5 Benefits to Making your own baking mixes

One of my favorite changes I've made throughout this last year is to start making my own baking mixes. It really has quite a few advantages and it's so quick and easy. Usually I'll make a whole bunch all in one afternoon and be set for several months. 

1. Cost

These homemade mixes can be very cost effective. Depending on what kind you are making, there may be cheaper alternatives with coupons and sales, but some of the other benefits won't be available with those options. For the most part these are cheaper then buying a regular priced baking mix. 

2. Convenience

I love having a ready to go mix on hand to throw together for any sort of gathering or to add to a family meal. I keep mine in the freezer so the ingredients stay fresh and away from any critters that may try to pry them open. 

3. Control over the ingredients

I'm becoming more and more aware of the need to modify some of our ingredients and food choices. That doesn't mean I'll never eat another cookie though. So in order to make healthier options for my family I can adapt these mixes to fit the needs we have. I am able to substitute the flours, sugars, and other ingredients as I see fit. This is far less expensive then buying the healthy, gluten-free, sugar-free, vegan, etc. options at the health food stores that you may need for a specific health concern. 

The other thing I am able to control is the lack of preservatives or other questionable ingredients I don't want to be feeding my kids. 

4. Adapt size of mix

This one has come in handy! There are times that you don't need to make a WHOLE cake, but you do because the mix comes in that particular size. The benefit of making your own kits is that you can adapt the size of mixes you make. You can make a full recipe for those times you really do need the full size, but then you can make 1/2 size or 1/4 size recipes as well for those moments when you need a smaller portion.

5. Variety

I love being able to make some of my family's favorite recipes from a mix. Recipes that have been passed down to me from my mother or other family members or friends. I'm not limited by the varieties offered at the grocery store. If I find a recipe for a specific kind of bread or desert that doesn't come in a box else where, I can make my own mixes for them. 

Here is another post where I share a bit about my mixes. 

If you're interested in getting a step by step process on how I do these, check back next week! Over the weekend chose 3-4 of your favorite recipes (they can be savory or sweet, things like seasonings, bread mixes, desert mixes, snack mixes) and gather the ingredients because on Monday we'll be making mixes! 

Homemade Granola

After messing up my granola a few weeks ago, I finally got it right! :) The interesting thing about the whole granola thing was that the first two times I was following a recipe that was loaded with sugar, butter and all sorts of tasty things. After failing miserably and wasting a bunch of food :-/, it took me a while to get all the ingredients rounded up again. During that time I was put on a very intense diet (for health reasons) to clear up some things which meant NO sugar for a while. Thankfully, I hadn't made my sugar filled version yet, so I adapted the recipe to make it acceptable for our family's new, temporary diet. We love it! We've been eating it with our homemade yogurt or with almond milk.

I have found that making things like granola can be a more cost effective way of getting healthier foods into our diet then buying mixes/meals ready-made at the store. I wouldn't say that this granola is significantly cheaper then boxed sugary, cereal, but it is cheaper then the healthy cereal alternatives. A high in nutrient box of cold cereal can easily get up into the $4 range and this large batch of granola with come in under that price tag. :)

It's hard to give a cost break down on granola because there are so many variations and options for add-ins that it really depends on your tastes, budget and preferences. I prefer less extras in my granola and then on mornings when I am in the mood for more fruit or nuts, I'll add them accordingly.

Here's my recipe:
8 C old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 C butter (if you prefer you could probably do 1 C of either butter or oil)
1/2 C oil
1/2+ C almond butter
1/2+ C honey (optional, I have been leaving honey out for my current diet, but if you like the crunchy chunks you should add honey)
1/4 C Stevia (or 1/2 C brown sugar)
1/2+ C fruit of your choice (we use unsweetened coconut shavings)
1/2+ C nuts of your choice (we use slivered almonds)
**Feel free to adjust amounts to your preferences and tastes. You can also leave parts out, but adjust things to make sure there is enough "coating" for the oatmeal.

Directions:
Pour the rolled oats out onto a cooking sheet (or two if necessary). Boil the butter, oil, almond butter, honey and stevia for a minute or two until it is all mixed together. Pour over the rolled oats. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep from burning. Once it has cooled add the fruit and nuts, stir together. Store in an air tight container.

Other options for add ins:
-Craisins
-Raisins
-Dried berries (blueberries, raspberries, cherries, etc)
-Dried fruit (apricot, apples, prunes)
-Any kind of chopped nut

Grocery Budget Update

I know it's been a long time since I've given you my actual monthly grocery spending for all sorts of reasons, but most of them have to do with not being a diligent blogger lately.

For the most part we've stayed within our budget of $150/month. There were a few times that we were over by $15-20. My goal has always been $50/person per month and since our son was under 2 I wasn't really considering him a "full" person for the budget. Now, though, we've decided to increase our budget to the full $200/month due to the rising costs of groceries and our son showing signs of being all BOY, especially when it comes to filling his belly! ;) I'm feeling alright about the change, especially since we made it on our lower budget through our debt pay off season. Now that it is behind us, giving a little increase to our grocery budget should be manageable. I think I'll still always try to keep it lower though, that's just my style! ;) I like the challenge too.

