Pork Rub

In my home, we eat pork at least once a week.  Mostly fried pork chops.  I love those things!  It is one of the few meats my daughter will eat, with chicken being the other one.

This pork rub recipe is one my husband found, but I have no idea where.  We first put it on a pork roast that we turned into bar-b-que and, let me tell you, it was the best pulled pork we have every had!  To me, it did not even need sauce!  Since then, I have seasoned all of my pork chops with this rub.

Pork Rub
Ingredients
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup salt
3 Tablespoons paprika
1 Tablespoon garlic
1 teaspoon thyme

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Store in an air tight container.

Notes
One recipe is enough to coat generously a 4 pound pork roast with a little left over.

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How much does it cost?

1/3 cup sugar = $.08
1/3 cup salt = $.12
3 Tablespoons paprika = $.13
1 Tablespoon garlic = $.09
1 teaspoon thyme = $.39

One recipe of pork rub costs $.81.  This is much cheaper than buying a rub at the store!  

Recipes that use pork rub

Fried Pork Chop Bites

Chocolate Glaze

Tonight, I decided to make some chocolate chip cinnamon rolls.  I did not want normal icing, but I wanted a chocolate glaze to go on top.  I looked my vanilla glaze recipe and thought, I can make this work!  And I did.  And it tasted like chocolate milk when I was done!

Chocolate Glaze
Ingredients
2 cups powdered sugar
4 Tablespoons milk
1 Tablespoon butter, melted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon cocoa powder

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.  Beat until smooth.
2. Serve on your favorite desserts!

Notes
I have only used this once.  It was a little thicker than the vanilla glaze, but I liked that.  I figure if it is going to melt all ooey gooey on cinnamon rolls, it doesn't really matter if it is a little thick.  If you want it thinner, add a little more milk!

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How much does this cost?

2 cups powdered sugar = $.54
4 Tablespoons milk = $.06
1 Tablespoon butter = $.065
1 teaspoon vanilla extract = $.375
1 Tablespoon cocoa powder = $.08

So this recipe costs $1.13 to make.

Recipes that use Chocolate Glaze

Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Rolls

Vanilla Glaze

Vanilla Glaze
Ingredients
2 cups powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons milk
1 Tablespoon butter, melted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl until smooth.
2. Serve on your favorite desserts that use glaze! 

Notes
I never use the whole recipe for any given dessert, so I tend to only made half at a time.

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How much does it cost?

2 cups powdered sugar = $.54
3 Tablespoons milk = $.045
1 Tablespoon butter, melted $.065
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract $.375

One recipe costs $1.03 to make.

Recipes that use vanilla glaze

Cinnamon-Sugar Dessert Pizza

Doughnuts

                                                 

Cinnamon Rolls

Garlic Butter

I have finally figured out a good ratio of butter to garlic to make, what I think, is the perfect garlic butter.

Garlic Butter
Ingredients
1/2 cup of butter
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions

1. Let butter sit at room temperature until soft.
2. Mix butter and garlic in a bowl until well mixed. 
3. It is ready to use.

Notes
If you use real butter, it will get hard when you put it back in the refrigerator.  Just set it out a little while before you need to use it so it will soften up a bit.

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How much does it cost?

1/2 cup butter = $.50
1 teaspoon garlic = $.05

So, one recipe of garlic butter = $.55.  I know you can buy ready made garlic butter at the store, but I've never bought it and will have to check the prices next time I go to the store.

Recipes that use garlic butter 

Homemade Pizza

Garlic Cheese Bread

                                                                                      

Bread Sticks

Hot Pockets

                                                                                                          

Italian Sloppy Joes

Tomato Sauce

This is a recipe that I really made up myself, using tips from different sites and my husband.  My husband is the one who really taught me how to make tomato sauce, but I thought it was good, but not quite what I wanted.  I really wanted a sauce that would  taste good with anything that required tomato sauce so I would not need to remember or write down 4 or 5 different recipes.  This sauce recipe is good for spaghetti, lasagna, pizza... really everything I have put it on was good!

Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
2 cans tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
1 can of water
1 Tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 Tablespoon oregano
2 Tablespoons basil
1 bay leaf
3 1/2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 chopped onion
1 Tablespoon butter
1 lb favorite meat for sauce

Directions

1. Caramelize the onions in the butter.
2. Brown the meat.
3. Combine all ingredients in a large pot.  Let simmer.  
4. Add to any dish that needs tomato sauce.

Notes
I let it simmer all day, stirring every hour or so.  If you do not have that long, cut the amount of water and simmer for at least an hour.  You could assemble all the ingredients the day before, cook for a small amount of time and store it in the refrigerator until you need it.  Just heat it up. Letting it sit in the refrigerator will help all the flavors blend just like cooking all day.

If I am using venison or any other lean meat, I will not drain the fat.  I think a little of the fat gives a good flavor to the sauce.  You can drain it if you want.  It is not necessary.

Have venison?  It works great in this recipe!

Don't want meat?  No problem, just leave it out!

Made too much?  Freeze it!  Use freezer safe containers or just a freezer safe bag for storing.

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Is homemade worth it?

2 cans tomato sauce = $1.40
1 can tomato paste = $.59
1 Tablespoon garlic powder = $.141
1 teaspoon paprika = $.014
1 Tablespoon oregano = $.26
2 Tablespoons basil = $.16
1 bay leaf = $.022
3 1/2 Tablespoons brown sugar = $.094
1/2 chopped onion = $.40
1 Tablespoon butter = $.0625

I bought a fresh onion for this which cost $.80.

Please note that I left off the meat from this list, since you would have to add it to a jarred sauce anyway.

One recipe of my homemade sauce = $3.13.

Please keep in mind that this sauce makes more than what is in a typical jar.  My recipe makes 1 1/2 jars of sauce without the meat, so one jar of my sauce = $2.07. 

Depending on the sauce you like, you can buy your sauce cheaper than making it on your own.  Ragu cost $1.79 at my local store, so it would be cheaper to just buy that.

Keep in mind that if you grow some of the herbs yourself, you can make a much cheaper sauce.  If you grew your own basil and oregano, that would knock off $.42 cents off the total cost.  Buying onions in season would help too as well as growing your own tomatoes.  I have not ventured this far yet!!

Summery

Homemade Sauce = $2.07
Ragu Spaghetti Sauce = $1.79

Dishes that use tomato sauce:

Homemade Pizza

Spaghetti

                                                                                                       

Pizza Rolls

Baked Spaghetti

                                                                                                        

Hot Pockets

Pizza Lasagna

Maple Syrup

Maple Syrup is something I do not eat, but my husband and daughter love.  I have just recently started making mine from scratch since we ran out of the store bought kind that had been on sale when we first moved.  The following recipe is the one my grandmother taught me.

Maple Syrup
Ingredients
1 teaspoon maple flavoring
2 cup sugar
1 cup water

Directions
1.  Dissolve the sugar in water on medium heat.
2.  Bring it to a boil.  Remove from heat and add in the maple flavoring.

Notes
Save the extra syrup in a container in the fridge.  It reheats nicely!

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Is home made syrup worth it?

2 cup sugar = $.50
1 teaspoon maple flavoring = $.42

So one recipe = $.92.  It takes approx. 2 recipes to make one bottle of syrup.  So, the cost of one bottle of homemade syrup = $1.84

One bottle of premade syrup costs, on average, around $2.50.

We go through a bottle of syrup every 2 months.   We save $.66 per bottle by making it homemade.  If we use 6 bottles a year, we will save $3.96 per year.

Summery
One bottle of store bought syrup = $2.50
One bottle of homemade syrup = $1.84

If you can buy a bottle of syrup for under $1.84, then it may be worth it to just buy it instead of making it.

Recipes that use maple syrup

Pancakes