One of the things that I like to do to save time and money is to make homemade baking mixes.
I am amazed at how many premade mixes are available in grocery stores. I know these mixes are convenient, but most of them are expensive. Not only that they are not very healthy.
I think most people do not realize how easy mixes like these are to make at home. It is not hard at all.
If you have a favorite pancake, cookie, or even bread or bread machine recipe, you can easily turn it into a mix.
All you have to do is combine the dry ingredients into a ziploc bag or container and you have a homemade baking mix. The only dry ingredient that I do not add to the mix is yeast. I prefer to keep it separate until I make it.
Label your container or ziplock bag with the remaining ingredients and directions. You now have a homemade baking mix.
Then all you have to do is add the wet ingredients, like the eggs and oil, when you are ready to make your recipe.
I have been making my homemade brownie mix (here is my gluten free version)
and my oatmeal pancake mix for years. ( I will post the gf version of this soon in my allergy section.)We love them both.
I have recently started making mixes for my gluten free bread machine bread, but really you can do this using any bread recipe. I find that having these mixes made ahead saves me a lot time. It is so easy on a busy day to pull out one of these homemade mixes.
It not only saves me time, it is much healthier and cheaper than buying them.
Do you make your own homemade mixes?
This post linked to Real Food On A Budget and Tammy’s Recipes.
What a great idea. And it takes up less space in a bag than then having mixes in a box
I do this all the time, and it is a huge time saver! Once I find a recipe I know my family enjoys, I make three to four ziploc baggies of the dry ingredients at a time. I am so much more motivated to make x, y or z if I know I only need to take the wet ingredients out of the fridge instead of cleaning up the dry ingredients and their measuring counterparts as well.
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I’ve been thinking of making a few mixes. It would make it so much easier to whip up some pancakes that way.
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I wish I was as organized as you are! I never prepare ahead like this and just measure everything out when I’m making it. I think you need and award for most organized mom of the year!
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@Veronica Miller, Thank you. But I am not as organized as you think. My kitchen life may be organized, but I am lacking in other areas. Really setting aside time once in awhile to do things like this, really helps keep me organized when I have crazy days and weeks.
Thanks for reminding me to do this … I finally got inspired today, due to your post, to mix up some mocha frappachino mixes, pancake mixes and tomorrow I am going to make some of your brownie mix up. thanks again!
we are headed out to camp in july and i was going to buy the premade mixes b/c they were on clearance, but then realized they were the small containers and make 6-8 pancakes which would probably feed 1 maybe 2 people and there are 8 of us going. I’ll just be making my own to take along!
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Do you always make one quanity of the recipe per ziplock bag? Or is it possible to, say, make a big batch of Qty. 10 and put in a storage container and then scoop out 2 cups = xyz for the wet ingredients?
would the mix stay in the right ratio for ingredients per scoop?
And do you reuse the ziplock bag w/out washing? …just dump new right in?
sorry for the 20 questions– trying to be more frugal & domestic. 🙂 …all the while learning to cook per my son’s multiple food allergies.
Thanks!!
@Jenifer, You could easily make them in a large batch and put it into one container. You would just have to figure out the right measurement for what you would need each time. I hope that helps.
I have really been toying around with this idea. My husband and I are working really hard to cut back on our spending especially in the grocery/food department! We have set monthly grocery budgets and have started cliping coupons, buying some items in bulk and planning meals carefully to make the most of what we buy. We don’t buy box mixes a lot but there are some homemade dry mixes I make that I could easily make several of and store for later use. This is a great idea – especially when I can get things like flour and sugar on sale!
I’ve made my own biscuit mix for more years than I want to remember! Love the convenience and it’s a lot cheaper than store bought!
Do you have a recipe for cake mix? I hate having to buy box ones if I could make it myself!
@Mlweber, I don’t have a cake mix recipe that compares to a box mix exactly. I usually prefer homemade cakes though and usually only use box mixes when I doctor them up. So, I just turn a basic cake recipe that I like into a mix, by mixing the dry ingredients together. Than all I have to do is add the wet ingredients when I am ready to make. This works for me, but again it is not quite the same as a box mix.