A couple of months ago, I started making freezer meals our go-to plan for dinner. Before that, getting dinner on the table used to be so tough. With all of our kids’ sports and other activities (for which I’m the main driver), plus all of the commitments that Mike and I have, our evenings are pretty full. We had lots of leftovers nights and fend-for-yourself nights. Having meals ready to go has really improved and simplified life.

As I mentioned in May’s Grocery Haul blog post, my plan for May was to stock our freezer with freezer meals for us to use on a regular basis. You asked what my freezer meal plan would be, so I’m detailing it here.

I assembled most of the freezer meals the evening after I went shopping. I had lots of help from the family, but it was a whirlwind (read: it was a mess), so I didn’t really take any (good) pictures. I’ll try to improve that in the future.

Freezer Meal Planning

Before going grocery shopping at the beginning of May, I went through everything in my the freezer side of my refrigerator (I wasn’t ambitious enough to attempt our two chest freezers in the garage). I made plans to use what I found as ingredients in my freezer meals (veggies, meat, etc) and by putting together little “kits” of items that went together.

For example, I found about 3 pizzas worth of homemade pizza dough, frozen mushrooms, peppers, pineapple, pepperoni, precooked chicken chunks, and precooked ground sausage. I put all of those items in a grocery bag, stuck it back in the freezer and wrote “pizza kit” down on my freezer meal inventory list.

Here are some of the kits I put together while organizing the freezer:

• Pizza Kit
• Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, and Corn-on-the-Cob Kit
• Chicken Noodle Soup Kit
• Quiche Kit
• Cherry Cobbler Kit x 2 (not a dinner )

I looked through my favorite freezer meal book and chose the recipes I planned to make. I started with some favorites that we have previously tried and liked, including:

• California Breakfast Casserole x 4
• White Bean Chicken Chili x 4
• Seriously Good Chili x 4
• Creamy Cheesy Broccoli Soup x 4

I added a few new recipes from the same book, including:

• Tempting Taco Pasta Shell Casserole x 4
• Hash Brown Casserole x 4
• Cauliflower Crave Soup x 2

I also wrote down a few favorites that we love that aren’t from the book, but are family favorites that freeze well.

• Creamy Tacos Casserole x 4
• Butternut Squash Soup x 4
• Spaghetti with Meatballs x 4

My original hope was to make about 40 freezer meals, thinking that we would use about 20 per month. On days when I had time to make a non-freezer meal, I would, plus I knew there would be other gathering where we would eat with friends or at a church activity. I figured I wouldn’t get all 40 meals done in a day, but I wanted to see how many I could finish.

It turns out the deciding factor on how many freezer meals I could make wasn’t my time or energy, but freezer space! I ended up making everything except 3 of the recipes, but I still ended up with a total of 32 dinner freezer meals (including the “kits”). I figured I could make those other recipes later in the month (or next month) when I have freed up some freezer space.

For the spaghetti, I actually didn’t make anything, but I did buy 6 pounds of meatballs. Making the noodles and homemade sauce is not hard, so I’m still calling it a freezer meal for counting toward my total.

Beyond dinners

In addition to freezer meals, with the help of my older kids, I did some other meal prep for the month. It is so nice to start the month with food that is (nearly) ready to eat.

Rolls

I put my oldest in charge of making two double batches of Soft French Bread dough. We shaped into rolls, then froze the balls on baking sheets. Once they were frozen, we put them into bags of 20. When we want to have rolls along with one of our soups, we can just put the dough balls on to a baking sheet to thaw and rise.

Breakfast Burritos

My older kids love having breakfast burritos in the freezer as a grab-and-go breakfast.  I use the recipe in Seriously Good Freezer Meals. I mixed up a 6 times batch of filling then put my second oldest in charge of making the burritos. We ended up with 70-some burritos for the freezer.

Yogurt

I made a gallon of yogurt the same night that I was making all of the freezer meals. We don’t put it in the freezer, but it is great to have on hand to eat with fruit and granola for easy breakfasts

Granola

I made a double batch of overnight granola the day after my freezer meals adventure. It will last about a week. And by last, I’m not talking about shelf life. It will last much longer than that in a sealed container. I’m talking about how long before my kids gobble it all up.

Here are some PAQs

Yep. Not a typo. That’s a “P” not an “F.” I’m calling these Potentially Asked Questions

Won’t you get sick of those meals?

Maybe. But I think we’ll be just fine. If we eat 5 freezer meals per week and have 10 different freezer meal options, then we will repeat every two weeks. That’s not going to bother anyone around here. And, as always, if any kids don’t like what we are having, they are welcome to make themselves a peanut butter sandwich for dinner.

Do you reuse the foil pans for freezer meals?

Sometimes. If it’s easy to clean, then I love saving them to reuse for a future freezer meal. If it’s a tough clean (crusty burned on stuff in the pan wrinkles), then I don’t hesitate to throw it away. Remember, my whole object in making freezer meals is to save time!

Do you reuse the freezer bags?

Once upon a time, back when we were paying off six figures of student loan debt, I did. Mike will wash them out sometimes even now, but generally I just throw them away. I hate when a reused bag has a hole in it and ends up dripping when it thaws, so I prefer to use new bags each time. If we have washed freezer bags I will use them for something else, not freezer meals with liquid in them.

How about you?

Do you make freezer meals? What is your favorite?

Feel free to link and suggestions that our family might enjoy!

The post Freezer Meal Prep for the Month appeared first on Six Figures Under.