Another change that is coming to our grocery habits is furthering my quest for healthier alternatives to add to our diets. I've always done this to some extent, but haven't pushed my self as hard as I could be, so that's my next goal. I'll be sharing some of those ideas with you as they come up, in case anyone else is interested in the same thing. :)

Anybody else working hard to cut spending on groceries? What are your tips? What's working for you? What do you find most challenging?

Family Cookbook

Still looking for a Christmas gift idea? This looks like a great way to give a personal gift, but will come in a professional bound book. How fun!

Blessing Bags

I came across this idea on pinterest, where most of my good ideas come from lately, and had to share it on here with all of you too!

The idea is to create a "blessing bag" to keep in your car to hand to the homeless as you come across them. There are a variety of ideas of things you can add to your bags. I came across several different ideas and have compiled the lists from here, here and here and added a few ideas of my own. The great thing about these bags is that you feel like you are able to do something for those in need without feeling like you may be contributing to an addiction problem in their lives. You are meeting some of their most basic needs and sharing Jesus' love for them at the same time.

Our family went to the Dollar Store and we bought enough items to fill 5 blessing bags. We did 3 male bags and 2 female bags. My husband and I each carry a few in our cars so that we are prepared to hand them out any time we come across someone in need. My husband already delivered one of his and we tried to deliver one from my car on Sunday, but we weren't on the right side of the intersection. On our way back by there we tried to get to the other side, but weren't able to. It was disappointing.

Anyway, we spent about $5 dollars per bag, so it's not a huge cost either. I've also heard of churches or groups of friends getting together to make a large amount of them. In that case each person signs up to bring a large quantity of a certain item and then you assemble them at a gathering. Depending on how many you make each person can take some to keep in their car. We did ours as a family activity, which I think was a good time to teach our kids about looking for ways to help other people around us.

Here is a list of ideas to get you started:
*You fill a gallon size zip lock bag with a combination of the following items:

Toiletries:

-Chapstick

-Packages of tissues

-Toothbrush and toothpaste

-Comb

-Soap/shampoo (to save on your cost you can use hotel bottles/soaps that you've gathered from traveling)

-Band aids

-Mouthwash

-Hand wipes

-Throat lozenges

-Trial size Ibuprofen/Acetaminophen

-Hand sanitizer

-Hand or face lotion

-Washcloth

-Razors  

Food Items: It's ideal if you have ready-to-eat protein rich snacks.

-Juice box or water bottle

- Cheese and crackers

- Power bar

- Tuna in a bag (no cans requiring an opener)

-Vienna sausages

- Beef jerky

-Trail mix

-Granola bars

-Crackers with cheese or peanut butter

-Chef Boy R Dee cups

-Pack of gum

-One sweet item such as canned fruit or pudding

-Plastic utensils and napkin

Misc. Items:

-Coins (could be used to make a phone call, or purchase a food item)

-Pair of men's socks

-Small bible or bible tract

-Bus/Train/Subway Schedule

-Prepaid phone card

-Gloves/ knit beanie/scarf

-Resource list for the homeless

-Fast Food Gift Cards               

-Hand-Written Prayers or Verses

We added a personal touch to each of ours by adding a note to each one. The notes varied a little bit for each one, but the main point we wanted to communicate was that Jesus loves them, they aren't forgotten and we hope the items we've included are a blessing to them that day.

Other ways to make it more personal/relevant to your area would be to include a business card to your  local church where they may be able to get some further aid, information to local ministries that could be able to help them, a picture or note drawn/written by your child.

Another idea we've come across and really like is to keep several fast food restaurant gift cards in your car to hand out to homeless as well, we'll probably have a combination of both on hand.

What ideas have you come across to bless people with? I'd love to hear them!

WE'RE DEBT FREE!!!

Via

This afternoon I scheduled our LAST payment to be made on our debt! We are thrilled!! It's certainly been a journey. About 16 months ago, we made a decision that we were done with debt. We were tired of having so much of our money going to pay for our school bills. At that time we still owed $37, 717.96 of our nearly $55,000 in school loans. The number felt overwhelming and impossible, especially trying to pay for it on an annual salary of approximately $60,000. Now, as we look back we are so happy we made that choice on July 27, 2010. It has forever changed our lives!

On that day, I made a chart to track our progress of getting out of debt. After counting up 38 boxes, I felt a little hopeless, but each time we marked another chunk off it just gave us hope and the enthusiasm to keep plugging away at it. All of the excitement hasn't fully sunk in yet. I'm looking forward to our next paycheck when we won't have to use ANY of it for debt! :) What a relief. Best. feeling. ever!

If you're just hearing our our debt story for the first time, you can find out more by reading this page, or read the posts under the "Debt" labels. 

Writer's Block

I haven't really had anything to share lately, maybe I'm having some writer's block? Or maybe I'm just focused on other things right now. Either way, sorry for the lack of posts. Hopefully you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a safe Black Friday! :)

Money Savvy Kids

Came across this article about raising kids to be money smart. So I'm passing it along.