Becoming More DIY in the Kitchen

I have learned through my 60 years on this earth that not everything that is good is easy. Rewards come to those that wait or work hard for what they get. This holds true with food. I am single but now helping to raise my 16 year old granddaughter with my son, who is unemployed. So my food budget is stretched sometimes, more often than not. However my pantry is full, we have plenty of good food in our cupboards and freezer. Living frugal doesn't have to mean living poor!

Recently I found jellied cranberry sauce at my local canned food warehouse store on closeout for 6 cans for $1! Without batting an eye, I picked up a case of 24 cans and put it in my cart. So for $4 I have enough canned cranberry sauce to cook with and use as ingredients for a crockpot chicken and Thanksgiving for a very long time. I always comb my canned food warehouse for good deals every week! One time, I found Ocean Spray juices in the big bottles for Buy One Get One at $1 each. That makes each bottle $.50 a bottle not the $2.99 at the grocery store. Needless to say, I bought 24 bottles, now my granddaughter can drink juice as opposed to soda!

I have found ways to really cash in on produce that is pretty cheap in the summer months. I can some, freeze some, and dehydrate a lot. When I find sliced mushrooms on sale, I buy 8-10 packages and take them home and stick them in my dehydrator and I have mushrooms for soups and sauces for a long time.

I also make my own dry Cream of Mushroom soup and Cream of Chicken soup mixes instead of paying upwards of a $1 a can. The fresh dried mushrooms make the soup rich and yummy! I have included the mix recipes below.

Being frugal is just thinking outside the box, being creative in your food buying, and taking advantage of clearance, closeouts and sales as often and as much as you can. I always allow $20 of my food budget for these type items so I can plan for the extra purchases and it won't break my budget. I also went to my local thrift store and found the two books; "Make a Mix" and "More Make a Mix" which has a huge list of easy to make convenience mixes that save a ton of money! If you can find these books, BUY THEM! They will save you a lot of money on prepackaged items which are not good for you and you will know what you are feeding your family along with saving money! If you cannot find these books, try searching the internet where many mix recipes are out there which you will find amazing!

Each of these soup mixes make approximately the equivalent of 12 cans of soup! That is a huge savings!

Cream of Mushroom Soup Mix

• 2 cups instant non-fat dry milk
• 3/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 cup of chopped dehydrated mushrooms
• 1/4 cup instant granulated bouillon, beef flavor
• 4 Tbsp. dried minced onion
• 2 tsp. Italian Seasoning
• 1 tsp. dried parsley
• 1 tsp. pepper

Mix all together and store in an airtight container.

Cream of Chicken Soup Mix

• 2 cups instant non-fat dry milk
• 3/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 cup of chopped dehydrated mushrooms
• 1/4 cup instant granulated bouillon, chicken flavor
• 4 Tbsp. dried minced onion
• 2 tsp Italian Seasoning
• 1 tsp. dried parsley
• 1 tsp. pepper

Mix together and store in an airtight container.

Directions

To use either mix (equivalent to one of cream soup), combine 1/3 cup of soup mix with 1 1/4 cups water. Combine water and soup mix in saucepan. Heat on medium heat until thickened and/or mushrooms are soft and soup is creamy. Use as you would a canned soup and add it to recipes or serve with crackers! YUM!