Instant Oatmeal & Quick & Easy Pancake Mix

Frugal Breakfast Mixes for those busy mornings. Making your own instant oatmeal and pancake mix can save money.
Today I want to share two easy frugal breakfast mixes you can make at home. These mixes can easily be purchased in the store, but did you know you can make these simple mixes at home in larger quantities for so much cheaper. 

The first breakfast mix is for Instant Oatmeal. You know the oatmeal that comes in a box with individual packets inside. I'm guilty myself for buying them, but not anymore. My daughter loves instant oatmeal not only for breakfast but for snack as well, so we can go through those packets rather quickly. 

Well one day when I was scanning through a Family Circle magazine. And way at the bottom of the page I saw a article that caught my eye "penny-pinching breakfasts". It was really small print and I almost missed it. The article had recipes for frugal breakfast mixes and I already had all the ingredients to make them right in my pantry. 

With this recipe you can make individual oatmeal packets or store it in a large container for a bulk use. I I have done both. If you don't want to use a Ziplock bags then the bulk container is probably best. When my kids were younger the packets were the easiest for them, but once they got older measuring out the oatmeal themselves worked perfectly. 

By making your own bulk instant oatmeal you get a larger quantity than purchasing the store bought packets. Plus you can control the ingredients that are added. I stored my instant oatmeal oatmeal in a 5 gallon ice cream tub, but any plastic container will work.  

I normally double the recipe so the big ice cream tubs are perfect. I add a 1/2 cup measure cup to the container and the directions are labeled on top of the container.  

 



Next on the list is this easy pancake mix. I love my homemade buttermilk pancakes for the weekends and such, but this mix is perfect for busy weekday or school morning. 
This pancake mix makes really good pancakes and it's perfect for when you're in a pinch or short on time. Again this easy homemade mix can be made easily with items you have on hand. 

Just add all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix together. Place pancake mix in a air tight container, seal and label. 

I hope you'll give these breakfast mixes a try because they really do save time and money. 


17 comments

These are great!!! Thanks so much for sharing. - www.delightfulcountrycookin.com
Stacia said…
Great idea for homemade oatmeal "packets"! I, too, have already downloaded the mac and cheese recipes- can't wait for more!!

the country cook has already beat me to commenting here I see! She introduced me to gooseberry patch a while back. :)
Tina Butler said…
Hi Stacia, Gooseberry Patch Rocks!!! I love their site and their cookbooks. It feels like H♥ME.
~Judy~ said…
Thanks! I will be making these up for sure.
Anonymous said…
I too am a penny pincher and proud of it :) I try to keep as much of our food as I can homemade, but I'd never thought about making up an oatmeal mix before. Now that you've put the idea in my head, though, I'm going to have to give this recipe a try!
Michele said…
We are big breakfast eaters at our house and we like our oatmeal too. I am also guilty of buying the instant kind but only use it once in a while. I love this recipe! I'll never have to buy instant again.
I love Gooseberry too, guess because I'm basically just a simple country cook and that's the kind of recipes that they have.

Those are both awesome mixes to keep on hand! I had used a similar homemade "instant" oatmeal for years when I had more mouths at home to feed - it's great for when you have little ones at home and SO much better for you than the prepacked stuff. These days with just The Cajun and me - I'm the only oatmeal consumer (silly man!) so I just use regular Quaker oats a bowl at a time, and I do pancakes as I need them.

Hope you're having a great week!! Are you going to enter anything in the RO*TEL contest?
LOVE that instant oatmeal make-at-home mix...what a great idea!

Thanks for all your Gooseberry love, Tina...we appreciate it! :)
Lisa said…
I definitely need to make that pancake mix! I worked at a biological field station for half a year and I made pancakes from scratch all of the time. I never thought to make up a big batch of dry mix. I guess I have a plan for the weekend now!
Anonymous said…
this looks tasty and i love being frugal sometimes! anne
www.anniebakes.net
I mix up my morning oatmeal each morning and have been thinking how it would be such a timesaver to make a big container of the mix like this... I was worried about the ingredients settling/seperating. But now that we are getting warmer in MN and its 65 when I'm having breakfast, I feel like it is keeping me warm all day!! I'm suprised you guys enjoy oatmeal in the warm months down there!!

I don't know if I have suggested this baked oatmeal recipe before - but once and a while I'll make a batch of it and have a bit of it for breakfast for a few days (I'm the only oatmeal eater in my house)
http://www.bedandbreakfast.com/ppf/inn/209765/recipe/30023/ListingRecipes.aspx
It's divine!! (although, I prefer it to not get a crust, so I cook it in a deep casserole container)
Tina Butler said…
Jenny my daughter can eat oatmeal on a 100 degree day. She loves it that much. The ingredients dont really settle at the bottoma at all. I always give it a big shake before i open it up. I think it would be great with dried apples and raisins. Yum we eat crockpot oatmeal no matter what season we love it. I will have to try your recipe as well.
Fabulous! My oldest can easily eat three of those oatmeal packets per sitting. Even when buying the store brand I feel like I'm wasting $$$. We'll be adding this one to our morning routine for sure!
Shandra said…
I love having pre-measured instant oatmeal in my pantry. The kids love to make it all by themselves before school. Thanks!

Also, ust thought I would let you and your readers know we are giving away a FREE Bosch Mixer (over $300) on our blog this month! Visit our blog for more details www.dealstomeals.blogspot.com to see how easy it is to win!

Good luck
Kirstin said…
Thank you for this recipe. I wonder if you could use 1/2 wheat flour? My daughter loves pancakes and waffles so this would come in handy.

I also like the looks of the rolls in the previous post. Yummy!!
Andria said…
Hi! I, too, find myself buying a box of expensive oatmeal every time I go to the grocery store. Lately, we've been buying organic instant oatmeal which uses steel cut oats. Do you know if I could substitute steel cut? Love looking at your site!
Elizabeth said…
That's awesome! I'm so gonna make the oatmeal. I reuse my ice cream tubs too. I mix up salad in it. :) The first time I pulled it out the kids were so excited for the ice cream. Now it's a running joke in our house.