Thrifty Green Thursday
I know, I haven’t done this for a while (sorry!) but I have one for today, so I’m sharing it.
Fermented Foods
yep, I’m talking about making your own yogurt, kefir and breads.
With our family’s mega budget crunch that is happening lately I took a step back to see what we are spending more cash on at the grocery store. Our milk is already delivered, which saves on the gas & all of the temptations that the grocer has to offer, but what about the other stuff we use a lot of? We have been drinking smoothies about 3 times per week for breakfast, and those can get a little bit pricey.
Solution: culture your own yogurt and kefir for the smoothies!
It’s really not that hard – kind of a no-brainer really. Put the kefir grains into a jar of milk and let it sit on the counter for 12-48 hours, strain it and put the grains back into the jar with more milk and let the grains do their thing on and on into eternity.
I have an old milk jug that we use to keep the kefir in, and to that I add some raw honey and occasionally dried fruit. Put it into the fridge, and it’s ready to use for the next smoothie!
As for yogurt, I have a starter culture for that too – just put a Tablespoon into a jar with some milk or half-and-half and let it sit in the oven for a day or so (depends on the culture you get, but mine takes a cooler temp). Fresh, yummy yogurt! Again, I add some honey to this – plain yogurt is not my personal fav.
The other huge money waster is bread. THe girls take a sandwich to school every day, and Eric often does as well. That is 6 slices per day, then you add in toast for breakfast, and you are up to 9-10 slices each day. EACH DAY. That’s like half of a loaf!
Costco sells a 50lb bag of bread flour for $16, and I can get about 8-10 loaves out of a 10 lb. bag. That’s 40 loaves for 40 cents each. I call that markup! The loaves at the store are averaging $4.50 these days, and my loaves are from a longer bread pan. Yes, I am making sourdough bread, so the ingredients are water, flour and salt. One batch makes 2 loaves, and I make them about every 5-6 days.
Bread baking has this aura of mystery surrounding it “I could never do that!” “Baking bread is so hard!” To that I simply say Pish-Posh! The only thing hard about it is waiting for the loaf to cool down before slicing into it! Yes, there is a time issue, but bread really is much more forgiving than most baker will let on. The sourdough sponge that I make sits for 24 hours, then you add the rest of the flour, water and salt and knead it for 5 minutes. Let it sit again for 2 hours (give or take) and form it into loaves. Let those sit while the oven warms up and bake them. Wow, that’s hard. I get so tired of bakes who make it sound like it’s an intensive thing – IT’S NOT!
OK, off my soap box now.
That’s my tip for this Thrifty Thursday – see what foods you consume regularly that you can make at home for a fraction of the cost – you just might be surprised!
3 comments
Thanks for demystifying these domestic arts! I would LOVE to make my own yogurt and bread, but time is a huge factor. My mother always made both of these items from scratch when I was little and I loved walking into our home and inhaling the smell of fresh baked bread. There’s nothing like it! Since my husband and I both work outside the home, we struggle to even get homemade meals on the table every day. Still, I dream of the day when my frugality might allow me to get more time at home. We’re so glad you could join us this week for Thrifty Green Thursday!
The beautiful thing about sourdough is that you can start the sponge the night before, make the dough as soon as you get home from work, and go to sleep with the smell of fresh baked wafting through your home. I use a recipe that I have modified from Bread Alone – one of those cookbooks that makes it sound so much harder than it is (for example, this recipe takes like 5 pages!) but has some amazing breads in it.
The yogurt just sits in my oven for a couple of days and then I put it into the fridge when it’s ready – there’s like 5 minutes of prep work, if that. Obviously this isn’t on bread baking days though! There is now a note on my oven that reminds us to check inside before turning it on… that has saved a few batches of yogurt and sourdough starter!
Excellent advice. I make my own bread and yogurt sometimes. I am not always motivated to do it, but every once in a while I’ll get on a kick and make my own bread and yogurt for a couple months.
For the yogurt, I use a heating pad set on low. This would use MUCH less energy than the oven. I just wrap the quart jars with the heating pad and cover that with a big bowl to seal it in. I’ve never had a batch of yogurt not turn out!
Thanks for joining us for TGT!
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