It is easy to make your own convenience foods or mixes. Amy Dacyczyn’s The Complete Tightwad Gazette has many recipes for making things like seasoned salt, chocolate syrup, and seasoned rice. Try some of these and replace your favorite name brand with your own cheaper made-at-home version. You might think these versions taste even better. They are definitely better for you since there are no preservatives or other additives.
Seasoned Salt
8 Tbsp salt
3 Tbsp pepper
2 Tbsp paprika
½ Tbsp onion powder
½ Tbsp garlic powder
Combine ingredients and store in an airtight container or store-bought spice jar. Your homemade seasoned salt will cost half as much as store-bought.
Chocolate Syrup
½ c cocoa
1 c water
2 c sugar
1/8 tsp salt
¼ tsp vanilla
Mix cocoa and water in a small saucepan. Heat and stir until cocoa is dissolved. Add sugar, and stir until it is dissolved. Bring to a boil. Boil and stir 3 minutes. Remove from heat and add salt and vanilla. Pour into a clean pint-sized jar, and store covered in the refrigerator. Keeps well for several months.
Better than Rice-A-Roni Seasoned-Rice Mix (And look–no MSG!)
3 c uncooked rice
¼ c dried parsley flakes
6 Tbsp instant chicken or beef bouillon powder
2 tsp onion powder
½ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp dried thyme
Mix all ingredients and store in an airtight container. To use, mix 1 cup mix, 2 Tbsp margarine, and 2 cups water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat. Simmer for 15 minutes, or until rice is tender.
Variation: Substitute 1 cup of broken spaghetti pieces for 1 cup of the rice to make this even more like Rice-A-Roni.