Along the same lines as the mixes post below, I am sharing with you my new favorite "make it at home instead of buy it" money-saving recipe. INSTANT OATMEAL. Those little packets that you have to eat 3 of in order to not be hungry by 10am (ok maybe just 2?). Anyway, all kidding aside, these little things are packed with preservatives and additives. We've recently given up cold cereal at our house (I know, we're crazy!) and this is our g0-to breakfast now. These are generously sized, so they're equal to about 2 of the little packets you buy at the store. You can half the amounts below for little kid packets, but we've got all big kids at our house and these are just the right size for school-age appetites. I spend less than 30 minutes putting these little packets together and we're set for the whole week!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
INSTANT OATMEAL
First, process some of your quick oats in the blender or food processor until powdery. How much you process depends on how many packets you're planning to make. Start with processing 1-2 C. and go from there, processing more as needed.
START WITH: 1/2 C. oatmeal (quick works best) + 1/4 tsp. salt + 1/4 C. powdered oats
THEN ADD...
SWEETENED OATMEAL: 1-2 T. sugar
BROWN SUGAR / CINNAMON: 1-2 T. brown sugar + 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
RAISINS / BROWN SUGAR: 1-2 T. brown sugar + 2 T. raisins
CINNAMON RAISIN (my personal fave): 1-2 T. brown sugar + 1/2 tsp. cinnamon + 2 T. raisins
APPLE CINNAMON: 1-2 T. sugar + 1/2 tsp. cinnamon + 1/4 C. chopped dried apples
APPLE CINNAMON RAISIN: 1-2 t. sugar + 1/2 tsp. cinnamon + 2 T. raisins + 2 T. chopped dried apples
FRUIT AND CREAM: 1-2 T. sugar + 2 T. non-dairy coffee creamer + 1/2 C. dried fruit
TO COOK: Empty oatmeal mix into a bowl. Add 1/2-3/4 C. boiling water. Stir and let stand for 2 minutes. Adjust as desired for thinner or thicker oatmeal. Alternately, you can add 1/2-3/4 C. water from the tap, stir, and microwave for 1-2 minutes. Add milk, stir, and enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few notes to the above...
- Store in air-tight containers (snack-size baggies are just the right size). Write the flavor with a sharpie on the outside before filling.
- The original recipes I found call for the larger amount of sugar, but we've found the smaller amount to be sufficient. Start with less and add more if needed.
- I usually like to add about twice the given amount of raisins. Yum!
- If you're using dried fruit, make sure it is SOFT. If using bananas, for instance, banana "chips" won't work. They'll be crunchy little bits in your oatmeal. But hey, if you like 'em that way, more power to ya. :)
- The easiest way to chop soft dried fruit is with a pair of kitchen shears.
- Quick oatmeal works best, and you don't have to process any of the oatmeal if you don't want to. Just omit the powdered oatmeal. The processed oatmeal makes the finished product more "mushy" like the store-bought packets, but is not necessary. I like my oatmeal with a little more texture anyway so I forgo processing the oats.
- Look for oatmeal in the bulk foods section at your grocery store. It is usually a lot less expensive than the canisters. Or buy it in a large bag or bucket from your warehouse club store.
If you're reading this on a feed reader or on Facebook, check out the blog homepage at cleverhomemaking.blogspot.com and follow me on twitter @cleverhomeblog
Do you already own a slow cooker? Did you wish you had a slow cooker with one of those nifty delayed timers? Wish no more! :)
I love sweet & sour stuff, and I found the BEST recipe for sweet and sour meatballs with the sauce made from scratch. It would work easily to switch out the type of meat and make it sweet & sour chicken or sweet & sour pork. Heck, you could throw in a bunch of baked chicken nuggets if you wanted to make it super easy! :) The recipe below serves at least 8 -- but you won't mind the leftovers, trust me!
Don't buy the expensive foaming soap for your favorite foaming soap dispenser. All they are is watered-down soap! Fill your foaming dispenser with about an inch of regular soap then fill the rest of the way with water (you may need to adjust these estimates, depending on the size of your dispenser). Cap the dispenser and tilt it back and forth until the water and soap are mixed together. Do NOT shake it! You'll have soapy suds everywhere! :) 
I have recently discovered Raising Olives. (So many great ideas for families large and small!) I learned a really cool tip I had to share...
Things to consider regarding your home when going on a vacation:
Besides the "Queen" of all recipe websites, AllRecipes.com, did you know that many food manufacturers and grocery chains also have collections of recipes on their websites? 
