be simple dinners like oatmeal, waffles, sandwiches, etc.


Half Our Food Bill
  Now some of you may think this is INSANE but my food bills were pretty cushy.  I hear about those moms that can get their grocery bills to somewhere around $200 a month and I am just not even close to that.  I'm more like 4 or 5 times that.  Now, when you hear that number you may think our home is full of an amazing amount of goodies and treats but it isn't.  I just have always been a food snob, having a hard time buying much prepared stuff and cheap cheeses, meats, and breads.  But experience in the kitchen and some really great gifts have made it possible for me to continue to expect a lot of goodness out of my food without paying the high price.  Meaning, I am making a huge amount from scratch.  My mom gave me a wheat grinder about a month ago and so we have finally been able to make the whole wheat bread we like without ANY additives and fluff but for about a quarter(or more) of the price.  And Mike gave me that great pasta maker which makes for VERY inexpensive meals that are REAL food and healthy to boot.  And we also are making homemade pizza once a week.  And our pizzas are killer good - each one costing us less than two dollars to make.

Lowering the Utilities
  This one is pretty self explanatory.  It basically means wearing a sweater around the house and trying hard not to turn the fire place on in the evenings.  As well as being aware of turning off lights and fans when we're not in the room.

Haircuts At Home
  Oh goodness, heaven help us!  I am so not good at this one yet but I think the only way to learn is practice.  Or if anyone out there knows of any good books or friends willing to teach me on trade???

Second Hand It
  As many of you know I love to buy second hand furniture and books but I have not ever been good at buying used clothing.  I just get so overwhelmed by the racks of ugly clothes to find the desire to rummage through them to find things.  But I am going to have to get over it.  My boys just grow TOO fast.

Babysitters On Trade Only
  Ok, Mike and I LOVE to go out together and though we don't go out weekly we try to make it out at least a couple times a month.  And when you pay the sitter between $20-$30 plus $20-$30 more for whatever you did - that adds up!  So now we're gonna try and trade sitting.  And then go on free dates which should get easier as the weather warms up.


Giving More Back 
  I remember during a finacially tight period of time growing up my Dad said that we would be trying to save money and we'd also be giving more to the Lord.  We believe everything we have is a blessing from the Lord and as we give more of it to those in need we will be able to make better use of what we have.  Works every time.  Thanks Dad for always being such a good example of this!


PRAY!
  Last but not least - actually as a base for everything that we're doing we are praying.  We're praying that we'll be able to see ways in which we can save money.  We're praying that Mike's efforts at work will go well, as well as mine.  I'm praying that I'll be able to make healthy, yummy food and know how to make it cheap.  And we're praying that we'll find the house that is supposed to be our home.  I know that our Heavenly Father WANTS us to come to him about everything we need, desire, are concerned about, are happy about, etc.  

Here are some of my favorite verses from The Book of Mormon in Alma 34:

17 Therefore may God grant unto you, my brethren, that ye may begin to exercise your faith unto repentance, that ye begin to call upon his holy name, that he would have mercy upon you;
18 Yea, cry unto him for mercy; for he is mighty to save.
19 Yea, humble yourselves, and continue in prayer unto him.
20 Cry unto him when ye are in your fields, yea, over all your flocks.
21 Cry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening.
22 Yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies.
23 Yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness.
24 Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them.
25 Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase.
26 But this is not all; ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness.
27 Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you.
28 And now behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you, do not suppose that this is all; for after ye have done all these things, if ye turn away the needy, and the naked, and visit not the sick and afflicted, and impart of your substance, if ye have, to those who stand in need—I say unto you, if ye do not any of these things, behold, your prayer is vain, and availeth you nothing, and ye are as hypocrites who do deny the faith.

So in the end, it is good.  It is hard but it is also something we've needed to do for years.  And I'd love to hear how you pinch your pennies.