Have you noticed the price increases at the grocery store lately? Have you taken a closer look at the ingredients list on some of your favorite products? Both are equally scary!
According to the most recent consumer price index (CPI) report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which you can find here, grocery prices rose over 4% between August 2022 and August 2023. This article helps to break down the information provided in the CPI report.
So, whether you're just wanting to save some hard-earned cash, or want more control over the ingredients in your food, this is a great list to start with!
Baking Extracts
Many of us are familiar with common baking extracts like vanilla, almond, and mint, however,
there is a whole world of flavor that can enhance your baked goods! Store-bought extracts are mostly imitation, which means they aren’t the real deal and if you want the real deal, you’re going to have to pay a pretty penny for it. Making your own extracts allows you to play around with flavors, such as fruits, nuts, and chocolate. Homemade extracts are relatively inexpensive - the cost can vary depending on the type and brand of alcohol you choose and the quality of vanilla beans or other flavorings - but overall, you'll get a lot more bang for your buck by making them at home! Here are a few recipes to get you started:
Frozen Pizza
Pizza is one of our favorite meals! A frozen or take-and-bake pizza from the grocery store made its way to my grocery cart more times than I’d like to admit. However, now that I know how to make a simple pizza dough, and delicious sauce, and grow our own toppings, we can have a better-quality pizza with very little effort. Here are a couple of our favorites:
Boxed Baking Mixes
Cakes, cupcakes, muffins, quick breads, and the like are just a few of the sweet treats we enjoy. What we don’t enjoy are the extra ingredients that we can’t pronounce. Sure, they can be convenient, and some are even pretty tasty, but homemade allows control of ingredients. With very minimal basic pantry staples, you can have a much superior quality product for a fraction of the cost. Give these sweet treats a try!
Bread/Rolls/Biscuits
Prepared biscuits, sandwich bread, cornbread mixes - all of them convenient and all of them full of junk. Many store-bought breads have added sweeteners and preservatives adding little to no nutritional value. Making your own breads is just another way to tailor your foods to your diet needs by customizing styles, flavors, and textures. Whether you're looking for sweet or spicy, these bread recipes will pair deliciously with any meal!
Chicken & Beef Stock
Homemade stocks are rich in vitamins and minerals that benefit your bones, have digestive
benefits, and can help aid in inflammation. One of the major issues with store-bought stocks is the amount of sodium. Even higher-quality versions are full of MSGs, dextrose, and other
unappealing additives. Making your own stocks does not need to be labor intensive. I use the convenience of my slow cookers to make a huge batch with minimal effort. Once it's strained, I pressure can it so that it's shelf-stable. However, you can also freeze your broth in food-safe/freezer-safe containers.
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