Hot Cocoa Mix

On a cold, winter day, one thing that I crave is hot cocoa!  I love to drink it to warm my body, especially after being out in the elements.  I thought, how much healthier would it be to make my own hot cocoa?  How much cheaper?  Well, it turns out, the cheaper hot cocoas are actually cheaper than this recipe, but this one does not have fifty ingredients I cannot pronounce!

I have been searching for a hot cocoa mix that did not use creamers and dried milk, as those items are expensive and are things I do not keep on hand at my home.  I really wish I could remember where I found the recipe.  I just wrote it down on a piece of scrap paper about a year ago and just now got around to making it.

Hot Cocoa Mix
Ingredients
3/4 cup cocoa
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
pinch of salt

Mix Directions

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

 Drink Directions

1. Heat one cup of milk on the stove.
2. Stir in three Tablespoon of mix until fully dissolved.  

Notes
You may wish to add more or less mix depending on how strong you want your hot cocoa.

To make a dark chocolate cocoa, decrease the amount of brown sugar. 

I would not recommend using water to make this since there is no dried milk or creamer in the recipe.

Lactose Intolerant?  I have not tries using any lactose free milks, but I would imagine they would work too.  If they do not, please let me know!

Gift Ideas!!  Need a cheap and easy gift to give friends/teachers/family?  Mix the ingredients in a small mason jar and top with mini marshmallows.  Tie a tag around the jar with cooking instructions.  They make great Christmas gifts!  You can also use baggies and tie it up and place in a gift mug as well!

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Is homemade worth it?

3/4 cup cocoa = $.99
1 1/2 cups brown sugar = $.65

I have not included the pinch of salt.  It would be less than a penny anyways, so the cost is negligible.

So, one recipe of hot cocoa mix = $1.54 to make.

There are 12 servings in this recipe.  One serving of cocoa mix = $.13. If you add the cost of the milk, you would pay $.37 for a cup of hot cocoa.

Hot cocoa mix in the store normally comes in boxes with 10 servings each.  With these boxes, you only need to add water to complete the recipes.  The cheapest hot cocoa mixes cost around $2.00 for a box, so one cup of store bought mix would be around $.20.  If you add milk instead of water, it would cost $.44.

Summery
One cup cheap hot cocoa with water = $.20
One cup homemade cocoa mix = $.37
One cup cheap hot cocoa with milk = $.44

Biscuits

This is the biscuit recipe that my grandmother uses to make all her biscuits.

Biscuits
Ingredients
2 cups self-rising flour
1/3 cup butter Crisco
1 cup buttermilk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. 
2. Cut the Crisco into the flour until it forms small pea sized clumps.  
3. Add buttermilk slowly until all the dough is wet, but not overly moist.  It may not take the whole cup.
4. Knead the down on a floured surface until it is smooth.  Only take a minute or two.  If the dough was too wet, you will need to add a little more flour to knead it without it sticking to your hands.
5. Roll out the dough until it is 1/2 inch thick.  
6. Using a 2 inch round cutter, cut out biscuits.  
7. Reroll scraps until all or most of the dough is used.  Should only have to do this twice.
8. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the tops begin to lightly brown.

Notes
Makes about 15 biscuits.


My grandmother always melted a stick of butter to brush the bottom of her pan and the tops of her biscuits before cooking.  We then used the left over butter to butter the insides when they were done.  I have stopped doing this because they seem to cook better without the butter in my pan/oven. 

Don't want to roll and cut?  No problem, just put a little flour on your hands and pinch off pieces of dough and form them in your hand.

Made too many?  Don't throw them out!  You can freeze these biscuits for an easy breakfast or  for use in future recipes.

Lactose Intolerant?  You can use lactose free milk to make these.  The biscuits will not be as fluffy.  When my grandmother made these with lactose free milk, I told her they seemed to taste more like crackers than a biscuit, but they still worked for putting jelly or sausage on!

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Is it worth making this homemade?

2 cups self-rising flour = $.20
1/3 cup butter Crisco = $.24
1 cup buttermilk = $.25

So, one recipe of biscuits costs $.69.  That means that each biscuit costs $.05

Frozen Biscuits 
Pillsbury frozen biscuits cost $2.89 for 12 biscuits. So each biscuit = $.24

Canned Biscuits
Pillsbury Grands costs $1.49 for 8 biscuits. So each biscuit = $.17. 

