Anything for love, right?
We were facing the possibility of a one-income household, so I was trying to cut corners anywhere possible. When I took a look at our grocery budget, I noticed that a huge chunk of our monthly expense was PopTarts.
Yes, PopTarts.
But, it wasn't just the kid. It was all of us. Especially me. Between my son and I, we would go through a big box (6-packs) of PopTarts every two days. Oops. But they are sooo good with a tall glass of milk.
I'm trying to lose baby weight. DH is trying to get in shape. And the last thing our seven-year-old needs is sugar. So, I started making waffles and freezing them to eat for breakfast. And snacks. And dinner when I'm feeling super lazy.
I read an article online (can't find it now), explaining that it costs $2.00 to make waffle mix from scratch (yields 10 waffles). And I thought I was saving money!! Yikes. So I grabbed a box of waffle mix at Aldi and did a calculation of my own.
1 box of waffle mix $1.49
8 tbsp of oil $0.24 ($2.89/48 oz)
This recipe (doubled the instructions on the box) yields between 32-40 waffles. So, even if I come out on the short end of that, it's $0.05 per waffle. I was paying $0.19 per PopTart and we were all eating TWO at a time. Now we all eat breakfast for less than a dollar. Score!
Other Waffle Tips:
I use cooking oil to grease my waffle iron. I use a spray bottle, even though the users manual says to brush it on the plates. I hate washing my brush.
Cook waffles until the steam stops coming out of the sides of the waffle iron. If you open it any sooner, the waffle top & bottom layers will separate and your picky seven-year-old will complain.
Freeze waffles. If they last that long in your house... they don't in mine. No matter how many I make, they're all gone within a week :-)
Another short cut I like to use, is to mix up the recipe in a pitcher, for easy pouring.
Wow! I guess I never really paid close enough attention to price per unit. I just assumed scratch was cheaper... now I know better (cliches are so... cliche... but you know what they say about assuming?). Yeah, totally understand the whole Pop Tarts not lasting :) There's a Pop Tart thief running around here somewhere... :)
ReplyDeleteMy husband told me yesterday that he found a case of Pop Tarts in the basement.. and all day I had to fight the temptation to go open a box!!
ReplyDeleteHi Kristen,
ReplyDeleteThese Waffles look awesome! Hope you are having a great weekend and thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
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