It’s been a while since I shared our monthly grocery haul. This past year has been a whirlwind, so I haven’t been as organized and intentional as I like to be. With rising food prices, our grocery spending has been higher than it ever has. Still, in the past 12 months, our average monthly spending on food for our family of 8 has only been $711.

Even with inflation, you can still feed your family without breaking the bank.

Of course this just doesn’t happen. I have specific strategies that I use to keep our budget low. I share those strategies in my course Grocery Budget Hero. The course includes 20 lessons that build on one another. The 4+ hours of video content is divided up into manageable chunks so no matter how busy you are, you can still find time for this valuable training. Use the code SAVE20 to get $20 off and get your grocery budget under control.

Before making May’s monthly grocery shopping trip, I made a very well thought out plan. I planned all of the meals that I would be making and wrote down all of the ingredients, then checked the pantry and freezer to see what we already had. Everything else went on my grocery list.

I have found that homemade freezer meals work best for our family. We have busy schedules, so having ready-made meals that just need to be thawed and heated works really well for us. I am planning for us to eat 5 freezer meals per week (20 per month). My goal is to make 40 at once so that I have a good variety to stretch over two months. We’ll see how it goes with freezer space though.

We keep our food storage, pantry, and freezer pretty well-stocked, so we don’t shop for everything every month. This month I shopped at Sam’s Club and Winco. You can either watch the video below or just scroll down for the exact prices.

Sam’s Club- $227

• Powdered Sugar (7 lb) $6.98 x 4 = $27.92
• Honey (48 oz) $9.98
• Clementines (5 lb) $5.92
• Bananas (3 lb) $1.47 x 4 = $5.88
• String Cheese (48 ct) $9.74
• Cottage Cheese (3 lb) $4.88
• Shredded Cheese (5 lb) $12.18
• Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (5 lb) $11.87
• Romaine $3.58
• Spinach (16 oz) $3.38
• Tortilla Chips (96 oz) $11.98
• Southwest Salad Kit (12 oz) $2.38 x 3 = $7.14
• Kale Salad Kit (12 oz) $2.88
• Rotisserie Chicken $4.98 x 2 = $9.96
• Meatballs (6 lb) $17.98
• Pork Sausage (2 lb) $6.98 x 3 = $20.94
• Sour Cream (3 lb) $5.28 x 2 = $10.56
• Milk, 2 % $3.04
• Milk, whole $3.38
• Half and Half (1 qt) $2.48
• Kit Kat Ice Cream Cones $7.88
• Raisins (60 oz) $9.78
• Large Flour Tortillas (54 oz) $7.92 x 3 = $23.76

Winco- $180

• Yogurt (32 oz) $2.36 x 3 = $7.0
• Frozen Broccoli (16 oz) $1.33 x 4 = $5.32
• Eggs (5 dz) $13.97
• Ground Beef (5 lb) $13.98
• Garbanzo beans (1 lb) $1.48 x 4 = $5.92
• Kidney beans (1 lb) $1.28 x 4 = $5.12
• Granny Smith Apples $.98/lb x 5 lb = $4.99
• Honeycrisp Apples $.98/lb x 6.4 lb = $6.27
• Strawberries (1 lb) $1.28 x 24 = $30.72
• Shell Pasta (1 lb) $1.18
• Dried Apricots $5/lb x .38 lb = $1.90
• Limes $.25 x 4 = $1.00
• Salsa (32 oz) $3.28 x 2 = $6.56
• Graham Crackers $2.18 x 6 = $13.08
• Potatoes (5 lb) $98 x 2 = $1.96
• Cilantro $.57
• Coriander $4.48/lb x .06 lb = $.27
• Baby Carrots ( 1 lb) $1.28 x 2 = $2.56
• Carrots (2 lb) $1.48
• White Onions $.78/lb x 3.2 lb = $2.52
• Yellow Onions $.68/lb x 5.75 = $3.91
• Oranges (8 lb) $5.98
• Green Chilis (4 oz) $.78 x 4 = $3.12
• Roma Tomatoes $1.28/lb x 5.3 lb = $6.82
• Bread $2.55 x 8 = $20.40
• English Muffins $2.58 x 4 = $10.32
• Corn Tortillas $3.26

So in May we spent $408 on our monthly grocery haul. We will still make other small shopping trips for more produce and lots of milk (we go through nearly a gallon a day, but we already had milk in the fridge when I went shopping), but the bulk of our shopping is done.

In addition to making lots of freezer meals, I will be making homemade yogurt, granola, oatmeal packets, cornbread, and rolls (freezing balls of dough from this recipe for rolls) in bulk so we are set for the month.

I would love to hear how these prices compare to what you are currently paying. And if you’re surprised that my prices are better than you’d expect for California, you’re not wrong. Knowing where to shop and what to buy really is a game-changer. I would have to pay twice as much if I just went to a regular grocery store in my area. It’s definitely worth it for me to drive 30 minutes away to do my monthly shopping where I do.

The post Monthly Grocery Haul for our Family of 8 in May 2024 appeared first on Six Figures Under.

If you’re trying to save money on groceries, the last thing you want to do is throw food away! Wasting food, simply put, is wasting money.

In the past I’ve shared 7 ways to use milk that is almost expired to help people not waste one of the most common staples in our kitchens.

Today we’ll look at bananas! Bananas are the perfect healthy snack to have on hand. Nature even has them conveniently individually wrapped for us! It can be tricky to be always stocked with bananas, though, as they can ripen fast, especially in the summer.

The good news is that there’s no such thing as a bad banana. Even a very overripe banana can be saved and given another (very delicious) life. I’ll share with you my top five uses for overripe bananas so you’ll never need to toss them out again!

