[goodwithagun]

I’ve found from scratch is cheaper in the long run. Yes the real maple syrup we use is expensive, but we use it sparingly as a treat. My homemade bread is more expensive than any store shelf bread, but mine has six simple ingredients. There is sure to be a long-term cost offset by not feeding my family food with lab created ingredient alternatives. In addition to the health aspect, cooking from scratch with the kids turns into quality time and learning time. I’d love to do the couponing thing, but there are no coupons for the food that I purchase.

[Lera]

I’ve found from scratch is cheaper in the long run. Yes the real maple syrup we use is expensive, but we use it sparingly as a treat. My homemade bread is more expensive than any store shelf bread, but mine has six simple ingredients. There is sure to be a long-term cost offset by not feeding my family food with lab created ingredient alternatives. In addition to the health aspect, cooking from scratch with the kids turns into quality time and learning time. I’d love to do the couponing thing, but there are no coupons for the food that I purchase.

I actually cook a lot from scratch too and put away stuff from the garden .

If you use sugar - there are coupons for it and the cheapest time of the year to purchase it is around Thanksgiving (stores run it as a lost leader and there are always printable coupons on coupons.com that time of year) (last November I bought my years worth of sugar for around $1 a bag )

Olive oil - coupons pop up all the time on coupons.com and stores have really good sales multiple times a year .
You would be surprised at how many basic staples do go on sale and have coupons for them.

[gunsequalfreedom]

Real maple syrup is the only conservative choice. Fake maple syrup is phony.