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If you are preparing holiday meals or baking you may find yourself mid-recipe without an ingredient, or you may not want to spend a lot of money on something that you only need a little and won’t use a lot in normal day-to-day cooking.

Here is a list of common cooking substitutions…

Allspice: 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves equals 1 teaspoon allspice.

Apple Pie Spice: ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice and a dash of ground cloves or ginger = 1 teaspoon apple pie spice.

Baking Powder: ½ teaspoon cream of tartar plus ¼ teaspoon baking soda equals 1 teaspoon baking powder.

Brown Sugar: 1 Cup granulated sugar plus ¼ cup molasses equals 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar.

Buttermilk: 1 tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar plus enough milk to equal 1 cup equals 1 cup of buttermilk; let stand for 5 minutes. Or use 1 cup plain yogurt.

Cake Flour: 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons sifted all-purpose flour equals 1 cup cake flour.

Chili Sauce: 1 cup ketchup plus 1 to 2 teaspoons prepared horseradish.

Corn Syrup: 1 cup sugar plus ¼ cup of liquid (use whatever liquid is called for in the recipe) or use 1 cup honey equals 1 cup corn syrup.

Cornstarch: 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour or 4-6 teaspoons quick cooking tapioca equals 1 tablespoon cornstarch.

Cream of tartar: 1 ½ teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar equals ½ teaspoon cream of tartar.

Dried Herb: ½ teaspoon ground herb equals 1 teaspoon dried herb.

Fresh Herb: ½ teaspoon to 1 teaspoon of dried herb equals 1 tablespoon of fresh herb.

Half and Half or Light Cream: 1 tablespoon melted butter plus enough whole milk to equal one cup.

Miniature Marshmallows: 10 large marshmallows equal 1 cup mini marshmallows.

Pastry Flour: 7/8 cup all-purpose flour equals 1 cup pastry flour.

Poultry Seasoning: ¾ teaspoon dried sage (crushed) plus ¼ teaspoon dried thyme or marjoram (crushed) equals 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning.

Pumpkin Pie Spice: ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon plus ¼ teaspoon ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon ground allspice and 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg equals 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice.

Rum: 1 tablespoon rum extract plus 3 tablespoons liquid (use whatever liquid called for in recipe) equals ¼ cup rum.

Self-Rising Flour: 1 cup of all-purpose flour plus 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon baking soda.

Shortening (for baking): 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons lard or 1 1/8 cup butter or margarine (reduce salt in recipe if using salted butter or margarine) equals 1 cup shortening.

Sour Cream: Substitute equal parts plain yogurt.

Tomato Sauce: ¾ cup tomato paste plus 1 cup water equals 2 cups tomato sauce.

Whole Milk: ½ cup evaporated milk plus ½ cup water or 1 cup water plus 1/8 cup nonfat dry milk powder.

Wine: 13 tablespoons water, 3 tablespoons lemon juice and 1 tablespoon sugar equals 1 cup wine.

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Tags: Baking, Baking Substitutions, Cooking, Cooking Substitutions, Tips
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Looking for a quick and easy recipe to use up seasonal cucumbers? While they do not store as long as conventionally canned/jarred pickles I can almost promise that you will love them so much that they won’t go bad before they are eaten all up! You can store these pickles in canning jars, recycled food jars that have been washed very well or just use a plastic storage container with a lid.

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup White Vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon Salt
• 2 Cups Of Granulated Sugar
• 6 Cups Of Sliced Cucumbers
• 1 Cup Of Sliced Sweet Onions (I like using red onions)
• 1 Cup of Sliced Green Bell Pepper
• 2 Teaspoons Of Celery Seed
• 1 Teaspoon of Dried Dill or 1/4 Cup of Fresh Dill, Chopped

Directions:

1. Place cucumbers, onion, bell pepper, salt and spices in a large bowl or non-reactive container.
2. In a small saucepan combine the vinegar and sugar and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
3. Allow to vinegar and sugar mixture to cool to room temperature.
4. Pour over cucumbers and mix well.
5. Cover container and place in refrigerator for at least 24 hours before serving.

Tags: Cooking, Cucumbers, Eat In Season, Pickles, Produce, Refrigerator Pickles, Summer Cooking
Posted in Blog, Recipes | 2 Comments »

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Are you wanting to know how to boil eggs without overcooking them (and they have a grey covering around the yolk) or under-cooking them? Follow these simple steps for perfect hard boiled eggs.

Ingredients:

• 1 dozen large eggs (at room temperature)

Directions:

1. Place eggs in a large saucepan and cover with water 1 inch above the tops of the eggs. Bring the water up to boil on medium heat.
2. When the water has come to a boil, cover the pan with a lid and remove the pan from the heat.
3. Let eggs sit in hot water in pan for 12 minutes.
4. Transfer eggs to a large colander in the sink.
5. Stop the cooking process by running cool water over the eggs until no longer warm.
6. Hard boiled eggs, left in their shell, can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3-days.

Yields: 12 hard boiled eggs

Tags: Cooking, Cooking Basics, Easter, Easter Eggs, Eggs, Hard Boiled Eggs
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Contributed by member SwapSavers owner of www.swapsavers.com

Cook your own meals: The only way to truly know the calorie content of what you eat is to prepare the meals yourself. By cooking your own meals you can substitute for less fattening or lower calorie choices when necessary. Most recipes list calories, fat grams and other useful information to help you keep track of your daily intake. When you eat at restaurants or fast food places you eat more calories and fat grams since the portions are typically larger then what you would have at home. Furthermore it is difficult to keep track of calories or fat gram intake. Cooking at home is significantly less expensive then eating at restaurants or fast food places.

