Complaining about the high cost of groceries? I certainly am. Bet you are, too.

What we need are cheap eats – and we need them now!

Grab your grocery list and do battle with those high prices. You can economize without sacrificing favorite foods. Here’s some ideas to get you going.

Everybody loves pasta. The good news is that it can be one of the cheapest meals you put on the table. But, if you’re buying sauce in a jar, you’re wasting money. This quick and easy sauce is pure Italian at half the cost (or more!) of the jarred stuff.

Ditch name-brand pasta, too. Give store brands a try. You’ll save a bundle.

Recommended pan size - 10 to 12 inches round X 2 ½ inches deep (not cast iron)

1 Tablespoon chopped garlic (2 to 4 cloves)

1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes (and their juice)

3/4 teaspoon dried oregano or Italian herb blend

Salt to taste (about 1 teaspoon)

Heat olive oil, pepper, and garlic in a large skillet till the garlic softens - about 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, any juice, oregano (or herb blend), and salt. Bring to boil. Reduce heat so the sauce gently bubbles and cook, uncovered, till it’s reduced by half – about 10 minutes.

The year was 1930. Carl Smith, a sales executive for General Mills, was traveling by train to San Francisco. He loved the biscuits served for breakfast and asked the cook how he made them. The cook showed Smith a blend of flour, salt, baking powder, and lard that he premixed before every trip. On the train, all he had to do was add milk. Smith took the idea back to General Mills and it became Bisquick. Make your own for half the price. It’s easy!

1 1/3 cups canola oil (other oils not recommended)

Using an electric mixer, thoroughly combine the ingredients – about 2 minutes. Keeps indefinitely in the fridge. Use cup for cup in any recipe calling for Bisquick or biscuit mix.

There must be thousands of recipes for yummy things that start with biscuit mix. Here’s my fav coffee cake recipe.

Uses a 9 inch springform pan

2/3 cup plant or dairy milk

2 Tablespoons plant or dairy milk (approximately)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 inch spring form pan or coat with baking spray.

Using a fork, blend streusel ingredients till crumbly. Set aside.

Whisk all batter ingredients together till smooth. Spread ¾ of the batter into the pan. Sprinkle streusel evenly over batter. Dollop remaining batter over streusel. Using a table knife, swirl batter and streusel together. Bake in preheated oven till nicely browned – about 40 minutes. Cool in pan.

To serve, remove cake from pan and put on a plate. For the icing, add milk to the powdered sugar a little at a time until it’s a consistency that easily runs off a spoon. Drizzle icing over cake.

Have you seen the price of canned soups lately? Ridiculous!

For about the same price as a can of the condensed stuff, you can whip up a pot full of tomato soup guaranteed to make your grilled cheese sandwich proud.

½ (29 oz.) can plant or dairy milk (about 2 cups or to taste)

Whisk together in a medium pot and bring almost to the boil. That’s it!

For a fraction of the cost of bottled salad dressing, you can add upscale restaurant taste to your salads. Perfect as is or jazz it up with fresh or dried herbs.

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Whisk or shake everything together. Store in the fridge.

This article appears in the October 2022 issue of Haymarket-Gainesville Lifestyle Magazine. To pick up a copy, visit these locations:https://piedmontlifestyle.com/pick-up-a-copy-of-the-magazines/

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Cheaper to buy a jar of sauce.

So - you add all that oil to a homemade biscuit mix which is supposed to "last indefinitely" in the fridge. I don't think so toots. Has anyone checked the credentials of this supposed "home economist".

And that's the saddest example of "Homemade Marinara" I've ever seen.

Where did you people dredge up this person?? Did anyone vet her before giving her this job?

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