Economical, Creative Cooking
by Nikki Willhite - Willhite@aol.com
Description: Tips for cooking on a budget.
Many people think when they follow a recipe from a cookbook they
must follow it exactly. This is not true, and it is not cost
effective.
This is especially true when it comes to casseroles. Some recipes
have numerous ingredients, many which can be discarded without any
significant loss of flavor.
You need only to look up the recipe for something like Beef
Stroganoff in several different cookbooks to see the many
variations of this basic dish.
If you are trying to save money in the kitchen, you will want to
make your food as delicious as possible, using the fewest amount
of ingredients possible. A lot of recipes call for things we
don't normally stock in our cupboards. If we buy them, we may
only use a portion of them, and the rest may go to waste.
Sometimes a recipe calls us to purchase just too many
ingredients. We don't make it because we calculate that the cost
per serving is too expensive.
Sometimes we can get the flavor we want by using substitutes for
items we don't want to buy. There are many commercial
substitutes already...such as IMO for sour cream, and margarine
for butter. I use IMO both in dip and when I make beef
stroganoff. I almost always use margarine.
Here are a few substitutes that may help you. You can decide if
there is a noticeable difference in quality.
* If a recipe calls for cake flour, just remove 2 Tablespoons of
flour for every Cup of Flour.
* For self rising flour add 1 teaspoon of baking powder and
1/4 teaspoon of salt to every Cup of Flour.
* If out of milk, use 1/2 Cup evaporated milk mixed with 1/2 Cup
water.
* A Buttermilk substitute can be make from yogurt. Add 2
Tablespoons milk, and 1 Tablespoon Vinegar or Lemon Juice to 1
Cup Milk. Let it set 10 minutes and then stir.
* To make whole milk out of 1 Cup of skim milk, add 3 Tablespoons
of cream.
* A cream cheese substitute is 1 Cup of cottage chess mixed with
1/4 Cup of butter/margarine.
* For sour cream use 1 Cup of yogurt mixed with 3 Tablespoons
melted butter.
* For baking powder use 1/4 teaspoon baking soda mixed with 1/2
teaspoon cream of tartar.
* When baking with chocolate, 3 Tablespoons Cocoa with 2 1/2
teaspoons butter is equal to one unsweetened chocolate baking
square.
* For lemon juice, use 1/2 teaspoon of white vinegar.
* All canned tomato products may be interchanged. Add water to
tomato paste to make tomato sauce.
Olives, mushrooms, green peppers, onions...and such can usually
be left out of recipes. Think of a casserole like a pizza. You
can eat a plain cheese pizza, or you can eat one that is fully
loaded!
Reprinted with permission from:
The Pennypincher
An E-zine for the Frugally Minded
