Homemade convenience foods

[Patty A]

Please share any you know, I know these always make it easier to NOT buy the stuff when you can make it at home, its much more frugal!

Hot Cocoa mix

1/2 cup cocoa powder, or powdered mix that you have (like store brand nestles)
1/2 Cup powdered coffee creamer
1/2 Cup sugar (more or less to your tastes!)
2 cups powdered milk
1/8 cup salt.
Mix well in a bowl, store in a quart sized container or coffee can!
Mix about 1/3 of a cup of mix with boiling water. Add marshmellows and drink its YUM!

[nvmommyx6]

Here is my Grandmothers recipe for sweetened condensed milk, I use it all the time!
1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup dry milk
2/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons melted butter
blend on high for 30 seconds or until mixed thouroughly and thickened
Thats it!! Add to your recipes just like you would a can of sweetened condensed milk!!

[LastDragonfly]

Borden's Sweetened Condensed Milk

3/4 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup water
1 Cup plus 2 Tbls. powdered milk
Combine all ingredients. Heat to boiling.
Cook until thick, this will take 15 to 20
minutes. This equals one can.

Here is a recipe I got from Insiders Recipes

[LastDragonfly]

e-cookbooks.net Is awesome! A friend emailed me mine. I love it so much that I had mine bound. It's 480+ pages of stuff that big restaurants and name brands serve but with the recipe broken down.

[Contrary Housewife]

Hot sauce:

1 lb chili peppers
2 cups distilled white vinegar
2 teaspoons salt

Clean and chop the peppers (remove white pith and seeds). You might want to wear gloves for this.

Simmer all ingredients in a saucepan for 5 minutes. Cool, then puree in a blender. Store in a tightly closed glass jar in the fridge for 2-4 weeks. Then strain out the pepper pulp, and save the remaining liquid sauce to enjoy.

[mommyoffive]

I am looking for an easy recipe for homemade granola bars. My kids love granola bars, but I will not buy them.

[LastDragonfly]

2½ cups rolled oats (old-fashioned or instant)
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup slivered almonds
4 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 cup raisins
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

While your oven is preheating to 300°F, spread the oats, coconut, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, wheat germ and almonds evenly on a 9" x 12" baking sheet. Bake these dry ingredients for 20 minutes, stirring them occasionally.

Meanwhile, heat the butter (or margarine), brown sugar and honey in a small saucepan, allowing the brew to simmer until the oat mixture is ready to come out of the oven. (If you or yours like really crispy granola, bake the dry ingredients an additional few minutes.) As soon as the oat mixture is out, add the raisins, stirring them into the other ingredients.


Now remove the honey from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract, then pour the hot liquid over the oat mixture and stir until all the dry ingredients are coated.

Next, press the granola firmly into the bottom of a greased 8" x 8" pan and place it in the still-warm oven to bake (at the same 300°F as before) for 20 minutes. (An 8" x 8" pan makes bars about an inch thick; if you want thinner bars, use a slightly larger pan.)


Mother Earth News

[Momto2Boyz]

I actually have a spot in my recipe box with this exact title! Here is what is in there:

Pat's (That would be DH's invention) Burger Rub:
equal parts:
black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, oregano, chili powder and a few pinches of salt. Rub on the outside of burgers before grilling.

Peanut Butter Granola:
2 TBS butter
1/3 C. Peanut butter
1/3 C. Honey
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
3 cups oatmeal
Melt, PB, butter & honey, add vanilla and salt. Add oatmeal and toss. Spread on baking sheet and bak at 350 for 10 minutes or until crisp. Just be careful becuase it burns easily! It goes from underdone to over done very quickly!

Seasoned salt:
8 TBS salt
3TBS pepper
2 TBS paprika
1/2 TBS onion powder
1/2 TBS garlic powder
Mix and store in an airtight container

Homemade Chalk
1 C. plaster of paris (unpacked)
almost 1/2 cup water
Liquid tempra paint

Mix, pour into molds (muffin tins work well) and let dry

Homemade Gatorade
I believe I found this recipe from someone here. DH takes gatorade to work in the summer and goes through about a gallon a day, so this saves us a ton. And it tastes just like the real thing!

1 envelope kool-aid (flavor of your choice)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup OJ
2 quarts water
Mix, Chill and enjoy!

Taco Seasoning:
6 tsp chili powder
4 1/2 tsp cumin
5 tsp paprika
3 tsp onion powder
2 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/8-1/4 cayenne pepper (depends on how spicy you like life!)
Mix and store in an airtight container. Add 2 tbs with 3/4 cup water to 1 pound of ground beef for taco meat!

Homemade pancake syrup:
3 cups sugar
1/2 cups cold water
3 TBS moleasses
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp butter flavor
1 tsp maple extract
(I usually don't have the last two on hand, and it is good without it. And if you don't have moleasses, you can sub brown sugar for the white sugar and it is still good)

Bring all to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Turn off burner and leave until bubbling stops. Cool completely (overnight is about right) before serving.

Homemade chocolate syrup:
My kids don't like store bought syrup anymore for chocolate milk, it has to be homemade.
1/2 c. cocoa
1 cup water
2 cups sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla
Mix the cocoa and water in a saucepan. Heat and stir until dissolved. Add sugar and once it dissolves, boil for 3 minutes. Add salt & vanilla, pour into a pint jar and keep in fridge!

And my all time favorite homemade convenience food:
Homemade Cracker Jax:
This may be a tightwad gazette recipe, I can't remember, but I love it!

3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
3 TBS corn syrup
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp vanilla
8 cups of popped popcorn

Combine brown sugar, butter, corn syrup and salt. Cook over low heat until melted. Cook without stirring for 3 minutes. Add baking soda and vanilla. Pour over popcorn and mix until evenly coated. Bake for 15 minutes at 300. And you might want to make a double batch, becuase it doesn't last long!

This is also a great x-mas gift in a tin for popcorn lovers!

[momof2joys]

These are great!!

[dcompton]

Scambled egg with any additions or seasoning you like, rolled in flour tortillas. Wrap individually and freeze. Instant breakfast.

[MomToTwoBoys]

I recommend the Reader's Digest Homemade book for anyone wanting to make things homemade. It has recipes for just about everything that you can get that's convenience.

[Teri]

I very highly recommend the Make A MIx books. I have used them for years and they have saved me tons of money. I can't recommend them highly enough to do them justice....

[Grainlady]

Don't forget Gifts-in-a-Jar recipes!!! They make wonderful convenience foods - not just gifts.

I'll second Teri : MAKE-A-MIX COOKERY and MORE MAKE-A-MIX COOKERY
by Karine Eliason, Nevada Harward & Madeline Westover

[Grainlady]

Here's a great link...

Saving Money With Homemade convenience Mixes, Bulletin 4029

http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/htmpubs/4029.htm

[elphie]

Cream of Whatever Soup
2 c powdered mil
3/4 c cornstarch
1/4 c chicken bouillon
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp pepper

To make soup add 1 1/2 c water to 1/3 c mix, to use for recipes add 1/4 c water to 1/3 c mix. If you want then add mushrooms, chunk chicken, celery, etc. (Less water or more mix will make it thicker if you want).


I also use this recipe to make homemade hamburger helper. I simply replace 1/2 of the water with milk and add to ground beef. For stroganoff I add 2 T sour cream and egg noodles, for cheesburger macaroni I add block (velveeta style) cheese and macaroni noodles.