Thrifty Tip For Muffin Lovers
Posted on May 06, 2006 by Her and tagged groceries
I love muffins. I used to stop by a Dunkin's Donuts on my way to work almost every morning and but a muffin. My muffin habit cost me $14.25 a week! Since it was paid for out of my allowance, I quickly got tired of being broke. A few months ago I decided to change my habit and start baking muffins at home on the weekend so I would have them ready to take for breakfast every morning. It's worked out great! Muffin mix is now a staple on my grocery list and I stock up when they're on sale and we have coupons. Sometimes they're even "buy one get one free" so we end up with a week of free muffins! They only take 10 minutes to mix up and 15 minutes to bake. And we bake them in the toaster oven so we save energy too.
They're a LOT healthier than the Dunkin Donuts muffins, too. A DD muffin has 455 calories, while the worst of the boxed mixes has 210 calories. Plus they taste better when they're homemade. Best of all, I no longer have the possibility of opening my bag to discover that the muffin I requested was replaced with a Long John by mistake.
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Do you save any gas by not going to DD each morning? Or was it literally right on the way to work?
Personally, I really love DD coffee, but all the DD's in our area have been bought and changed from DD to a local donut shop, so no more DD coffee.
Heather S. | May 6, 2006
Great idea! How do you store the muffisn so they stay fresh during the week?
I bake them on Sunday night and leave them on the cooling rack until Monday morning. Then I put them on a glass cake plate with a glass cover. They never dry out but they do sometimes get a little moist. If they get too moist I just cut the muffin in half, toast it, and put a pat of butter on top. Yum!
Using mixes is also expensive if you compare it with the cost of actually making the muffins yourself. In addition, there's not a lot of time added when you make the muffins yourself (especially once you get quick with it). At my house, we make big batches of muffins once a month, freeze them, and then defrost them in the toaster oven whenever we want one. In fact, you can create your own muffin "base" with a mixture of the dry ingredients and then just whip in the wet ingredients plus flavorings if you're feeling particularly creative.
In addition, homemade granola is much healthier AND much less expensive than store-bought granola. Most things you buy in a mix (ie, cake mix, muffin mix, waffle mix, etc) can EASILY be made at home for a fraction of the cost and it is just as easy to make them at home -- and probably healthier, too.
If you'd like some recipes, please feel free to e-mail me and I'll be happy to pass along my "base" recipe for granola, muffins and cakes/cupcakes.
Mary | May 23, 2006
I make all of my own mixes (I save a lot by buying ingredients in bulk at Costco). I bake a lot, and so I make mixes for brownies, pancakes (my favorite breakfast food), muffins and corn bread. They're really easy--usually I just spend awhile on a Saturday afternoon making them and each one has lots of variations. I've read your other grocery tips and the only downside is those staples never seem to have coupons!
Chelee | May 6, 2006
LOL
I just posted a muffin recipe on my blog yesterday! It's super easy and takes 5 minutes or less to put together. I freeze leftovers and just take them out the night before I need them. I think you can get there through here.
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