cat lover
07-18-2006, 01:14 PM
Do you have any tips like these that will save some money on food one way or another? Here are a few:
Freeze left-over coffee in cubes. When you want a cup of coffee, heat a few cubes in a cup in the microwave. Especially good with flavored coffees.
The plastic lids that come with Hershey's chocolate syrup are the exact size to cover a can of condensed milk. That way, you can save what's left if you use canned milk rather than fresh milk in recipes.
For a different look to sweet breads like pumpkin bread, Bannana bread, bake in 1 lb coffee cans. grease and flour just like you would for bread pan.
When you have a spoonful or so of vegetables, like beans, peas, corn, rice, etc., leftover after a meal, put in a freezer container or bag in freezer. Use it to make vegetable soup.
An inexpensive way to wash fruits and vegetables and even poultry and pork is to place peeled food in a bowl of cold water with 1/2cup of white vinegar, but do not put meat and veggies in the same bowl!
Leftover Meatloaf makes a great meat for Tacos. Just add taco spices mixed with water (follow the packet's instructions) and reheat in a pan.
Freeze left-over coffee or tea in cubes. Use the cubes in iced coffee or tea to keep your drink cold and to keep the flavor from becoming watered down.
Wrap fresh celery completely in aluminum foil. It will keep fresh and crisp for weeks.
Put food at different heights on a buffet table by placing phone books on table prior to covering with tablecloths. The books make great risers for a pretty presentation.
Instead of buying the more expensive beef stew meat, purchase a chuck roast on sale and cut it up yourself.
No mess buttered bowls! Instead of dealing with greasy fingers or wasting wax or paper towels, next time you finish a stick of butter -- don’t throw the paper away. Instead, fold in half and store in a zip lock bag in the fridge. Next time you need to prepare a buttered bowl or pan, use the buttered paper.
If you hate to throw out cookies just because they have gotten a little hard, place them in a ziplock sandwich bag with a piece of bread overnight. The next day you'll have fresh, soft cookies.
Put your lettuce in a plastic bowl and cover it with saran quick wraps, the type with the elastic aroud the edges; the lettuce will keep up to 4 weeks with very little browning.
When using only part of a bell pepper, cut it from the bottom or the sides, leave the seeds attached because they hold the moisture. You can put the rest in a resealable plastic bag and use it up to 4 days later. It won't be mushy.
Tough steak can be tenderised by marinating in mashed kiwi fruit.
To save fresh ginger root for a long time: peel the root, put into a lidded jar, cover with dry sherry. Put in refrigerator after cutting into smaller chunks. The ginger will stay fresh and you'll have ginger flavored sherry to use in cooking.
To store fresh ginger in freezer: peel and grate fresh ginger in foodprocessor and put in ice cube trays and later store the cubes in freezer. Fresh ginger everytime out of your freezer.
When I go out in my RV I usually go for a long period of time. I cook up meals at home and put them in Healthy Choice empty containers and seal them with my seal-a-meal and then when I am out in the RV I can just pop them in the microwave and I have a nice meal -- meat, vegatables and potatoes etc.
Homemade baby food for infants or toddlers: After making a Big pot of home made soup.. blend it in a food processor and freeze in ice cube trays. They make the perfect serving size for babies and you can use as many as you need without defrosting it all. After they are frozen you can place them in a container and start all over again till your container is full! There you have your veggies and protein all in one and ready to go.
Macaroni and Potato Cakes - Take leftover Mashed Potatos and left over baked or boxed macaroni and cheese, mix together to make patties, and bread with egg and bread crumbs like a chicken cutlet. Fry in pan until golden brown. This makes a very tasty side dish, sort of like a fritter.
Make your own homemade TV dinners for the freezer using leftovers from dinner - the 3 section reusable plastic containers work well. A protein, vegetable & starch complete a healthy meal. If all 3 sections aren't full, wait for leftovers from another meal to complete the frozen dinner container. To create a delicious "new" dinner, pop frozen sections out onto a dinner plate and reheat in the microwave.
Always make two cups of tea with your "gourmet" teabag - and put one cup in the refrigerator for iced tea later.
