Low cost recipes - Stretching the grocery dollar - Frugal lifestyle 2008

Here are a few recipes that will get you started on your way to saving some money at the grocery store for 2008.
Lets start with homemade biscuits.
Before you hit the back button first read on , their not as complicated or messy as grandmas were...as a matter of fact even when grandma did it there were still nly 24 hours in the day .

Biscuits aren't just for breakfast anymore !
They can be served along with almost any lunch or dinner, In place of that second more expensive cut of meat.
Bread costs are almost $2.5o per loaf - this is a nice cheaper alternative.


Homemade biscuits

3 c. flour
6 oz. shortening
2 c. buttermilk - whole milk - skim milk or prepared powdered milk
1/3 c. water for texture
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 tsp. sugar (for browning)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder for fluffiness

Mix flour, salt, sugar, baking powder and shortening into fine crumbs.
Add buttermilk and water gradually until light and tender.
Turn out onto a floured surface.
Knead well.
Cut out and place on greased pan. (cookie sheet)
Bake at 425 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until brown.

SAVE$$$ and time ! - Double the batch , cook half and freeze the second batch by placing the entire cookie sheet into the freezer untill they are frooze.
Remove each biscuit from the pan, place in a ziplock bag and freeze (working quickly so they dont thaw)
Take out as many as you need , allowing time to thaw , Bake and serve.
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Here's one for the kids , before school, it's quick and easy for them and will save you tons of money !

Homemade pancakes

2 Eggs (seperated)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup oil or applesauce
1 cup milk (regular milk, powdered milk or butter milk - adds some consistency)
1 1/3 cup flour
1 tsp. vanilla (opt)

Beat egg whites until stiff - set aside.
Beat egg yolks, add sugar and salt, beat in.
Add baking powder, beat until just mixed in well.
Add flour, milk, and oil.
Beat until smooth(not too much otherwise the baking powder won't react correctly) add vanilla.
Add egg whites to batter and FOLD gently.
Let batter sit for 15-30 minutes prior to cooking.

You can either use the recipe above and make them home made or buy the cheapest store brand of pancake mix and make the whole box.
Why ?
Well your gonna pre-cook and freeze them in large batches.

I have 4 teenage boys and one teenage daughter , I precook and separate them into stacks of 4 small pancakes.
Once cooled I put them into sandwich sized ziplock bags and freeze them, removing as much air from the bag as possible before freezing them.
Each morning they have a very low cost - healthy breakfast before school.

Now mind you im only slightly awake at 6:00 AM and a hot breakfast is simply out of the question on school mornings so this really beats the other altenative of cold cereal which is very expensive in itself, not even including the $5.00 a gallon milk.
It takes me about 2 hours, once every two weeks, to make enough pancakes to last them for two weeks.

For pancake syrup - Of course I dont have my ancestors patients to milk my own maple trees lol
I buy the cheapest store brand of pancake syrup , I even water it down slightly once some is gone from the bottle to stretch it even further.
Thats not gross !
I was a waitress for 20 years and The resturaunts do it every day.

My children also love strawberry preserves on their pancakes instead of syrup.