Beware – while reading this post, you will notice that I jump all over the place without making my paragraphs flow together and really without pausing to take a breath in between thoughts. All this exercise I’m doing is either giving me a crazy amount of extra energy, or perhaps it is just simply making me crazy. Or maybe it’s a little bit of both.
While breaking down the cost of my real food recipes, I have definitely learned that our breakfast time meals tend to be very, very inexpensive. We can often eat for around $0.50 per person at breakfast, making it easier to spend a little more for our lunches and dinners.
It is kind of funny to me that I break the food cost down per person in my household, when clearly, we don’t actually all eat the same amount of food. I would have to say that Malachi (our youngest at age seven) and I (the oldest at age 38) eat the smallest portions of food these days. Therefore, maybe Malachi and I can eat breakfast for $0.20 and everyone else eats for $0.70? Eh, never mind. I don’t feel like getting that technical. We’ll just keep it at an average $0.50/person for breakfast. I’m pretty sure I don’t want to know how much it costs to feed my soccer playing, basketball playing teenager right now. ;)
So check it out – my Homemade Poptarts cost $3.13 for one batch. I figured that if one batch of homemade poptarts makes about 20 poptarts, that means the cost is around $0.16 per poptart. I haven’t purchased poptarts at the store for a long time, but I’m pretty sure I’m not only feeding my family a much healthier poptart, but I’m saving money too. Sixteen cents for a poptart made with real food ingredients? How about that?
Who is it that said that eating healthy food is expensive??? (Oh yes, that was me a few years ago.)
I should have become a real food calculating geek years ago. This is fun!!
(Pausing for breath. Does reading this post make anyone else tired, or is it just me? And here we go again…)
My Warm Vanilla Soother recipe breaks down to $2.87 per batch. This really only makes about four servings though, so the cost per person is $0.72. Not bad at all for a mug of hot, steamy, delicious, nourishing comfort. I mean really, can you put a price on comfort? No I don’t think so. But just think about the cost of a hot drink of non-nourishment at your local coffee shop. Pretty sure you can’t get that for $0.72, am I right?
And speaking of coffee – because it does appear that all the exercise I’m getting these days is indeed giving me extra energy – I believe it is wise for me to stay away from drinking coffee very often, even if I did enjoy my one cup of coffee with real Chocolate Caramel Cream. I don’t think giving me additional energy from caffeine is really a good idea right now? What do you think?!
Make plans to join us tomorrow for a Real Food – Low Cost Link-Up! Get ready to share your real food, low cost recipes. Cant’ wait to learn about your tried and true family favorites that are easy on the budget!
Brooke says
Hey Laura, got a couple questions (these may coming out jumping around and not flowing too- sorry)… I have not processed (is this the correct term, anyway?) wheat from wheat berries yet and plan to do so when I get my first order from A.S. later this month. However they only have soft white wheat right now and I know you mentioned that’s good for baked goods. Would that work for these poptarts? I want to make this in a few weeks. Also, where do you usually buy/find the best deals on your wheat berries??
Thank you
Laura says
Yes, I’m bummed that they only have soft wheat right now. That will work for the poptarts though – soft wheat works for any baked good that does not require the use of yeast.
I have in the past purchased Wheat Montana from a gal who organizes a big truck drop point once a year. I believe I’ll need to go back to purchasing from Azure now though, so hopefully they’ll restock soon!
Brooke says
Thanks for letting me know :)
Speaking of yeast, am I the only one who’s bread does not always rise properly and maybe even taste great? I can never seem to get the dough just right – it being too dry or to sticky… I know you have your bread tutorial but what about a “Yeast-for-DUmmies” tutorial?? LOL
Something like that would be great!
(on a side note, last week when I made some bread, I did not have any honey left but I used Agave and I think I like the taste a little better. Not that that made my bread turn out prettier ;-) )
Kathleen K says
Brooke, yeast can be tricky until you get the hang of it. Be certain your yeast is fresh, not expired! The liquid needs to be the right temperature too—not too cold, not too hot. Just right! (comfortable to touch). Try rising your bread in a warm place. I will put mine near a source of heat, such as the stove (near a pot of soup that is simmering), close to the crock-pot, or even in the microwave in which I just heated some water (leave the microwave off!) Or on a heating pad that is set to a very low setting. If the yeast is too cold, it will take longer to rise. Also check out Paula’s Bread for some hints.
Anonymous says
I have decided to steer clear of any form of agave nectar after reading what the Weston Price site has to say about it!
Brooke says
I’ve never heard anything negative about Agave. Is there something on their website? I’m pretty new to using agave and fairly new on the whole foods cooking.
Kris Mays says
I will not use it, either. Besides the info. out there about it, it makes me physically ill.
Amy T says
Okay, please explain this. . . Soft wheat works for any baked good that does not require the use of yeast. Does using yeast w/soft wheat change something? Should you only use yeast w/certain types of flour?
Thanks Laura!
Brooke says
Thanks Kathleen. I’ll check out Paula’s site too.
Kris Mays says
Soft wheat is what makes pastry flour. Pastry flour just doesn’t work for yeast breads. Hard wheat is used for yesat breads.
