General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: How the Fast Food Industry Destroyed "Home Ec" to Hook Americans on Processed Crap [View all]xmas74
(29,673 posts)I have three loaves of bread rising on the counter right now and cinnamon rolls. It's cheaper and healthier.
I also make my own cake mixes from scratch and store them in the cupboard. All they need is a few wet ingredients and I'm ready to go.
For the record: I'm a single mother who works long hours for low pay. I want to feed my child something healthy yet low price. I can make a loaf of bread for about $0.50, so it's a heck of a money saver. I get up on Saturday morning, start a pot of coffee and start making everything that needs to rise asap. While it's rising I clean and do laundry. I bake it off and the house smells wonderful, plus I've saved money. Leftover bread from the last week is turned into French toast for Saturday breakfast and the rest is cubed for croutons or prepped for bread crumbs. That takes just a few minutes to prep.
Oh, and a crock pot is heaven-sent. I use it constantly during the week. I follow a couple of once a month cooking sites for ideas, make my crock pot kits for the freezer and pull them out either the night before to defrost or that a.m. (Depends on the recipe.) I add the kit to the crock pot, turn it on low and come home that evening to an already prepared meal.
I ran into my old home ec teacher about seven years ago. I mentioned my love of crock pots. She thoroughly approved and said that she thought it was the better appliance for working families to own than even a microwave.