What constitutes an overripe banana?

First, let’s talk about exactly what constituted an overripe banana.

As bananas ripen they get sweeter and softer. Whether a banana is underripe, overripe, or just perfect is partly personal preference. For some people, even one brown spot is overripe, while others prefer a well-speckled banana.

Test and texture aside, bananas become less appealing (no pun intended!) as they get brown. In the summer, an overripe banana will summon fruit flies from who knows where, a clear sign it’s time to use ‘em or lose ‘em.

While brown bananas may be too soft, squishy, and ripe for you to enjoy fresh, overripe bananas have many great uses for baking and other treats.

Great Ways to Use Overripe Bananas

There is no need to throw away brown bananas ever again! With these 5 smart ways to use overripe bananas, you’ll never waste another banana!

1- Banana bread

If you do any sort of baking, you probably already know that overripe bananas are the perfect ingredient for banana bread. What you might not know is that overripe bananas can be frozen to make banana bread in the future. Here’s our favorite moist and delicious banana bread recipe.

At the end of the post, I’ll share two tried and true methods for freezing bananas, so you can bake your banana bread whenever it’s convenient for you.

2-Banana Pancakes

In our house banana pancakes are a welcome sight any day of the week. We don’t even have to sleep in and pretend like it’s the weekend. The best part is there’s no recipe required. Just add mashed banana to your pancake batter, no matter if it is a lot or a little. It always turns out great!

If you’re looking for whole wheat pancakes, here’s our go-to homemade whole wheat pancake mix that we keep in the pantry.

3- Smoothies

Our family loves smoothies with whatever fruits we have on hand. Adding bananas to smoothies makes them nice and creamy. You can use overripe bananas that are fresh or frozen. You don’t even need a recipe. Just throw some bananas along with some frozen berries and milk or juice.

To save time, you can freeze smoothie kits by adding all of the solid ingredients to a freezer bag. Here are some of my best money-saving smoothie tips.

4- One-ingredient “ice cream” (dairy-free)

While it’s not technically ice cream as there is no cream or dairy in this treat, the smooth and creamy consistency is shockingly similar. Peel, slice and freeze your overripe bananas, then toss them in the blender or food processor until they are smooth. You don’t need other ingredients, but if you want to add vanilla or chocolate or peanut butter, that will be delicious too!

5- Banana cake

My college roommate had a well-loved recipe for banana cake with brown sugar topping that she would make any time we had spotty brown bananas. Sadly, I have lost the recipe and haven’t found another to replace it.

Until I find that beloved recipe, we’ve been enjoying this moist and flavorful banana cake with cream cheese frosting. Whichever route you go, banana cake is a great way to use up those overripe bananas.

How to freeze overripe bananas

In case you’re like me and can’t drop everything to make banana treats as soon as those brown spots appear, here are two great methods for freezing bananas so they are ready whenever you are!

Method 1 for Freezing Bananas:

My preferred method for freezing overripe bananas is to peel the bananas and cut (or break) them in half (or smaller pieces if you want). If you are freezing lots of bunches of bananas, you will want to first lay them out on a cookie sheet and freeze for several hours before putting the frozen bananas into a freezer bag. This way the bananas won’t freeze to each other in a big banana mass.

If you’re only freezing a couple of bananas, you can get away with skipping the flash freezing step. Be sure to lay the bag flat in the freezer so that there is minimal touching of the bananas. I usually freeze bananas this way so I can use the bananas individually for smoothies if I want.

If you’re planning to use the bananas all at once for baking, then it doesn’t really matter if they are touching because you will thaw them all at the same time before using them anyway.

Method 2 for Freezing Bananas:

Let’s say you notice overripe bananas on the counter as you’re running out the door to catch a plane for a two-week vacation. You can freeze bananas in their peels if you are in a total hurry and don’t have time for the other way. This isn’t my preferred method, but it works.

Frozen bananas in peels are not very fun to deal with. The frozen banana peel turns completely black and the bananas have to thaw a while before you can get the peel off. I usually score the peel with a knife or fork to help take it off more easily. I’m not going to lie, though. It’s a little gross.

The plus side is that you don’t even need a plastic bag when you freeze bananas in their peels since the peels protect the bananas from freezer burn.

How do YOU use overripe bananas?

Here’s a random fun fact: In graduate school, my dad, a geneticist, did research on fruit flies. In order to attract his specimens, he travelled to various parts of the country with carloads of brown bananas. He got his fill of banana aroma and to this day he will not eat bananas or anything made with them. He’s totally missing out!

What constitutes an overripe banana for you?

What are YOUR favorite ways to use overripe bananas?

If you have a favorite recipe please share!

The post 5 Smart Ways to Use Overripe Bananas (and how to freeze them) appeared first on Six Figures Under.

One of our most favorite parts of Thanksgiving dinner? Sweet potato souffle!

While it’s not the healthiest version of sweet potatoes for your Thanksgiving spread, this sweet potato souffle is absolutely the tastiest. And let’s face it, covering your sweet potatoes with marshmallows and brown sugar, like many people do, isn’t healthy either. But sweet potato souffle is much better!

Posing as a side dish or even a dessert, this versatile dish will be a crowd pleaser, so have the recipe ready to share.

Since it’s such a big hit, I usually double the recipe listed here and make it in a bigger pan. If it’s not gone the first day, it makes great leftovers. My kids love it for breakfast the day after Thanksgiving.

