Sweet, spicy peanut butter

If you're looking to economize, doing more yourself (not just terms of food), is a great place to start. Greater appreciation for the food your preparing is a common side-effect. I've talked about this before (breaking down whole chickens rather than buying their parts, curing your own meats etc.) but making peanut butter is unlike these other examples in that it really requires no knowledge or skills on your part, making it an extremely easy way to cut out the middle man. For the most basic butter, toss some plain peanuts in your processor and watch em go. Feel free to add embellishments as you please (honey, maple syrup, maybe a little peanut oil to thin it out etc).

I roasted these peanuts with some salt, butter and brown sugar then threw em' in the food processor with some cayenne, paprika, and smoked black pepper to make kind of a bbq peanut butter.