$0.15 per cup 64% savings save $8.46 yearly
I'm back!
For those of you who were scratching your heads last week due to the lack of a new post, I come bearing excuses:
I was ill.
It was Easter.
The home we are renting went up for sale... hence, extra cleaning for showings.
... Did I mention I was ill?
Anyway, I'm back on the bandwagon again, and I'm SO excited about today's recipe!
Several weeks ago, I was contacted by the lovely Lydia Belier (aka "The Thrifty Frugal Mom") from Parents.com.
I'm not gonna lie... Parents.com? I was super flattered.
Lydia asked that I try out a certain recipe from her blog on the the Parents.com site, and share it on here if I liked it. "Obviously, no pressure," she said.
The recipe was for homemade bisquick.
Hmmm... this could be problematic seeing as how I've never used bisquick in my life, and would never be comfortable posting about something that wasn't really, really, good.
Oh well, I thought. I know bisquick is a staple in many homes, and I have a general idea of what people use it for, so I'll give it a go.
HOLY HANNAH!!!!
This stuff is awesome!
A fantastic versatile mix that bakes up beautifully light, fluffy, and utterly delicious.
It took all of 3 minutes for the mix to come together, and then I started experimenting:
I came up with a recipe for cinnamon sugar muffins (not a great one to be honest, but it baked up so pretty despite my poor attempt). Breakfast turned into a special treat with the help of some berries and homemade syrup (by the way that strawberry is NOT moldy... it has blueberry juice on it... we do plenty of weird stuff in this home, but eating black mold is NOT one of those things).
Then, instead of making my regular chicken pot pie (with a crust) for dinner, I decided to use the bisquick mix as a topping... I'd seen a few chicken pot pie recipes that did it this way, but had never tried it myself. Success!!! Big time approval from the hubby, especially. Plus... much less time-consuming than making pie crust. This pot pie took 30 minutes start to finish. Awesome.
Give it a try! You'll love Lydia's recipe!
Printable Version
*Makes about 6 1/2 cups
INGREDIENTS
5 cups flour
1/4 cup baking powder
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 cup vegetable shortening
DIRECTIONS
Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Cut in the shortening with a fork or pastry cutter until the mixture becomes crumbly. Use as you would use regular Bisquick.
Store in an airtight container.
~ Savings ~
Cost Breakdown:
25 lb all-purpose flour - $7.20 = 94.5 C = $0.077/C = $0.349
25 lb sugar - $13.94 = 945 T = $0.015/T = $0.030
26 oz. salt - $0.44 = 48 T = $0.004/T = $0.001
48 oz. vegetable shortening - $4.28 = 227 T = $0.019/T = $0.304
12 oz. baking powder - $1.69 = 70.875 tsp. = $0.024/tsp = $0.288
Total Recipe Cost - $1.01
Cost per Cup = $0.15
The Contender:
Bisquick (40 oz. - 9.3 cups) = $3.88
Cost per Cup = $0.42
Savings:
64%
"Over a year" scenario:
Make Homemade Bisquick Mix 5 times = $5.05
Use equivalent Bisquick (40 oz.) = $13.51
*Money Saved = $8.46
could you use dehydrated shortening powder instead of regular?
ReplyDeleteI would imagine you could... with some possible adjustments. Some shortening powder is only about 70% fat, and regular is 100%... So, you'd probably need to check into your own shortening powder and see what the fat content is, and then maybe add some oil along with the dry mix when you are ready to use it.
DeleteOh Andrea, I'm blushing at all your praise. Glad you liked it! It's kind of funny, I don't use Bisquick much either...especially not for pancakes but I do have a couple of recipes that we like that take it- one is knockoff of Red Lobster's Cheese Biscuits. (Recipe is on my blog.) I love your idea of using it to make a "crust" for Chicken Pot Pie. Sounds awesome and like much less work than making a real pie crust. Going to have to try that.
ReplyDeleteHope you're feeling better- I did miss you. We've had sickness at our house too and I'm quite ready for everyone to be totally better again!
I've been tempted to try some of your stuff before, but didn't really get around to it. I use Bisquick ALL the time, especially in the summer (strawberry shortcakes, anyone?).
ReplyDeletePlus whenever I make biscuits.
or Pancakes
Or want an easy dinner so just wanna make the "impossibly easy cheeseburger pie".
This will save me and my husband SO much money.
So glad to hear you are better. We can definitely have those busy times. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this blog. I am a mom to 6 and we live on my husband's income so frugality is a must! And, your site has been so helpful. Your prices are similar to here and the cost breakdown is sooo helpful! Funny, I had not realized (even though I have been staring right at it in the comments) that your name is Andrea! (So is mine and I have never met another Andrea before amazingly.) :) Please post as often as possible!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Andrea! (Wow... it feels funny to address someone with my name. :)
DeleteI haven't met many other Andreas in my life, so this is a treat. I'm so glad you and your family benefit from this site! Congrats on being a stay at home mom... best career move ever! ;) Keep up the good work with your family!
