Making biscuit mix saves money

The only people who haven’t noticed rising food prices are people who haven’t shopped for groceries lately. I have heard some pretty sad news stories about how folks are coping with higher prices, including some about families that have decided to give up on fresh fruits and vegetables. Lest I risk sounding like a scoldy old mother, I think that is a false economy. You need your vegetables and fruit, preferably those grown closer to home where you can buy them when they are truly fresh. This might mean economizing elsewhere. Fortunately, stores are full of things that you can ignore and save spending on or that you can make at home for less.

Here are a few examples. If you buy fruit juice, like orange juice, for example, check the carton and if it says “from concentrate,” buy the frozen concentrated O.J. and add your own tap water. Otherwise you are just paying someone else to add water.

Consider buying dried beans instead of canned ones. If you need cooked beans, plan ahead a bit, and soak beans overnight. Then the next day bring them to a boil, and cook as long as needed to make them tender. When I haven’t thought of it in time, I do a speed soak by bringing the dried beans to a boil, then shutting off the heat, and letting them sit in the hot water for an hour or two before cooking them.

Peel and cut your own carrots. Look at it this way: You are burning calories as you peel them. And yours will have a nice moist exterior. While you are at it, wash your own lettuce and tear it up for salad. A salad spinner is the best tool around and makes the job very easy.

Some packaged mixes are handy, especially that all-purpose biscuit mix that can become biscuits, shortcake, coffeecake or pancakes. My mom loved the stuff, and I was an adult before I found out that all I needed was flour, baking powder and shortening to do it myself. If you hardly ever bake, and don’t keep flour or baking powder on hand, or if you have a tiny kitchen with no storage space for canisters of dry ingredients, or if you are going camping, then I would agree that a package of biscuit mix makes sense. Otherwise, you can save some money by making your own, very easily done especially if you have a food processor.

What made me think of this was the other day while I getting ready to make something for a bake sale and I found a coffeecake recipe that called for 2 cups biscuit mix. I remembered seeing a recipe for the mix in Helen Witty and Elizabeth Schneider’s book, “Better Than Store Bought” and so I thought, OK, time to make some up. The recipe calls for vegetable shortening, but I used all butter. I can’t help it, I am an old granola and view shortening and margarine with suspicion. You can do what you want about it.

It worked like a charm in the coffeecake, and I still have half the batch for pancakes or biscuits in a hurry. Consider doubling the recipe that follows. Put it in a plastic storage container with a tight-fitting lid, and keep it in a cool place or the refrigerator.

Biscuit Mix

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

5 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons vegetable shortening

3 tablespoons butter

Whisk together the dry ingredients or give them a whirl in the food processor. Add the shortening and the butter, cut up in pieces and cut it in by hand with a pastry cutter or process it until the shortening is not visible. Use it in place of any recipe calling for packaged mix. Store it in a tightly closed container in a cool place.

Looking for … A nice smoked salmon spread. Every once in a while, I see smoked salmon bits and pieces for sale, and in the spirit of make-it-yourself, I’d love a recipe for that nice creamy spread for crackers or toast.