Moscow-Pullman Daily News Blogs

Tim and I have added a few fabulous from-scratch recipes to our repertoire in recent years — ice cream is probably the best.

I’m not sure if homemade ice cream is just a treat, or economical, too. My bet is on just a treat (good heavy cream is relatively pricey stuff). But are there other foods that create such a savings they’re worth the time to make from scratch?

Slate.com writer Jennifer Reese decided to test out a few recipes for the cool article found here. She calculated the cost of everything involved in her recipes, including the tiniest pinch of salt and electricity to run the oven.

Her conclusion? Some things are worth it, and some aren’t.

While I don’t think I’m going to try her recipe for homemade bagels (things with yeast in them tend to fail miserably in my house for some reason), her assertion that homemade yogurt is tasty, healthy and — believe it or not — cheap and easy intrigued me.

See, I’m a yogurt junkie. I eat a cup almost every day — and it’s the good stuff, too. I tried to switch to the 35-cent kind, but I just couldn’t handle the overly sweetened, runny nastiness. Not even Yoplait will do it for me. I’ve gotten spoiled by creamy, smooth, fruity  Cascade Fresh yogurt (to the point that I will shamelessly advertise for it. It’s available at the Co-op and Rosauers. Try it. It’s awesome.)

Problem is, I used to pay 65 cents a cup for my yogurt — and cringe that the price was so high. Now it’s 95 cents a cup, so I have to cut back, stock up when it’s on sale, or switch to the almost-as-good-but-not-quite brands that are on sale.

But Reese’s article has sparked in me the idea that maybe, just maybe, I can make even tastier yogurt at home for less.

I’m hoping to try this grand experiment sometime in the next few weeks, and I’ll be sure to update you.

In the meantime, feel free to share your favorite recipes for easy, inexpensive food from scratch.