My father-in-law introduced us to growing sweet potatoes years ago.  Every year we have an impressive harvest. My kids love digging them up every year. Since they grow underground, you have no idea how they are doing until it’s harvest time. We love guessing how much the biggest ones are going to weigh.

Here are a couple of boxes from this year’s harvest:

Over the years we have added many more sweet potato recipes into our arsenal of family favorites, but sweet potato souffle stands as everyone’s all-time favorite.

While you can absolutely use a can of yams for this recipe, we never buy cans of yams because we always have plenty of actual sweet potatoes.

If you’re using actual sweet potatoes, simply peel the potatoes and cube them. Everything on the cutting board below is from ONE sweet potato (and it’s not even the whole potato)! The homegrown sweet potatoes get huge!

Boil the cubed sweet potato in a pot of water until they are soft enough for mashing.

Whether you’re using fresh sweet potatoes or a can of yams, mash them with a potato masher.

Now you are ready for the recipe. Everything from here on is the same whether you are using fresh sweet potatoes or canned yams. You’ll find a printable recipe at the bottom of the post.

Sweet Potato Soufflé

Ingredients

• 3 cups mashed cooked sweet potatoes (or 1 large can of yams)
• ¾ cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ½ cup milk

Topping

• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup chopped nuts
• 1/3 cup melted butter

Mash cooked sweet potatoes (or large can of yams) with a potato masher.

Add white sugar, softened butter, eggs, vanilla, and milk.  Mix thoroughly.

Spread evenly into a greased square baking dish (8 or 9 inch).

For the topping, combine coconut, flour, brown sugar, chopped nuts and melted butter.

Sprinkle evenly over the top of the sweet potato mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes or until knife comes out clean.

Serve warm or cold– it’s delicious both ways!

This updated post was originally published October 9, 2015.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Sweet Potato Soufflé

 

Print

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

45 mins

Total time

1 hour

 

This yummy sweet potato dish is a great thanksgiving side that can also be a dessert. Either way, it will have guests asking for the recipe!

Author: Stephanie @ SixFiguresUnder.com

Recipe type: Side Dish or Dessert

Ingredients

• 3 cups mashed sweet potatoes (or large can of yams)
• ¾ cup white sugar
• ⅓ cup butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ½ cup milk
• [TOPPING]
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• ⅓ cup flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup chopped nuts
• ⅓ cup melted butter

Instructions

1. Mash cooked sweet potatoes (or large can of yams) with a potato masher.
2. Add white sugar, softened butter, eggs, vanilla, and milk. Beat eggs and mix.
3. Spread evenly into a greased square baking dish (8 or 9 inch).
4. For the topping, combine coconut, flour, brown sugar, chopped nuts and melted butter.
5. Sprinkle evenly over the top of the sweet potato mixture.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes or until knife comes out clean.

3.4.3177

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The post Sweet Potato Soufflé– Our Favorite Thanksgiving Side Dish appeared first on Six Figures Under.

Fall means it’s time for pumpkin everything! I love eating pumpkin all year long, but in the fall the rest of the world (well, at least the country) joins me.

Do you know what makes pumpkin recipes even better?

Making your own pumpkin puree!

Seriously.  If you’ve never tried making homemade pumpkin puree, then make this year your time to give it a try!  You’ll be so glad you did.

Making  your own pumpkin puree is better for your body and your budget.  When you make homemade pumpkin puree, you don’t have to worry about any weird preservatives.  Plus, it’s waaay cheaper than buying the canned stuff.  And it’s easy!

The short video below will walk you through all the details OR just scroll down for a complete picture tutorial!

Originally published 11/11/2013

How we use homemade pumpkin puree

We use pumpkin puree instead of canned pumpkin for all things pumpkin, including:

• pumpkin bread and muffins
• pumpkin sheet cake
• pumpkin cookies
• pumpkin pancakes
• pumpkin pie
• pumpkin custard (pretty much just a deep pumpkin pie without the crust)
• pumpkin soup

2020 harvest of pumpkins and banana squash

2021 harvest of pumpkins and “bananakins” (our giant pumpkins crossed with banana squash to make a huge squash!)

How to make pumpkin puree step-by-step

Making your own pumpkin puree is really easy.  If you don’t have much freezer space, you can still puree a pumpkin and keep the puree in the fridge for a couple weeks while you try all the yummy pumpkin recipes you find on Pinterest.

Don’t be fooled into thinking you can only use pumpkins labeled as “pie pumpkins” for this.  Any pumpkins will work well and be healthy and delicious.  Actually any winter squash will work just fine (banana squash, butternut squash, etc).

Start by cleaning and cutting your pumpkin in half and cleaning out the guts.  Don’t be intimidated by the slime factor here.  I promise it’s way easier than trying to squeeze your arm down inside a pumpkin to clean it out to carve a jack-o-lantern.  Grab an ice cream scoop to scrape out all the stringy and seedy parts.  You can save the seeds to roast later.

Lay your pumpkin halves on a cookie sheet with the skin side up.  This keeps the meaty inside of the pumpkin nice and moist.  You don’t need to worry about covering your pan with anything.  The pumpkin juices wash off very easily.

Stick your pumpkins in the oven at 350 degrees.  It will probably take around 45 minutes, but it will vary depending on the thickness of the meat.  If you have large pumpkins (like I did), you may want to move your oven racks down lower (like I didn’t) to prevent scorching the skin (though it doesn’t affect the meat).  You will want to check on them after 30 minutes to see how they are doing, though they could take up to an hour.  When a knife goes into the meat effortlessly, you will know they are done.