When cooking fish stock, add a tablespoon of vinegar mixed with lime juice to your broth. It cuts the fishy smell and adds lots of flavour to your finished product.
nstead of buying large jars of apple juice or applesauce for one or two recipes, I buy from the baby food section and don't have leftovers which I probably won't use.
Save the crumbs from bags of chips (potato chips, tortilla chips etc.) and use them for breading meats or fish, topping casseroles, in meatloafs or just about any other place you would use breadcrumbs.
Do you have fruit in your kitchen that's ripening quicker than you can eat it? Puree it and use in smoothies or as a topping for ice cream, pancakes or waffles. You can also freeze the purreed fruit in a plastic freezer zipper bag and use it later on.
Use a muffin tin to substitute for individual ramekins when making individual quiches or frittatas.
If you have a recipe that uses just egg whites, you can refrigerate the yolks for later use by storing them, unbroken, in a small bowl, covered with cold water for up to two days.
Add half rhubard when making apple sauce.Good way to use up frozen rhubarb Cornwall Canada
Here's the scoop on how to make your sun-dried tomatoes in the microwave: Slice ripe tomatoes thinly and place on a microwave safe plate and cook for 45 minutes on 30% power. Store dry in a plastic zipper bag or in a jar covered in good olive oil.
Need whipped cream but don't have an electric mixer? Put the cream in a bowl with a tight lid (Tupperware works well) and shake vigorously until whipped.
Reduce fat, increase fiber and save money by replacing half of the ground beef or poultry in a casserole or meatloaf recipe with brown rice, bulgur, or cooked and pureed dried beans.
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To make quick garlic butter, squeeze a clove of garlic through a garlic press with a small amount of butter for perfect garlic butter for some quick toast or to season veggies, fish, chicken or whatever.
Make your own Instant Oatmeal by putting regular oatmeal in a blender. Blending makes the oatmeal the same as instant.
Using leftover wine is a snap if you freeze it into ice cubes -- save calories and fat by sauteeing in wine instead of butter or oil.
Before you juice a lemon, lime or orange grate off the outermost part of the rind and freeze in a zipper food storage bag. When a recipe calls for zest, just pull it from the freezer.
Make your own superfine sugar (especially handy for decorating cookies) by whirling granulated sugar in a blender or clean spice/coffee grinder.
Freeze left-over coffee in cubes. When you want a cup of coffee, heat a few cubes in a cup in the microwave. Especially good with flavored coffees.
The plastic lids that come with Hershey's chocolate syrup are the exact size to cover a can of condensed milk. That way, you can save what's left if you use canned milk rather than fresh milk in recipes.
For a different look to sweet breads like pumpkin bread, Bannana bread, bake in 1 lb coffee cans. grease and flour just like you would for bread pan.
When you have a spoonful or so of vegetables, like beans, peas, corn, rice, etc., leftover after a meal, put in a freezer container or bag in freezer. Use it to make vegetable soup.
An inexpensive way to wash fruits and vegetables and even poultry and pork is to place peeled food in a bowl of cold water with 1/2cup of white vinegar, but do not put meat and veggies in the same bowl!
Leftover Meatloaf makes a great meat for Tacos. Just add taco spices mixed with water (follow the packet's instructions) and reheat in a pan.
Freeze left-over coffee or tea in cubes. Use the cubes in iced coffee or tea to keep your drink cold and to keep the flavor from becoming watered down.
Wrap fresh celery completely in aluminum foil. It will keep fresh and crisp for weeks.
Put food at different heights on a buffet table by placing phone books on table prior to covering with tablecloths. The books make great risers for a pretty presentation.
Instead of buying the more expensive beef stew meat, purchase a chuck roast on sale and cut it up yourself.
No mess buttered bowls! Instead of dealing with greasy fingers or wasting wax or paper towels, next time you finish a stick of butter -- don’t throw the paper away. Instead, fold in half and store in a zip lock bag in the fridge. Next time you need to prepare a buttered bowl or pan, use the buttered paper.
If you hate to throw out cookies just because they have gotten a little hard, place them in a ziplock sandwich bag with a piece of bread overnight. The next day you'll have fresh, soft cookies.
Put your lettuce in a plastic bowl and cover it with saran quick wraps, the type with the elastic aroud the edges; the lettuce will keep up to 4 weeks with very little browning.
