After being amazed at how much I saved at the grocery store earlier this week, I'm still looking for ways to cut costs in the kitchen. I'm doing this in several ways, from buying in bulk to making more things from scratch.
Now, making things from scratch has a couple advantages. 1) It's often less expensive, and 2) the quality is often higher. Yes, it takes more time, but it's generally worth it. Often, homemade items can be frozen to use later, so you can do a cooking blitz for a day or two, and have items available for weeks.
One of the more expensive items we've been buying pre-made lately is Pizza. We have pizza every Friday night, and while buying frozen pizza is much less expensive than buying take-out or delivery, it still builds up quickly. I used to make homemade pizza every week, but since moving, one thing or another has gotten in the way, or I've been too lazy on Fridays to make the dough. Also, the kids have discovered Rising Crust pizza, and I don't think the homemade crust I was making before will quite hold up to their expectations anymore. Still...I looked up a new crust recipe and we'll see what the girls think tomorrow night.
So, lets look at the price difference between what I've been buying and what it will cost to make my own. Buying the name brand pizza, a cheese pizza is $5.59, or a generic equivalent is $3.99. (So just shifting to buying the generic vs. the name brand will save over $1.50.)
Based on the ingredient cost, I can apparently make a basic, rising pizza crust, for about $0.33 per 12" crust. Store bought sauce (I haven't started making my own yet, but I'll probably get there) is $1.50/jar for the brand I buy, and I can get about 3 pizzas out of a jar...so that's another $0.50 onto the cheese pizza I'm making.
No pizza is truly complete without cheese...especially a cheese pizza. I can save almost $0.50/lb on shredded mozzarella cheese by buying a 2 lb bag instead of an 8 oz bag. If I use 8 oz of cheese on the pizza, (making it extra cheesy!) I end up paying $1.65 for the cheese. (I'm not actually likely to use a full 8 oz on a pizza. Usually, one pound of cheese will make it through two pizzas and the Pizza Potatoes I make for Phil and I.)
So, lets add that up and compare.
Crust........$0.33
Sauce.......$0.50
Cheese....$1.65
Total.......$2.48
Not bad! So, now to compare the price of homemade pizza to store bought.
Brand Name Pizza....$5.59 Generic Pizza..........$3.99
Homemade Pizza.....$2.48 Homemade Pizza....$2.48
Savings .......................$3.11 Savings.....................$1.51
Wow. Now, lets look at the fact that we're eating two pizzas per week, four weeks per month. Over the course of a month, making the pizza instead of buying brand name pizza would save us $24.88, while the savings of making vs. buying generic is $12.08, which is still pretty good.
Granted, it will likely take me a few weeks to get the crust just right, but I think it's worth it.
Now, making things from scratch has a couple advantages. 1) It's often less expensive, and 2) the quality is often higher. Yes, it takes more time, but it's generally worth it. Often, homemade items can be frozen to use later, so you can do a cooking blitz for a day or two, and have items available for weeks.
One of the more expensive items we've been buying pre-made lately is Pizza. We have pizza every Friday night, and while buying frozen pizza is much less expensive than buying take-out or delivery, it still builds up quickly. I used to make homemade pizza every week, but since moving, one thing or another has gotten in the way, or I've been too lazy on Fridays to make the dough. Also, the kids have discovered Rising Crust pizza, and I don't think the homemade crust I was making before will quite hold up to their expectations anymore. Still...I looked up a new crust recipe and we'll see what the girls think tomorrow night.
So, lets look at the price difference between what I've been buying and what it will cost to make my own. Buying the name brand pizza, a cheese pizza is $5.59, or a generic equivalent is $3.99. (So just shifting to buying the generic vs. the name brand will save over $1.50.)
Based on the ingredient cost, I can apparently make a basic, rising pizza crust, for about $0.33 per 12" crust. Store bought sauce (I haven't started making my own yet, but I'll probably get there) is $1.50/jar for the brand I buy, and I can get about 3 pizzas out of a jar...so that's another $0.50 onto the cheese pizza I'm making.
No pizza is truly complete without cheese...especially a cheese pizza. I can save almost $0.50/lb on shredded mozzarella cheese by buying a 2 lb bag instead of an 8 oz bag. If I use 8 oz of cheese on the pizza, (making it extra cheesy!) I end up paying $1.65 for the cheese. (I'm not actually likely to use a full 8 oz on a pizza. Usually, one pound of cheese will make it through two pizzas and the Pizza Potatoes I make for Phil and I.)
So, lets add that up and compare.
Crust........$0.33
Sauce.......$0.50
Cheese....$1.65
Total.......$2.48
Not bad! So, now to compare the price of homemade pizza to store bought.
Brand Name Pizza....$5.59 Generic Pizza..........$3.99
Homemade Pizza.....$2.48 Homemade Pizza....$2.48
Savings .......................$3.11 Savings.....................$1.51
Wow. Now, lets look at the fact that we're eating two pizzas per week, four weeks per month. Over the course of a month, making the pizza instead of buying brand name pizza would save us $24.88, while the savings of making vs. buying generic is $12.08, which is still pretty good.
Granted, it will likely take me a few weeks to get the crust just right, but I think it's worth it.
Want that home made crust to stand up to the rising crust?... try grilling your pizza instead of baking it in the oven... gorgeous crusts unless you burn them! :-D
ReplyDeleteA bit belated in response, given I'm only just getting onto reading these, but...I have a recipe I use for pizza sauce, also works as a plain tomato sauce for pasta. Its not a "classic" pizza sauce, but it works well for me!
ReplyDeleteChop to desired fineness, and saute (or microwave, for bonus time-saving) an onion and as many garlic cloves as work for you (I generally go with two or three, depending on size) in some olive oil. If microwaved, transfer to a skillet/frypan/heavy-based pan, and cook for a little longer. To this add a can of crushed/diced tomatoes, a tablespoon or two of tomato paste (the squeezable tubes are brilliant for this), about a tablespoon of sugar (not so necessary for the pizza-sauce, but I generally use the recipe for both options, and this helps bring out the tomato flavour), italian herbs to taste (generally basil and oregano, sometimes marjoram, if I remember) and a slug of cheap red (cooking) wine. Mix together, bring to a boil and then turn down and simmer to reduce the liquids. When it gets to the thickness you want (20 minutes to half an hour-ish), take it off the heat.
At those quantities it does me a meal with pasta, then three or four pizzas. It freezes just fine (portion beforehand, of course!), and can be combined with other sauce-related things to go on pizza - pesto/tapenade work nicely - or have extras added to it for pasta!