The next part is my favorite.  The skin just peels away!  But before you get started, let the pumpkins cool for a while because they are hot!  When you can actually touch them, you can easily peel most of the skin off with your hands (and it’s fun!).  Sometimes you will need to use a knife on the edges.

As you peel off the skin, you can put the chunks of pumpkin meat into your food processor or blender.  When I’m doing lots of pumpkin (which I usually am), I use a food processor, but a blender works fine too.

Meet Gonzo.  I bet you can’t guess where he picked up that nickname!  Does your food processor have a name?  Gonzo has proven to be one of our most useful wedding gifts.  Unfortunately, they no longer make him any more, but it’s similar to this food processor.

I put all the pumpkin puree into several large containers and stick them in the fridge while I wait to use or freeze the pumpkin puree.

Freezing pumpkin puree

There are a couple of different methods for freezing pumpkin puree.  If you aren’t worried about specific measurements, you can just put the pumpkin puree directly into Ziploc freezer bags to freeze.  For soup or large batches of baked goods this is fine.

Another method of freezing pumpkin puree is to measure the pumpkin puree as you put it in bags.  Measuring the pumpkin puree makes it much easier when it comes time to use.  Lay the bags flat as you freeze them so they store nice and compact.

Personally, I like to freeze pumpkin in batches in plastic containers.  I love these Rubbermaid storage containers because the bottom of each container says how many cups it holds, so it is easy to thaw for recipes (they are also awesome containers for lunches, because they don’t ever leak).  I find this method much easier than continually scraping out a measuring cup into a Ziplock bag, but with the convenience of measuring.

After the pumpkin puree is frozen in the containers, I let it begin to thaw slightly (about 15 minutes on the counter).  After thawing for a few minutes it pops right out of the plastic containers.  I double wrap each block in plastic wrap.  Then, I fill each container up a again with more puree from the fridge and freeze another batch.

After each block is wrapped in plastic, I store them in the freezer in Ziplock freezer bags.   I usually use mine within a year or two (in the chest freezer) without any problems

Making my own pumpkin puree allows me to do much more baking of fall pumpkin treats than I would if I had to buy a canned pumpkin each time.  We just can’t get enough pumpkin!

This post has affiliate links to products that I know to be awesome and think you’ll love too!  If you make a purchase through one of my links, I will get a small percentage of the sale (at no extra cost to you) and be very grateful!

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The post How to make your own pumpkin puree (from ANY pumpkin) appeared first on Six Figures Under.

One of the things I love about the Christmas season is the abundance of homemade treats!  Our 25 days of Christmas Cheer on a Budget wouldn’t be complete without sharing one of my favorite holiday treat recipes: my grandma’s Molasses Sugar Cookie recipe.  I love the way these molasses sugar cookies are soft and slightly chewy.  The molasses with along with ginger, cloves, and cinnamon just tastes like Christmas to me!

Not only are they delicious, they’re simple too. When I was in elementary school I made these to enter into the fair and came home with a blue ribbon.

If you’re a visual learner, the short video below will show you exactly how to make them, or you can continue reading the instructions below.  At the bottom of the post is a printable version of the recipe.

The ingredients are pretty basic things you probably have in your pantry with the possible exception of the molasses.  Not everyone keeps that on hand.  I really only have it to make these cookies.
Besides molasses, you’ll need sugar, an egg, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, salt, and shortening.

Shortening isn’t my favorite kind of fat to bake with. I only use it for this receipe and for pie crust.  I prefer to bake with butter. I’ve tried substituting butter in molasses sugar cookies and they don’t turn out the same.  They still taste good, but they are very flat.  So we use shortening.

Ingredients

3/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup molasses
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teapsoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt

Melt shortening over low heat until is is completely liquid.  Remove the pan from the heat and allow it to cool completely.  I’m honestly not sure what this does or why it’s a step in the recipe, but this is how my grandma (who is an amazing baker) taught me, so I do it.

When the shortening has cooled, add in 1/4 cup molasses, 1 cup sugar, and 1 egg.  To minimize dirty dishes, I just use the pan instead of a bowl.

In a separate bowl mix together the remaining ingredients: flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and salt.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in the pan.  This will make a somewhat stiff dough.
Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 min.

Roll dough into balls then roll balls in sugar.

Bake on a greased cookie sheet in a 375 degree oven for 8-10 minutes.

Cool on the cookie sheet for one minute then transfer to cooling rack.

Enjoy!

I wish I could share some with each of you, so you would know how yummy they are, but you’ll just have to trust me and go make a batch or two to see for yourself.

What is your favorite homemade holiday treat?

Print Recipe

Molasses Sugar Cookies

 

Print

Soft and chewy Molasses Sugar Cookies are a holiday favorite!

Author: Stephanie @ SixFiguresUnder.com

Recipe type: Cookie

Serves: 2.5-3 dozen

Ingredients

• ¾ cup shortening
• ¼ cup molasses
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teapsoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon cloves
• ½ teaspoon ginger
• ½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Melt shortening over low heat until is is completely liquid. Remove the pan from the heat and allow it to cool completely.
2. When the shortening has cooled, add in ¼ cup molasses, 1 cup sugar, and 1 egg. To minimize dirty dishes, I just use the pan instead of a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl mix together the remaining ingredients: flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and salt.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in the pan. This will make a somewhat stiff dough.
5. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 min.
6. Roll dough into balls then roll balls in sugar.
7. Bake on a greased cookie sheet in a 375 degree oven for 8-10 minutes.
8. Cool on the cookie sheet for one minute then transfer to cooling rack.

