This is part two of our series “Saving money on ‘real’ food.” You can read the introduction post here.
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We all know that cooking and baking from scratch has many benefits:
- It’s often cheaper than buying prepared foods.
- It’s more healthful because you control the ingredients.
- It’s fun (for many people…).
Here are some ways I’ve found to save money buying baking ingredients and grains:
:: Be prepared to properly store your grains. I store my grains in glass containers in my pantry and my extra flour in the freezer. If you are serious about stockpiling “real” food, you may want to start looking for affordable, used freezers on craigslist.
:: Stock up when there’s a hot sale at the grocery stores. Once or twice a year, Quaker Oats will be less than $1 for a large tub. Think of how much you will use in a 4-6 month period and stock-up. Bob’s Red Mill Whole Wheat Flour (5 lb bags) goes on sale for $2.50 at New Seasons twice a year. Store it in the freezer to maintain the freshness.
:: Be prepared for the sales to come. Baking and cooking stapes will be free or nearly free in the late fall (late October, November and beginning of December). You should be able to get a year’s worth of baking powder, soda, stock, sugar, flour and chocolate chips for a fraction of WinCo’s generic.
:: Buy in bulk. This is one case where WinCo is a good place to regularly shop as their bulk prices usually can’t be beat. And at the volume they sell, you can be assured that what you are buying is fairly fresh. And WinCo also sells organic items, as does Fred Meyer and New Seasons. It is probably worth your time to price check these three stores on the grains your family regularly uses.
:: Take a field trip to the Bob’s Red Mill Whole Grain Store. For those of you in the Portland Metro area, you should really check out the selection and prices at the retail store in Milwaukie. They have an amazing selection of every grain product you could imagine. And the prices are fantastic, especially for a high quality product.
:: If you use a large amount of flour and are concerned with quality, consider buying a grinder and make your own flour. I’ve heard that you can taste the difference and you should save money.
:: Check out Azure Standard, a distributor out of Dufur, OR that specializes in natural, organic, earth-friendly foods and products. They deliver directly to customers and buying clubs. You make a larger order with Azure and it is delivered to a drop in your local area, usually someone’s house or a small business. They usually have unbeatable prices on bulk items.
:: Buy your bread at a bakery outlet. The Franz Outlet (several locations throughout the Portland area) regularly has high-fructose corn syrup-free bread for under $2 a loaf. And it is not old bread. It’s the same loaves they send to the grocery stores. I’ve also heard that the Oroweat Outlet in Gresham is fantastic. I haven’t purchased bread in the grocery store in years! I just hit the Franz Outlet on Foster Rd. once every few weeks when I’m driving buy and buy 4-6 loaves and store a few in the refrigerator. Both outlets also have a program where you buy a certain amount and get free product.
:: Try your hand at making your own bread. Facebook Kate absolutely loves Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking
The key to saving money on grains, and all “real” food, is to be intentional with your spending and be strategic with your timing. When Quaker Oats go on sale for 90% of WinCo’s generic brand, buy enough to get you through until the next sale. And it’s also key to not overbuy a sale item. Watch your expiration dates and be realistic with how much you really need. Try baking your own bread a few times before you buy a vat of flour from Bob’s Red Mill!
I’m not much of a baker (or cook, for that matter!). I’d love to hear your tips on how to save money on grains and baking supplies!
{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for posting this! I’m all about REAL food….the less ingredients the better. Costco (the Kirkland brand) makes some really great bread too, with few ingredients and no HFCS. Super inexpensive at $3something for 2 loaves…
I went to Bob’s Red Mill and did a price comparison on all the grains I normally buy. I could not find one thing that was cheaper than Winco bulk. Of course they have more things than Winco, however, non that I personally purchase. You could argue that the quality is higher and you might be right. I don’t understand how it could make much difference though. To me oatmeal is oatmeal and quinoa is quinoa. Please educate me on how one distributor might have higher quality of the same product, or what makes it higher quality in the first place.
Don’t forget to visit Dave’s Killer Bread if you go to Bob’s Red Mill, it’s right across the street and you can get their awesome bread for less than half the price of what they’re sold for in stores. Pick up a Sin Dawg while you’re there…you can thank me later.
I get the Kirkland Bread that you are talking about. It is $3.50 for two huge loaves and no HFCS in it. For the size of the loaves and the fact it is corn syrup free it is a really good deal, I use it for my kids who eat a lot of bread. I just freeze the loaves I’m not using. Sometimes, in the past, Costco has also carried Bob’s Red Mill products. I’m not sure if any stores still do but it never hurts to ask because not all Costco’s carry the same thing, each store tends to carry what is popular to that area and it also depends on the size of the store, so there is always a possibility that something you like that is organic or whole grain like the Bob’s Red Mill is at another store. It only takes a sec for them to look it up.
A majority of the bulk items at WinCo are Bobs Red Mill (BRM) products. And they are about 5 to 10 cents cheaper than the Red Mill Outlet. To find out if it is a BRM product look at the bulk label on the sides running vertical it usually says Bob’s Red Mill or Red Mill.
This post put a smile on my face!! So I bought the oatmeal on sale at Albertsons for a song in January. I saved my tub for the old-fashioned and it’s almost gone now. So today I went to Winco where I bought a huge bag of it for $0.47/lb and filled up my bin! I did the same thing with cornstarch…saved the bin, bought in bulk, and refilled!
I seriously HEART Winco bins!!
I love Winco bins.
