7 Convenience Foods to Make Yourself

One of the quickest ways to grow your grocery bill is to buy convenience foods.  Not only are many convenience foods expensive, they are often unhealthy for you, full of preservatives and ingredients that we cannot even pronounce.  Listen, guys...if you can't figure out how to say the name of the ingredient, chances are we're better off not eating it.

When you make a dry mix to store in your pantry, be sure to put the recipe on the jar.  This way you won't forget what ingredients you need to add into the  mix to turn it into something yummy!

Below are 7 convenience foods to make yourself to save you money!

1.  Granola bars.  I never understood why a granola bar contained about 6 bars, 8 if we're really lucky.  I have three kids.  That means after two snacks of granola bars we've emptied the box.  Click HERE to find my favorite recipe over at Living on a Dime.  Also, I should mention it makes 24 bars.  24 compared to 6?  yes, please.

2.  Chicken stock.  Soup stock is SO easy to make.  Especially if you have a crockpot.  All you need to do is take the carcass of a whole chicken, throw it in your crockpot with some veggies and spices and water, and you have homemade, HEALTHY stock.  For more detailed instructions,check out my youtube video on the process HERE.

3.  Pancake mix.  When you buy a box of pancake mix, you still have to add a couple ingredients usually, like eggs and water or milk.  Making your own mix is really just a couple more ingredients to add yourself.  Try THIS recipe over at Recipe Tin Eats.  Don't forget to make a BIG batch of the mix to store in your pantry.

4.  Homemade lunchables.  Those prepackaged lunchables are so expensive!  A simpler, cheaper option is to wash out the containers that came with the last one you bought, and fill it with crackers, cheese, and meat that you cut yourself at home. Or put the meat, cheese, and crackers in a cute reusable lunch container. Your kids will still feel like they are getting a treat, and you can pocket the money you saved.

5.  Broccoli soup.  I was already making most of my soups from scratch, but I was still hanging on to the canned broccoli soup.  For some reason the thought of making my own seemed complicated.  That was until I came across a youtube video by an off-grid homesteader, Starry Hilder, who took her viewers through the VERY EASY steps on how to make it yourself.  I added cheese, vidalia onions, and cream to her recipe and let me tell you, it was delicious comfort in a bowl.  Watch that video HERE.  As a side note, try to not love Starry's bubbly personality in her video.

6.  Granola.  If you can make granola bars, you can make granola.  We love granola, but again, very costly to by at the grocery store, which to me is crazy as it is a very frugal item to make at home.  I use THIS recipe over at The Kitchen is my Playground.  I make the microwave version because I have a habit of burning granola in the oven. :)

7.  Taco seasoning.  Who doesn't like tacos? (2 out of 3 of my kids, that's who.  I'll never understand why.)  The Humbled Homemaker shares here recipe HERE.

The more items you make from scratch at home, the more you will save on your grocery bill.  Some bills you have absolutely no control over, but groceries is one area you can often find ways to cut back.  So now you have 7 convenience foods to make yourself to help lower that bill!