3.5.3251

Next in the series:

Day 22: Homemade Cranberry Sauce

The post The Best Molasses Sugar Cookies appeared first on Six Figures Under.

Homemade brownie mix in a mason jar is a fast, easy, and inexpensive gift.  Plus the fudgy brownies are delicious!

Brownie mix in a jar is a great neighbor gift, teacher gift, or hostess gift.  Mixes in mason jars are quick to make, especially when you do them assembly line style.  I love gifts like this that are consumable and don’t create clutter.

Brownie mix in a jar is a gift that children can help make too!  Your kids will love being able to give their teachers a useful, delicious gift that they made themselves!

I have a quick video below that will show you exactly how to make brownie mix in a jar along with tips to make your gift in a jar turn out beautiful.  Or you can keep scrolling for the details along with a printable recipe (for you) and printable tags (for the recipient).

Tips for layering brownie mix in a canning jar

• This recipe is for a QUART mason jar.
• The funnel that I use for canning works great to make sure everything gets into the jar without a mess.
• Adding the ingredients in the order listed works best.  The chocolate chips need to be on the top, otherwise they will be buried and hidden.  The cocoa gets on the side of the jar, so it’s a good candidate for going near the top.
• Shake each layer down so it’s flat before adding the next layer.  For brown sugar, you’ll want to use a spoon.
• If you prefer brownies without nuts, leave them out and fill their space with more chocolate chips.

Homemade Fudgy Brownie Mix

• 1 cups + 2 Tablespoon flour
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2/3 cups sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/3 cup cocoa
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Instructions for Using Homemade Brownie Mix

Mix contents of jar with:

• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cups water
• 2/3 cup oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Pour into a greased 9″ square pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.  Cool and enjoy!

Click here to download the printable PDF of the tags/labels.

Printable Recipe and Instructions for Making Brownie Mix in a Jar

4.0 from 5 reviews

Homemade Fudgy Brownie Mix

 

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Homemade brownie mixes are perfect for your pantry. They also make great gifts when they're layered in a jar!

Author: Stephanie @ SixFiguresUnder.com

Cuisine: Dessert

Ingredients

• 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons flour
• ⅔ cup packed brown sugar
• ⅔ cup sugar
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ⅓ cups cocoa
• ½ cups chocolate chips
• ½ cups chopped walnuts (optional)

Instructions

1. Add ingredients to a 1 quart canning jar (or quart-size zip-top plastic bag) in the order listed.
2. Include the following instructions for using the mix:
3. Mix contents of jar with: 2 eggs, ¼ c. water, ⅔ c. oil, 1 t. vanilla
4. Pour into a greased 9″ square pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean. Cool and enjoy!

3.5.3251

Click here to see the rest of the series Frugal Festivities: 25 Days of Christmas Cheer on a Budget series

Originally published 30 May 2014 but updated to be included in the Frugal Festivities series.

Next in the series:

Day 19: 4 Reasons to Stay Home for Christmas

The post Fudgy Brownie Mix in a Jar– Fast and Easy Homemade Gift appeared first on Six Figures Under.

Does the thought of making a homemade pie overwhelm you?  Pie-making used to feel like a big task to me when I took into consideration making both the crust and the filling from scratch (and in our family, there really isn’t another way besides scratch).

Several years ago, I learned a new recipe along with some tricks that have simplified pie-making for me.  The key was making pie crust dough in bulk and then freezing the dough balls.

Making pie crusts in bulk has some wonderful benefits:

• It’s less mess– just clean up once!
• We have pie crust dough in the freezer all year for homemade pies, quiches, pot pies, etc.
• Measuring is a cinch.  I am not a fan of measuring out shortening because it’s messy, so I love that my bulk pie crust recipe takes a whole can– no measuring needed!
• Pie-making is half the work, but still with the tasty benefits of a homemade crust.

If you’re a visual or auditory learner, the short video below will quickly teach you everything you need to know about making pie crust in bulk, otherwise keep reading for the bulk pie crust tutorial in words and pictures. There’s a printable recipe at the bottom of the post.

Bulk Pie Crust– Makes 20 crusts

Let’s get started with the ingredients!

•  1- 5lb bag of all purpose flour (hold back about 2 cups)
• 1- 3lb can vegetable shortening
• 4 Tablespoons sugar
• 2 Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 Tablespoons vinegar
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups water

You’ll want to get out the biggest bowl you have (seriously!).  Mix the flour, sugar, and salt together.  Using a pastry cutter if you have one (if not, a fork will suffice), blend the shortening with the flour mixture.

When the flour mixture and shortening are combined, set the bowl aside.

In a separate bowl (I always use the shortening container to minimize dirty dishes), beat together the water, eggs and vinegar using a fork or whisk.

Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture and blend with a fork until all ingredients are moistened.

Continue to blend using hands and fold dough into a ball.

Cover dough ball with plastic and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.

Use the reserved 2 cups of flour to flour your surface and hands, though you probably won’t need it all.  Divide your giant dough ball in quarters.  Divide each quarter into 5 equal parts.  You’ll have 20 equal-ish pieces of dough.  Roll each dough portion into a ball.  It’s okay if they’re not perfectly even.  You can use the smaller balls for top crusts and the larger ones for the bottom crusts.  For a flakier crust, be careful not to overwork the dough.

Wrap each ball individually in plastic wrap, then place balls into a freezer bag.  Store in the freezer indefinitely.  I’ve stored mine for over a year without any problems.

Each dough ball makes one pie crust or top.