When using only part of a bell pepper, cut it from the bottom or the sides, leave the seeds attached because they hold the moisture. You can put the rest in a resealable plastic bag and use it up to 4 days later. It won't be mushy.
Tough steak can be tenderised by marinating in mashed kiwi fruit.
To save fresh ginger root for a long time: peel the root, put into a lidded jar, cover with dry sherry. Put in refrigerator after cutting into smaller chunks. The ginger will stay fresh and you'll have ginger flavored sherry to use in cooking.
To store fresh ginger in freezer: peel and grate fresh ginger in foodprocessor and put in ice cube trays and later store the cubes in freezer. Fresh ginger everytime out of your freezer.
When I go out in my RV I usually go for a long period of time. I cook up meals at home and put them in Healthy Choice empty containers and seal them with my seal-a-meal and then when I am out in the RV I can just pop them in the microwave and I have a nice meal -- meat, vegatables and potatoes etc.
Homemade baby food for infants or toddlers: After making a Big pot of home made soup.. blend it in a food processor and freeze in ice cube trays. They make the perfect serving size for babies and you can use as many as you need without defrosting it all. After they are frozen you can place them in a container and start all over again till your container is full! There you have your veggies and protein all in one and ready to go.
Macaroni and Potato Cakes - Take leftover Mashed Potatos and left over baked or boxed macaroni and cheese, mix together to make patties, and bread with egg and bread crumbs like a chicken cutlet. Fry in pan until golden brown. This makes a very tasty side dish, sort of like a fritter.
Make your own homemade TV dinners for the freezer using leftovers from dinner - the 3 section reusable plastic containers work well. A protein, vegetable & starch complete a healthy meal. If all 3 sections aren't full, wait for leftovers from another meal to complete the frozen dinner container. To create a delicious "new" dinner, pop frozen sections out onto a dinner plate and reheat in the microwave.
Always make two cups of tea with your "gourmet" teabag - and put one cup in the refrigerator for iced tea later.
When cooking fish stock, add a tablespoon of vinegar mixed with lime juice to your broth. It cuts the fishy smell and adds lots of flavour to your finished product.
nstead of buying large jars of apple juice or applesauce for one or two recipes, I buy from the baby food section and don't have leftovers which I probably won't use.
Save the crumbs from bags of chips (potato chips, tortilla chips etc.) and use them for breading meats or fish, topping casseroles, in meatloafs or just about any other place you would use breadcrumbs.
Do you have fruit in your kitchen that's ripening quicker than you can eat it? Puree it and use in smoothies or as a topping for ice cream, pancakes or waffles. You can also freeze the purreed fruit in a plastic freezer zipper bag and use it later on.
Use a muffin tin to substitute for individual ramekins when making individual quiches or frittatas.
If you have a recipe that uses just egg whites, you can refrigerate the yolks for later use by storing them, unbroken, in a small bowl, covered with cold water for up to two days.
Add half rhubard when making apple sauce.Good way to use up frozen rhubarb Cornwall Canada
Here's the scoop on how to make your sun-dried tomatoes in the microwave: Slice ripe tomatoes thinly and place on a microwave safe plate and cook for 45 minutes on 30% power. Store dry in a plastic zipper bag or in a jar covered in good olive oil.
Need whipped cream but don't have an electric mixer? Put the cream in a bowl with a tight lid (Tupperware works well) and shake vigorously until whipped.
Reduce fat, increase fiber and save money by replacing half of the ground beef or poultry in a casserole or meatloaf recipe with brown rice, bulgur, or cooked and pureed dried beans.
[
To make quick garlic butter, squeeze a clove of garlic through a garlic press with a small amount of butter for perfect garlic butter for some quick toast or to season veggies, fish, chicken or whatever.
Make your own Instant Oatmeal by putting regular oatmeal in a blender. Blending makes the oatmeal the same as instant.
Using leftover wine is a snap if you freeze it into ice cubes -- save calories and fat by sauteeing in wine instead of butter or oil.
Before you juice a lemon, lime or orange grate off the outermost part of the rind and freeze in a zipper food storage bag. When a recipe calls for zest, just pull it from the freezer.
Make your own superfine sugar (especially handy for decorating cookies) by whirling granulated sugar in a blender or clean spice/coffee grinder.