If we buy store bought biscuits, we usually get the canned ones.  If you make homemade instead of buying the canned ones, you will save $.12 on each biscuit.  If you make biscuits twice a month (like we do) you will save $3.60 per month and $43.20 for the year.

Summary

One frozen biscuit = $.24
One canned biscuit = $.17
One homemade biscuit = $.05

Recipes that use biscuits

Salmon Patties

Pancakes

 Pancakes are one of my favorite breakfast foods.  I'll even eat them for dinner!  I love them!  I love them, from scratch.  I do no like them out of a box or frozen.  I like them made fresh and served hot.  They are also really easy to make.  I do not understand buying pancake mix.  You still have to add ingredients and mix it, just like from scratch.  With that said, I still buy pancake mixes, but I do not use them for pancakes!

There is a little history behind my recipe.  I like my dad's recipe and my grandmother's recipe equally and did not want to have to choose between the two when choosing to make pancakes, so I fused the easiness of my dad's with the sweetness of my grandmother's and there you have my recipe.

Pancakes
Ingredients
1/2 cup of self rising flour
1/2 cup of buttermilk
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon oil (I use canola)
sugar to taste (I use 1/2 teaspoon)

Directions

1. Preheat a skillet to 350 degrees.
2. Mix all ingredients together using a fork, whisk or mixer.
3. Coat skillet with butter or a light layer of oil.
4. Pour pancakes onto your hot skillet making them about 4 inches in diameter.  
5. Flip once bubbles begin to appear on top.
6. They do not take long on the second side.  They only need a few minutes.
7. Remove from skillet and serve hot with syrup or fresh fruit or even just plain with butter.

Notes
This recipe is enough for one adult to eat and be full.  This recipe makes a total of 4-5 pancakes.  Since I have a family of three, I triple the recipe.  We always have 2-3 leftovers, since my daughter only eats 2.  These pancakes are supposed to be thick.  If the lumps in the flour will not go away after mixing for a few minutes, add just a little more buttermilk.  Do not add too much or they will not cook properly.

Don't have buttermilk in the fridge?  You can use the above recipe with regular milk.  The only difference is the pancakes will be really flat.  To fluff up the pancakes, just separate your egg whites from the yolk.  Put the whites in a separate bowl and beat them until they are frothy and form soft peaks.  Fold the egg whites into the batter just before cooking.

Lactose Intolerant?  You can use lactose free milk in this recipe as well.  We did for a few months when my daughter was having problems.  We did cut the amount of sugar added since to me the lactose free milk seemed to taste a little sweeter than normal milk/buttermilk.  We have not tried other varieties like almond, soy or rice, but I imagine they should work.  If anyone tries them and it does or doesn't work, let me know!

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Are pancakes worth it from scratch?
For me, taste wise, yes.  But how about from a money standpoint.

1/2 cup flour = $.05
1/2 cup buttermilk = $.125
1 egg = $.14
1/2 teaspoon oil = .00456
1/2 teaspoon sugar = $.0026
Total =  $.32216 for 4-5 pancakes or about $.08 for each pancake, if you assume 4 pancakes.

Store bought mix = $3.00
I averaged the cost of the different brands at Walmart.  I have a 32 oz box of mix with 18 servings in it.  One serving is three 4in pancakes.
One box has 18 servings, so a serving costs: $.06.  Wow, that is cheaper, you might be saying, but here is the kicker.  Unless you buy a mix that only needs water, you may have to add egg or oil to the mix.  The box I have says to add 1 egg and 3 Tablespoons of oil for 2 servings of pancakes. So, we must add $.07 for the egg and $.09 for the oil.  Since we want the price per pancake, you we would need to divide the numbers by 3, so we would have to add $.05 to the price of the mix.
Total = $.11

One basic store bought pancake = $.11
One basic homemade pancake = $.08

So, you would save $.03 per pancake.

Since in my family, we eat 15 pancakes each time we make them, that is $.45 we would save on the meal as a whole.  We make pancakes once a week, so by making homemade, we will save $23.40 a year.

But what if you buy frozen pancakes?  (Correct me if I am wrong!) From what I can remember, a 12 count box of name brand frozen pancakes is around $2 per box.   So, one pancake would be approx. $.17.

Summery:
One frozen pancake =  $.17
One basic store bought pancake = $.11
One basic homemade pancake = $.08