To use, remove the dough balls you need from the freezer and allow to thaw on the countertop or in the refrigerator.  If I’m in a hurry (not that that ever happens!), I have also microwaved them for a few seconds to thaw.

Tip– Stick any extra dough “scraps” from making your crusts in a freezer bag back in the freezer.  Add to the bag every time you have scraps.  You’ll probably get another pie or two from all the scraps.

4.8 from 17 reviews

Making Homemade Pie Crust in Bulk

 

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Making pie crust in bulk allows you to freeze enough balls of dough to last the whole year for fruit pies, pot pies, quiches and more! This recipe makes about 20 crusts.

Author: Stephanie @ SixFiguresUnder.com

Serves: 20 crusts

Ingredients

• 1- 5lb bag of all purpose flour (hold back about 2 cups)
• 4 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 Tbsp. + 2 tsp. salt
• 1- 3lb can vegetable shortening
• 4 Tbsp. vinegar
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups water

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour (don't forget to hold back 2 cups), sugar and salt.
2. With a fork or pastry cutter, combine the shortening with the flour mixture.
3. In a separate bowl (I use the empty shortening container to minimize dirty dishes), beat vinegar, eggs and water.
4. Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture and blend with a fork until all ingredients are moistened.
5. Continue to blend using hands and fold dough into a ball.
6. Cover and chill at least 15 minutes.
7. Divide dough into about 20 balls. Each ball should be enough to make a crust.
8. To freeze, wrap dough balls in plastic wrap, then store in a freezer bag indefinitely.

3.2.2802

Originally published 19 Nov 2014 but updated to be included in the Frugal Festivities series.

Next in the series:

Day 13: Frugal Spouse Gift Ideas

The post Easy Homemade Pie Crust in Bulk appeared first on Six Figures Under.

We make most things from scratch around here.  I’ve made sandwich bread for years, but my favorite is French bread.  We all love it so much that I’ve even started making sandwiches with it!  Yep- PBJs on soft French bread is what’s for lunch around here.  Of course it makes a perfect companion for any soup or salad, and also makes great garlic bread.  We even love it plain or with butter.  You really can’t go wrong with homemade soft French bread.

My favorite part about French bread in general is the soft, yummy inside.  I have never been a big fan of the crunchy outer crust.  That’s why I love this soft French bread.  It’s ALL soft, outside and in.

For those of you who are intimidated by any sort of homemade bread, I made a complete photo tutorial to make it super easy for you.  Trust me– you’ll want to give this recipe a try.

Will homemade French bread save me money?

I know what you skeptics are thinking.  A loaf of French bread costs a dollar or two at the grocery store.  Why would you want to spend time making your own?  How could that really save money?

Have you ever gone to the store and walked out with just French bread?  I didn’t think so.  While the loaf itself isn’t going to break your budget, you will inevitably pick up more than just bread when you drop by intending to just grab a loaf to go with your spaghetti.

Oh, and trust me when I say it’s SO much better than what’s been sitting in a paper bag at the store for who knows how long.

Are you ready?  I’ll start with the recipe intertwined with the photo tutorial.  Scroll to the bottom for the printable version.

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons Yeast
• 3 Tablespoons Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Hot Water

• 2 Cups Hot Water
• 1 Tablespoon Salt
• 1/3 Cup Oil
• 6+ Cups Flour, divided
• Butter

Instructions

In a small bowl, mix together yeast, sugar and 1/2 cup hot water.  Let sit.

In a large bowl (I use my Kitchen Aid mixer bowl), mix 2 cups hot water, salt, oil, and 3 cups of flour.

Add yeast mixture.

Mix until incorporated.  Add in 3 more cups of flour and mix until dough pulls away from sides and forms a ball.  You may have to add up to 1/2 cup more flour.  You want the dough so that it isn’t too sticky to touch.

When dough is a nice consistency, move to a floured surface. Knead 30 times.

When I knead, I fold the top of the dough down on itself and push with the heels of my hands.  Then I turn the dough 90 degrees, fold the top down and push again.  Each time I push down the dough, I count.

Set a timer for 10 minutes and allow the dough to rise.  When it beeps, come back and knead the dough about 20 times.  Set the timer again and repeat 4 more times for a total of 5 kneading sessions.  I use wheat flour to roll out the dough, even though I make the bread with white flour.

Divide the dough in half.  Take the first half of the dough and roll it out into a rectangle.  The length of the rectangle should be approximately the length you want your bread.  It takes some persistence to get the dough rolled out, as it likes to stretch then shrink back.  It will have lots of air bubbles in it that you will be rolling out.  It reminds me of bubbles in silly putty.  Try going from the middle out to each corner.  You might have to get out your muscles and show it who’s boss.  In time you’ll end up with a nice-looking rectangle.

Starting on a long side, roll the dough up to form the loaf.  Tuck the ends under and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Using a serrated knife (I use a steak knife), cut three or four diagonal slashes on the top.  Cut deep enough that it goes through a couple of layers of dough.

Form the second loaf the same way.

If you want you can brush with egg whites.  Call me lazy, but I always skip this step.

Allow loaves to rise for 30 minutes.

Turn the oven to 375 degrees.  Bake loaves for 25-30 minutes or until they’re just past golden brown.

After removing from oven, use a stick of butter to coat the top and sides of the loaf.  The butter keeps the crust nice and soft, and gives a nice shine and that yummy buttery taste.

Cut with a bread knife and serve warm (but it’s delicious when it’s cool too).