Kris Mays says
Pastry flour is used for muffins, quick breads, etc.
Priscilla W says
I’ve seen the Wheat Montana brand in Walmart.
United Natural Foods co-op http://www.unfi.com
I live in WI, there are a few sources to purchase bulk at a country store from Amish
Brooke says
I hardly ever shop at our local Walmart b/c… it can be a little scary. But maybe I’ll take a drive over there to look.
Katie M says
I just got my first order of wheat berries. Mind you, I did not shop around really, but I got them from Honeyville. They have a flat rate shipping of $5.00 regardless of how much you buy.
Laura says
Good to know, thank you!
Kris Mays says
Yes, stay away from coffee, Laura. There is only one place it’s good for you…and that’s in an enema. Not to gross anyone out or anything….
Laura says
Yah, I’ve heard of those. :)
Patty says
I’m not a real big poptart fan but I might give these a try. Would you soak your grains if you were using the King Arthur white whole wheat flour or is that just for when you grind your own flour? Soaking grains is new to me.
Laura says
Soaking would work for King Arthur flour too.
Lisa says
Should I be scared that I didn’t find your thought-jumping manic or scary? ;-)
Laura says
Ha! It probably doesn’t sound as manic as I felt while I was writing. I had tons of extra energy while I was writing and felt like that came out in my post! :)
Charlotte Moore says
The best bread I make is when I make the dough in my bread machine. It has a dough cycle. When it gets finished I unplug it and let it rise for about 20-30 more minutes.
I bought my Montana Wheat at Whole Foods.
Brianna says
This really has nothing to do with today’s post… but I was reading some old posts/recipes on your blog. Wow, over 100 tortillas in one day, and other things besides? That’s great!
I am just curious… how do you make so many tortillas? Do you use a tortilla press? If you use a rolling pin… would you mind sharing the technique of how you quickly roll them out?
I have made tortillas several times, and LOVE them. The only thing is that I wish I could roll them out more quickly.
Or maybe is is just practice, practice, PRACTICE!
Thank you!
Brianna
Laura says
I do just use a rolling pin, and typically, I only make 24 at a time. I keep telling myself I need to video myself making them and post a tutorial, but I am having a hard time getting around to that!
Rachel says
So my kids want frosting and sprinkles on the poptarts like they see in the stores. Any suggestions?
Laura says
You could maybe try spreading a thin layer of homemade frosting – I’m sure that would be pretty tastey! Here’s my favorite cream cheese frosting recipe: https://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/cream-cheese-frosting
Becky @ Sowing Little Seeds says
I love breaking things down into price per serving too! lol. I discuss some of my “geeky” qualities in my last blog post http://sowinglittleseeds.blogspot.com/2012/02/science-of-home-management.html.
This breakfast sounds delicious. I am usually very, very bad at baking and especially pastry making but since my husband is a poptart lover I may have to try this. Thanks for sharing and thanks for all the encouragement to feed my family better.
glenda says
Laura- this isn’t specific to this post but I’m researching sugars and need to place my Azure order soon.
Is evaporated cane juice and dehydrated cane juicethe same thing?? I guess what I am wondering is when I search Azure for sucanet I come up empty but I can find evaporated cane juice. Thank you.
Kris Mays says
Glenda, Search Wholesome Sweeteners -that’s the brand.
Laura says
Here’s a post detailing sweeteners: https://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/the-most-nutritious-sweeteners. If you search on Azure’s site for “Dehydrated” cane juice, that’s the one you’re looking for, as opposed to “evaporated”. :)
Heather says
I can see that making your own whole wheat recipes can be a huge savings, however do you usually serve fresh fruits and vegetables on the side with your meals? Organic produce seems so expensive to me. Without them and going pretty light on the protein, organic seems a bit more possible than I had thought. So I was just curious how those might tie into your meal per person break down? On a side night, I was impressed at how you can get so many meals out of one chicken, I think (and my husband agreed when I mentioned it to him), that I must go way too heavy on the chicken. Thanks for all of your insight.
Laura says
Yes, if possible, I do serve fruits and veggies with our meals. Breakfast I usually go low on protein, unless we serve eggs. Otherwise, most of our lunches and dinners have meat involved.
My chickens are pretty huge, so that might be why I can get more meals from one chicken, and I cound the broth I make from a chicken in that equation. I’m pretty excited though to learn the cost break-down on our meals. Seeing it broken down really does make it seem more doable!
Jessica says
Laura,
I’m really enjoying this series your doing! We have recently started moving in the Real food direction, and your site and tips have been so helpful. I am planning on making your pop tarts later this week, and my husband is extremely excited about them.:)
Josette says
Hey Laura,
will one poptart hold your kids for breakfast? Mine need some scrambled eggs too to help them hold out for lunch. It seems if I don’t include some sort of protein…eggs, bacon, nutbutters, or cheese…they start to fade by 11:00.
Laura says
No, my family will eat the entire batch of poptarts in one breakfast. So they eat 3-5 each. I’ve been low on eggs lately so we’ve been having fewer to use with breakfast. :(