And before you complain about “ingredients you don’t recognize”, educate yourself. Do you realize that “sodium bicarbonate” is the chemical term for baking soda? It drives me crazy when people complain about “chemicals in their food” when they won’t do the research to realize that sodium bicarbonate is just baking soda and tocopherols are just vitamins.
“Chemicals in the food” includes those chemically manufactured vitamins that are sprayed into the flour used in bread factories. They are legally necessary to make up for the fact that all the naturally occurring nutrients have been stripped from the grains that make the bread flour. (Otherwise we would have rickets, beri beri, and who knows what else in epidemic proportions.) Tocopherols are not nearly as complete or as absorbable, usually just enough to trick the body into feeling fed. Bread that really nourishes our bodies, made from freshly ground flour that still includes all its original parts, is miles better than this, even if it’s not quite as convenient! (And who doesn’t know that sodium bicarbonate is baking soda? Wasn’t that all of our favorite experiment in high school chem lab?) Let’s ALL educate ourselves, and watch the tone of our emails.
I just want to second the person who suggested visiting “The Healthy Bread Store” which carries Dave’s Killer Bread. We buy their frozen loaves for less than half of what retail is. If someone wants to buy 10 loaves at once, the discount increases.
Going to check and see if the library has the artisan bread book–sounds great. Loved how you said you bought the book and are working on the energy to try it out…..I can relate!!!!
Check online first and put in a request. It’s a hot item right now and there is usually a waiting list. Just want to save you a trip to the library just in case cause I had to request it from my library with a wait list of 7 people ahead of me! whoa!
oops…almost a year too late with my reply. haha.
I just wanted to say that I have a grinder and grind my own wheat for baking. I use hard white wheat, and I ALWAYS get compliments on my bread and other baked goods (cookies, cakes, etc.). White wheat has a much milder flavor than red wheat and even those that think they don’t like whole wheat like my white wheat flour. You can certainly taste a difference in the flavor of fresh flour vs. the stuff pre-ground for the supermarket. It was well worth the money to buy the grinder, since now my whole family enjoys whole wheat everything! I purchase white wheat in bulk from the LDS Dry Pack Canneries, and it’s inexpensive.
Wow, Ann-Marie! Thanks for all the info! You make me want to go out and grind some flour!
Ann Marie,
Where is an LDS dry pack cannery? You have a great idea!
I appreciate your attention to real food and saving money. I have been one of those that complain that you can’t buy real food with coupons. I would just adjust that a bit to say that you can save AS MUCH using coupons when you eat real food. I have found it more difficult and sometimes discouraging because I can’t save as much as my other couponing friends. But we really, truly do buy only produce and grains for the most part with very few packaged foods. I also don’t buy cleaners preferring to make my own with the basics. That leaves mostly toilet paper and dish soap & detergent, diapers, OTC Meds and misc. I DO save on a few items here and there that make it worth my time to pay attention. But I don’t save enough to make it worth my while to subscribe to the newspaper. I just print and order the coupons that we can really use.
I agree with Anna C….I’ve found it hard to save as much money as my couponing friends too…for the same reasons.
We get all our grains at Bob’s Red Mill because we require all Gluten Free items. Bob’s can’t be bet when you need GFREE stuff! They generally have one Gfree item on special per month when you can save an additional 25%. For example, last month I got 25lbs of Gfree Rolled oats for $22! Less than $1/lb on that item is wonderful! Love that place!
The thing I love about Bob’s Red Mill is that all their products, organic or not, are GMO free. Same with Trader Joes.
Make the bread!! The recipie is now a staple in my house – pizza dough, bread, yum… My favorite is actualy a combo wheat. It is really just too simple not to make!
That is exactly what I am talking about. You mentioned rolled oats for less than $1/pound. At winco they are .50/pound every day. I am not sure if they are gluten free because I am not worried about that but I know that there is an Organic one for about .80/pound. Bobs may be great but it is never cheaper.
I totally get that and I agree! If my daughter didn’t have Celiac Disease (no wheat/gluten) 1/lb of oats would be a rip off. It’s cheaper in bulk at even Fred Meyer not to mention Winco. However, for us Bob’s is a budget saver for our Gluten Free mandatory diet.
Hey Ladies,
Go to the following website and you will find the most delicious bread recipe you have ever tasted. I make this bread every single day. Enjoy!
http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2009/01/no-knead-ciabatta-bread-you-can-believe.html
Don’t forget your chinook book at Bob’s Redmill and Dave’s Killer Bread (across the street from each other).
Bob’s has a coupon for 50% off any organic coupon… good for anything including 25lb bulk bags. We maximized our coupon savings buy purchasing 25lb of organic quinoa.
Dave’s has 2x bogo coupons… imperfect loafs 2 for ~$3.20 or frozen 2 for ~$2.60. You can only use one coupon at a time so bring a friend or your significant other along…
What is the Chinook Book? Sounds like I need one!! I mentioned earlier that we need all gluten free items in our home b/c our daughter has Celiac Disease so Bob’s is a life saver for me!
We love the Chinook Book…especially when they go on sale for $13. We also maximize our Bob’s Red Mill coupon by using it on 25lb bulk bags. It pays for the book with one coupon!
I also buy the $25 LB organic flour and use the Chinook book 50% off one organic item coupon. Then I have breakfast there, and us the buy one, get up to $6 off one breakfast. I head to Dave’s and get their bread.
My other secret is I bake bread and trade it for more Chinook book Bob’s coupons with my friends. SInce they never will get over there, they are happy to trade for baked goods
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