4.7 from 12 reviews

Soft French Bread

 

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Cook time

25 mins

Total time

25 mins

 

Soft and delicious French bread goes great with any meal, but is good enough to eat on its own!

Author: Stephanie @ SixFiguresUnder.com

Serves: 2 loaves

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons Yeast
• 3 Tablespoons Sugar
• ½ Cup Hot Water
• 2 Cups Hot Water
• 1 Tablespoon Salt
• 5 Tablespoons Oil
• 6+ Cups Flour, divided
• Butter

Instructions

1. In a small bowl, mix together yeast, sugar and ½ cup hot water. Let sit.
2. In a large bowl, mix 2 cups hot water, salt, oil, and 3 cups of flour.
3. Add yeast mixture. Mix until incorporated.
4. Add in 3 more cups of flour and mix until dough pulls away from sides and forms a ball. You may have to add ½ cup more flour. You want the dough so that it isn't too sticky to touch.
5. When dough is a nice consistency, move to a floured surface. Knead 30 times.
6. Set a timer for 10 minutes. When it beeps, come back and knead the dough 20 times. Set the timer again and repeat 4 more times for a total of 5 kneading sessions.
7. Divide the dough in half. Take the first half of the dough and roll it out into a rectangle. The length of the rectangle should be approximately the length you want your bread. It takes some persistence to get the dough rolled out, as it likes to stretch then shrink back. It will have lots of air bubbles in it that you will be rolling out. Try going from the middle out to each corner. You might have to get out your muscles and show it who's boss. In time you'll end up with a nice-looking rectangle.
8. Starting on a long side, roll the dough up to form the loaf. Tuck the ends under and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
9. Using a serrated knife (I use a steak knife), cut three or four diagonal slashes on the top. Cut deep enough that it goes through a couple layers of dough.
10. Form second loaf the same way.
11. If you want you can brush with egg whites.
12. Allow loaves to rise for 30 minutes.
13. Turn the oven to 375 degrees. Bake loaves for 25-30 minutes or until they're just passing golden brown.
14. After removing from oven, use a stick of butter to coat the top and sides of the loaf

3.2.2885

The post Soft French Bread 🥖{Recipe and Tutorial} appeared first on Six Figures Under.

Our garden is not manicured beautifully for a magazine or social media, but it is functional and very productive! Growing our own fresh organic produce year round helps to supplement our grocery budget. Not only do we have fresh fruits and vegetables nearly all year round, we have plenty to can, freeze, dehydrate, and freeze dry.

We built the garden into a hillside on our property. We used our 2020 covid stimulus check to fund our big garden project. It was a great move! In addition to feeding our family, it is teaching our children (and us!) to work hard, work together, and reap what we sow.

Lots of you have asked about our how our garden is doing this year, so I’m giving you a little tour. You can get a walkthrough tour in the YouTube video embedded below or just read on and I’ll do my best to explain.

On the lowest terrace we have blackberries, boysenberries, raspberries, and blueberries. They are quite a jungle right now. We have been planning to put horizontal support wires on t-posts around each of the beds to hold the vines up, but we have not gotten to that project yet. This year our blackberries and boysenberries produced well, but picking them was tricky. Thankfully they are thornless, but they are just hard to access when they’re so overgrown. Our blueberries pretty much got buried by the blackberries.

The next terrace up has 4 beds of strawberries, a bed of cantaloupe, a bed of sweet potatoes, a bed of herbs, a bed of tomatoes, and a bed of peppers. There are some yard-long beans in there somewhere too. The problem (or blessing, depending on how you see it) is that loads of volunteer tomatoes grew up in the woodchips outside of the beds. We pulled out hundreds of them, but still we have volunteer tomato plants overtaking everything. While we could still rip them out, half of the family is in favor of keeping them so can sell cherry tomatoes (only we haven’t started selling them seriously). Every year we say that next year we will not allow any volunteers, but when we see the cute, strong plants growing up we don’t have the heart to pull the all out. Maybe next year!

The next terrace up is also riddled with volunteer cherry tomatoes, watermelon, and cucumbers all growing outside of our raised beds! We have intentionally planted watermelons (lots of them), sweet potatoes, zucchini, cucumbers (lemon, garden sweet, and Armenian), yellow squash, and many tomato varieties. It looks like a jungle, but produces lots of good things to eat!

Above that we have our greenhouse terrace. We took the cover of our greenhouse off for the summer. We don’t have any raised beds up here, but decided to plant straight into the ground. Our ground is very much rock (as you can see in the video and sides of the above photos), so the woodchips that we have covered every terrace with are what makes the ground fertile and plantable. We didn’t have a solid watering system on this terrace for the first part of the summer, so it was kind of neglected. Even so, we have will have a good harvest of spaghetti squash along with some pumpkins and banana squash.

Speaking of pumpkins and banana squash we still have a couple hundred pounds in the garage from last year’s harvest! We need to get it pureed and frozen before we harvest this year’s fruits.

We have two higher terraces of fruit trees with additional fruit trees planted into the slope above that. A late frost as well as deer devastation  when someone left a gate open, dashed our hopes of fruit this year. Hopefully they will start producing next year.

We’re getting ready to start seedlings for our fall/winter garden. Last year we had several varieties of beautiful lettuce that grew all fall and winter. We actually had to pull out everything that was left so that we could plant in the spring. It’s too hot for lettuce in the summer here, so I’m really looking forward to fall. And as long as it doesn’t freeze, the tomatoes will keep ripening late into the year as well.

Do you have a garden? How is it growing this year?

The post Summer Garden Tour 2022 appeared first on Six Figures Under.