Money Saving Monday #7

Today's money saving tip is to make your own! My 6yo loves beef jerky, but I don't buy it for him very often because it's full of chemicals and pricey.

DH bought N some beef jerky while they were out the other day, and N was thrilled. DH remembered that we had a dehydrator in the cupboard (a wedding gift we used maybe twice? And I almost gave it away multiple times.) He asked N if he'd like to make our own, and N jumped at the chance.

So, they went off together to the grocery store and bought a piece of London Broil for $5 and change (they got 1.5 pounds.) Came home and mixed up a marinade of 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup worcestershire sauce, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 2 T honey and some red pepper flakes. Sliced the meat up in strips, put them in a freezer bag and marinated them for a few hours.

Then, they took the strips out, laid them out in the dehydrator, flipped it on and left it for around 8 hours. DH went out to play poker last night, so when he came home he checked the jerky and declared it done.

When N tried a piece this morning, he was in heaven. He said he never wants to buy jerky from the store again. With all the ingredients, it probably cost us $6.50 to make a big bag that should last a while.

I love that it's all natural, and Nate just loves it. Sometimes making things from scratch doesn't save much, but in this case, it's definitely worth it!