Guest Post - Bake without Breaking the Bank by Frugal and Fun

Cooking can be an inexpensive hobby, but we all know those cooks who can spend a fortune on exotic ingredients and fancy kitchenware. You can get some lovely deals using internet discount sites, but it also helps to know have some fun and frugal recipes in your repertoire.

Make your own baking mixes.

• Pancakes, and biscuits, and muffins, oh my! All of these goodies use inexpensive ingredients, but you might be tempted to go to the bakery and buy muffins or to purchase those expensive biscuits that come out of the can.
• There are plenty of recipes on the Internet and in your home cookbook for these treats, and the Thrifty Mama says you can make up mixes and store them on the shelf to make the recipes convenient. Just mix all the dry ingredients together, and throw them in a labeled jar. Now you’ve just got to add the wet ingredients when you cook. You won’t have to grab for the baking powder and baking soda every time, and you’ll get your items in the oven much more quickly.

Corn meal is not just for corn bread.

• Although corn bread is a delicious staple that responds well to the mix idea above, cornmeal is a tasty and economical addition to other recipes, too. The Frugal Girl has a Wednesday baking column, and she suggests making a nice loaf of yeasted bread with this versatile ingredient. Her site has step-by-by step instructions, and the yeasted bread you bake will accompany more dishes than cornbread.

Don’t forget dessert.

• Bread is very nice and useful, but we all love our treats. The Thrifty Crafter has a lovely recipe for festive pink cupcakes that would be fabulous for Valentine’s Day, but fun any time of the year.
• The cupcake instructions are illustrated with photos, and this is pretty common for Internet recipes. It’s almost like having your Mom teach you to bake, so there are no excuses not to save!
• If you cook a lot of desserts that have vanilla in them, you can even save on that by making your own high-quality vanilla at home. The Thrifty Travel Mama explains how to concoct it using vodka and vanilla beans. This one recipe could save you loads of money during the heavy baking season.

Grab those pans and tie on that apron! It’s time to whip up a batch of savings, and your friends and family will enjoy what you produce. Sit back with a cup of coffee and get ready to have a treat fresh from the oven.

Guest post from Frugal Dad