What food is cheaper to make yourself than it is to buy?

[lunavix]

Thinking about things such as bread, flapjacks, jam, ice cream, rice pudding, custard, tortillas, pasta... most of these granted are nicer home made than 'tescos' brands but what will actually save you money?

Jam if you want nice bramble jam - most towns have feral apple trees around - loot them, fill a carrier with blackberries and buy some jam sugar (70p a kilo) and you will get the very nicest jam for the very lowest price.

Hummus

I've just made 20 jars of marmalade for about £4. Bread is cheaper, especially anything specialist such as naan or sunflower. I think cakes and ice cream etc are cheaper for equivalent quality but you couldn't make budget ice cream ie 70p for 2 litres at home. falafels are really cheap to make.

I think all ready sauces are the biggest rip off. Pasta sauce-much cheaper if you use a cheap tin of tomatoes and any veg you have in the fridge.
Curry sauce/paste is too expensive-but if you buy the herbs and make it they last for ever (the herbs, not the sauce)

Well surely bread is a lot cheaper. Esp if you buy flour by the sack from a local mill or similar.

Yes all ready sauces are a shocking price. No idea how much ready-made custard costs but it can't be cheaper than making it can it? Unless you mean real custard with egg yolks and cream...

Pizza is cheaper to make I reckon.

Credit crunch bites and I have been making all my own bread; bag of bread flour from Asda 48p, can make 6 loaves and a dozen batches with that. Put the oven on to warm up and prove bread dough nearby, make cakes in the meantime, so as not to waste gas and then bake bread. When cool slice (with electric knife so it's vaguely even) and then freeze, but have to eat some while it is still warm.......aaarrrgghhhh, drooly sound Homer makes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Make own pasta sauces, curry sauces, chilli etc, although Aldi does Rogan Josh curry sauce for about 65p, and I use 3 jars of that, 2 tbsp of vindaloo curry paste and a load of veggies, butternut squash 85p, sweet potato 89p for 5, 1/2 bag carrots 25p, celery 25p, 1/2 swede 30p, sweetcorn, potato(currently 49p for 5kgs in Aldi), anything cheap and it makes about 15-20 portions of curry. Vvvvvv cheap and quick.

Soups are miles cheaper to make - anything really you can make in advance & freeze - cottage pies, fish pies, fishcakes....

am wondering how long (if at all) a breadmaker takes to start paying for itself/save money

must be cheaper than heating the oven?

homemade flapjacks are good value as porridge oats are very cheap so you could make a big batch for not much

i reckon home-made soup is a lot nicer and cheaper than bought

it's probably cheaper to make custard from powder and milk than to buy in a tin or carton (but it's sooo nice from a tin )

cakes-not particularly cheap to make, though I think muffins work out not bad value

muesli - buy all the base ingredients yourself from somewhere like Holland and Barratt or Julian Graves and mix together in a large (5ltr) tupperware. It lasts for ages

mysterymoniker GHI did an investigation into this a while ago, perhaps check their website?

i would do that with the muesli, but god, I would be so bored with eating it after a week

Muffins! I have just made 12 Jam doughut muffins (from the M&S easy baking book) and used all the odds and sods knocking around in the back of my baking cupboard. So it didn't really cost me much (and certainly not £2.40-odd that the cake shop near me sells them for!

Pasta sauces definitely. You can make massive quantitites of tomato sauce from tinned tomatoes, onion, celery, carrot and garlic with a little olive oil for the price of one jar of ready-made tomato sauce.

6 loaves opf bread out of one bag? I only get about 3 1.5lb loaves out of a bag.

Really easy and very yummy. They may not last until school run time 8}

Jam Doughnut Muffins (makes 12)
From M&S Easy Baking book (£2.94)
(They are muffin-sized cases - not to be confused with fairy cake cases)

280g plain flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
pinch salt
115g caster sugar
2 eggs
200ml milk
6 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
strawberry/raspberry jam

-Sift flour, baking powder and salt
-Beat 2 eggs then add milk, oil and vanilla
-Make a well in the flour and pour in egg mixture - stir until combined (don't over-mix)
-Spoon half of the mixture into the 12 cases
-Add a spoonful of jam on top of each
-Pour over the rest of the mixture
-Pop into oven (200/400/Gas 6) for about 20 mins until golden and firm to touch.
+++

Topping (not necessary)
Melt 115g butter
-dip muffins (when cool) into butter and sprinkle sugar over them
+++++

You can use greased muffin tins instead of muffin cases.

I have found that when the jam is close to the edge of the muffin is 'breaks out' and makes a 'domed' muffin shape (you can see the jam poking through the 'crack'). If the jam is quite well hidden, then tend to come up flat (and look a bit like scones).

curry and pasta sauce