Drink Water: Tap water is free and free of calories. If you were to only drink water for a week you could probably save at least $20 or more depending on your current drinking choices. Most drinks contain 200 calories or more, whereas drinking water has zero calories. Water has numerous health benefits. By drinking water you eat less since people tend to think they are hungry when they really need water. Water helps your body to break down fat which increases fat loss.

Turn off the TV: If you eat meals while watching TV, you are often unaware of how much you eat. Research by Eliot Blass found, people eat between 31 and 74 percent more calories while watching TV. Most people watching TV are motionless which burns few calories. In terms of energy consumption, watching TV will cost you about $100 per year in your electric bill and your cable bill about $600 per year.

Workout with a friend: Working out with a friend will help you stay motivated and provides extra support or new ideas to keep your workouts interesting. You can carpool with your friend to the gym to save on gas.

Tags: Cooking, Loose Weight, Meals, Motivation, TV, Water, Weight Loss, Workout
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The prices of ground beef can be pretty high with non-sale prices in some areas as high as $5.00 a pound. Good sales can be few and far between but if you are willing to put a little effort into saving on meat you can shave some of the cost on ground beef.

1. Invest in a meat grinder. You can find a hand cranked meat grinder for about $30 retail or if you have a Kitchen-Aid stand mixer you can purchase a very nice meat grinding attachment for about the same price. Also check thrift stores, consignment shops and eBay for a deal on used meat grinders.

2. Watch for rock bottom prices on whole cuts of meat. This week my local store had rump roasts for $1.99 a lb. which was much cheaper than the $3.99 for pre-ground beef.

3. Purchase whole cuts of beef in bulk as your budget allows. With the sale price of $1.99 I went ahead and bought 3 large roasts at around 5 pounds each.

4. Grind your meat and package for freezing. First cut your meat into chunks small enough to fit in the grinder and follow the manufacture instructions and grind it up. The instructions for the Kitchen-Aid attachment says to grind the meat twice. Then package your meat for future use. Use quality freezer bags, vacuum sealer bags, or freezer containers to freeze your raw hamburger meat. For easy meals you may wish to brown some ground beef and freeze crumbled unseasoned or seasoned (think taco meat) for meals. Additionally you can pre-make meatballs and meatloaf too and freeze it for easy meal preparation.

In all grinding and packaging your own beef only takes 20-30 minutes and can the cost of the meat grinder can easily be recouped after just a few pounds of grind at home beef!

Tags: Cooking, Cooking & Kitchen Tips, Frugal Living, Ground Beef, Hamburger, Kitchen-Aid, Meat, Meat Grinder, Meat Prices
Posted in Articles, Cooking & Kitchen Tips, Frugal Living | 7 Comments »

Did you make a resolution this year?  If you did, how’s it working for you?  I made one, and I’m going to keep it!  I’ve got a secret – it’s the same resolution I’ve made for the last five years, and I’ve kept it every year.    

I resolved to manage my money to the very best of my ability, providing my family with the very best I can while saving for the rainy day that we all will see one day. 

I think New Year’s resolutions fail mainly because they are often HUGE changes in our lives, hard to maintain and depriving us of comfort and enjoyment.  For that reason, I have made some very subtle changes which when you combine them, make a big difference in our household bottom line.  There are some really simple things you can do to save money in 2009 without feeling deprived.

 If you’re like my family, a huge portion of your monthly expense is your utilities. You need to reduce that bill as much as possible, but still keep warm during the winter months and cool in the summer. The first thing I did was to call my power company and request an energy audit. Most companies provide this service for free, and they will send someone out to look at your power/gas consumption and make suggestions to lower your bill. Additionally, studies have shown that you can reduce your heating bill by 10% if you lower your thermostat 5 degrees at night and 10 degrees when you are not home. If heating is half of your power bill, and your bill normally runs $200 in the winter, you’ll save $10/month just making a small change in temperature.

 When you wash your clothes, use cold water. We do so much laundry that I wonder how in the world all these clothes fit in our closets. Normally I do two loads a day, and if I washed those in hot water, it would cost me about 38 cents each load. A load washed in cold water costs just 1.5 cents! So if you do the math, I’m saving 73 cents /day for 365 days a year, and that’s $266! See how small changes can add up?

 When you’re cooking, turn your oven off about 15 minutes before the baking time is up. The residual heat in the oven will finish baking your food, and you’ll be saving money.

 When you leave the house for an extended period of time (2 days or more), turn your thermostat to the lowest possible setting. Don’t turn the unit off; the low setting will keep your pipes from freezing. Also turn off your water heater. When you return, it will only take an hour or so to heat the water back up.

 If you have ceiling fans in your home, turn the switch on the base so that the blades push the warm air down on you rather than pulling it up.

We all love to make New Year’s resolutions, but keeping them is a different story altogether!  This year, it’s time to get excited about saving some money for your family, and keep your New Year’s resolution!

Tags: Cooking, Energy, Frugal Living, Resolutions, Saving Money, Utilities
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