Thanks for the recipe! I'm glad you are feeling better.
ReplyDeleteBTW, my middle name is Andrea (pronounced anne-drea) and my cousin's daughter is Andrea (ahn-dra the German or french prounciation)
Which way do you pronounce yours?
I didn't know anyone else with either name.
J in VA
Thanks! It is nice to be feeling back to normal-ish.
DeleteAnd my name is pronounced Anne - dree - uh. : )
What do you think the shelf life of this would be in an airtight container? Btw, love your posts!
ReplyDeleteShortening will go rancid first. It should keep in an air-tight container for 6 months.
DeleteAny suggestions if you cannot find vegeteable shortening? or therefor ANY kind of shortening??
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you're having a hard time finding shortening! You should be able to pick it up at any grocery store/Walmart in the baking aisle. Next time you go grocery shopping check there... if you still can't find it, try asking a store associate... and if you STILL can't find it, message me. Good luck!
DeleteThis is really a great recipe. I used Bisquick all the time too and now use this recipe instead. The only thing is that I don't like Crisco because it's made with hydrogenated oil. I saw another post for a homemade Bisquick recipe, and someone used organic non-hydrogenated shortening instead. I found it (more expensive) at Raley's in their organic aisle. Maybe you could find it cheaper at another organic store? And don't you love this recipe at how little salt is in it?
ReplyDeleteWell if the organic Crisco is more expensive then why not just buy the Bisquick.. Everything is more expensive at Raleys..
DeleteThis might be a stupid question, but I don't use bisquick either, so please forgive me. Does this make just a mix and you still have to add water or something to actually cook with it? Or is it ready to go as-is? It seems like this would be pretty dry with only 1 c shortening and 5 c flour. I really want to try using this for chicken pot pie!
ReplyDeleteNo stupid questions around here. :) This recipe makes the dry mix. You would use it exactly as you would use the box mix you pick up in the grocery store. If you'll take a look in my recipe index, I've got a recipe for chicken pot pie that uses this mix. Hopefully it helps!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I meant to say before, I am new to your site and I love it! I will definitely be trying lots of these recipes. Thanks again!
DeleteCan you use oil ?
ReplyDeleteFrom Shannon
Hi Shannon. Unfortunately, no. Oil won't work in this instance. It needs to be shortening. Hope this helps!
DeleteDoes this need to be stored in the fridge or is the pantry OK?
ReplyDeleteThe pantry works just fine. :)
DeleteI made up a batch using coconut oil instead of shortening and made your Chicken Pot Pie recipe. It worked great and the pie was delicious, thanks! I can't wait to try other recipes with my new Bisquick :)
ReplyDeleteHi, how much coconut oil did you use?! :)
DeleteThank you for the recipe! Bisquick is a staple in our house. I started using it for pancakes when we discovered our daughter's severe allergy to milk, as it does not contain milk. I try to cook and bake from scratch as much as possible to control ingredients. I have seen a few baking mix recipes that use butter, which I cannot do because of the allergy. I used this recipe this morning and made pumpkin bread. It was delicious!
ReplyDeleteThank You so much for the recipe~ I use bisquick often and am almost out. You have fixed that problem and I LOVE the price breakdown too! It is so exciting to see that and see exactly how much $ I am saving by using this!. I have a large box for my bisquick in the freezer and I will make this and fill a zip bag with yours and call it bisquick! Again Thanks for sharing and helping us save our hard earned $! I think we will need to have waffles for dinner after I finish my bisquick :)
ReplyDeleteBuffy
Looks wonderful. I will stop and get some shortening so I can make this.. I want pancakes right now! Anyway, no like or share for Facebook? Or did I just not see it? It's my way of saving recipes. Sad I know. I will be back though.
ReplyDeleteTracy
can you use wheat flour instead of white?
ReplyDeleteYes, you can Mallie, but the consistency/texture will be a little bit different. :)
ReplyDeleteFor those that don't know what vegetable shortening is, in the states, brand name is Crisco. It is in the baking section near the cooking oil. It is either in sticks or a tub. It looks like white paste but creamier. It make fried chicken taste amazing. Have fun with these recipes.
ReplyDeleteIf I keep the shorting out till the day it is needed. Keep mixture in air tight canning jars (vacuum sealed) how long would the estimated shelf life be?
ReplyDeleteFor just the dry ingredients? I'd do a year for freshness sake, but It could probably be fine for 2 years or more.
DeleteI just made Coffee Cake with your Homemade Bisquick and it was perfect! I can't wait to have it with my coffee in the morning. Thank you for sharing. ~Roberta in Denver, CO
ReplyDelete