The Art of Eating Fresh - it saves money

There is a lot to be said for eating fresh foods; they contain less sodium, fat, fresh foods have higher vitamin content and in the long run processed foods are more expensive.

Take the humble box of macaroni and cheese. You can purchase a 7.25 oz box for $1.00 at my local grocery store. The generic brand runs 3/ $1.00. I know from experience that one box will feed my 2 kids 1 lunch. Now lets look at a box of elbows, they are less then $1.00 for a 16 oz box. An 8 oz bag of shredded cheese is $2.00 - $3.00 depending on the brand you prefer. Flour will cost $2.00. What about butter and milk you ask ...... you would have to use it in the prepackaged stuff any ways so I consider that even.

Use a simple stove top macaroni and cheese recipe:

7 ounces of elbow macaroni
1/8 cup butter or margarine
1/8 cup all-purpose flour
salt
pepper
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese(if you love cheese feel free to add more!)

optional:
1 clove pureed garlic
2 tbs pureed onion

Start to cook your pasta. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour, salt and pepper to taste (those who like a little more flavor in their mac and cheese add 1 clove of pureed garlic and a few Tbs of pureed onion); cook until bubbly. Gradually add milk; cook and stir until thickened. Stir in cheese until melted. Drain macaroni; stir in cheese sauce.





So lets look at what we are left with.

Boxed version:
Macaroni and Cheese $1.00
milk $3.00
butter $2.00

total spent $6.00

cook time: about 5 minutes

leftovers to use again; milk, butter



Homemade version:
elbow pasta $1.00
milk $3.00
butter $2.00
flour $2.00
salt $0.50
pepper $0.50
cheddar cheese $2.00
garlic bulb $0.50
onion $0.50

total spent $12.00

cook time: about 8 minutes

leftovers to use again; pasta, milk, butter, flour, salt, pepper, garlic, onion

Looks like I have enough there to make elbows topped with a simple white sauce and caramelized onion. I even have enough leftover to make some biscuits! Okay I guess I would have to buy the a $0.33 box of baking soda.

And after all that I will still have some butter, milk, flour, salt, pepper and garlic leftover. Looks like we will be having country gravy over biscuits for breakfast with that.

It is that simple, $12.00 for fresh ingredients makes a lunch, dinner and breakfast vs. $6.00 for boxed which makes only lunch.

It gets even better when you make your own pasta. Don't get nervous, it is so easy a child can do it! How do I know? My 8 and 9 year old make it!

So remember, a well stocked pantry is less expensive in the long run then prepackaged food.