Frugal kitchen tips

[Soliloquy]

There's already a thread here about saving money, for general money-saving tips, but I thought we needed one specifically about how to save money in the kitchen. For instance, which generic brands are made by the same companies as branded foods and are really essentially the same? Buying in bulk? Etc. I'll start with this tip on saving money on marble slabs for candy making: http://www.thekitchn.com/frugal-tip-buy-marble-slabs-fr-72140

 

[Happyflowerlady]

I saw a recipe for baked chicken that was coated with ritz crackers and mushroom soup, and then sprinkled over with shredded cheese before it was removed from the oven. I didn't have either the Ritz or the shredded cheese, but I had some leftover Cheez-it's , and I substituted that for the chicken coating. I just ran the crackers through the food processor, and then added a little self-rising flour, dipped the chicken in buttermilk and then in the flour mixture, browned it in my electric skillet, and then added the mushroom soup, covered it and let it slow cook in the skillet for almost an hour. It turned out delicious !

 

[Shellyann36]

I buy as much in bulk as I can get away with. I hit the local Sam's Club for sugar, flour, spices and yeast. During the holidays they will also have nuts and name brand chocolate chips etc as well. I buy generic when I can or I at least try to pair my shopping with sales and coupons.

Another thing that I do (and it drives Keith and the kids crazy) is the fact that I use all of the mixture that I can get out of the bowl and put it into the oven to bake. I see so many tv cooking shows where they don't clean out the bowl and leave gobs of the food bits in the bowl. This just drives me nuts. I realize that the show is limited to 30 minutes (in most cases) and that they have to hurry to get it all done but its just one of my pet peeves.

 

[LadyLuck7]

Most of the frugal tips I find are for buying in bulk. That is just not possible for me because I have such limited kitchen space and even smaller storage space. I do tend to shop and try out different generic brands to test against more expensive name brand items. Most of the generic brands are very similar to the name brands in most cases.

 

[ACSAPA]

I saw a recipe for baked chicken that was coated with ritz crackers and mushroom soup, and then sprinkled over with shredded cheese before it was removed from the oven. I didn't have either the Ritz or the shredded cheese, but I had some leftover Cheez-it's , and I substituted that for the chicken coating. I just ran the crackers through the food processor, and then added a little self-rising flour, dipped the chicken in buttermilk and then in the flour mixture, browned it in my electric skillet, and then added the mushroom soup, covered it and let it slow cook in the skillet for almost an hour. It turned out delicious !

There actually is a recipe for Cheez Its crusted chicken tenders.
I pinned this on Pinterest because I think it looks awesome.

http://www.lifewiththecrustcutoff.com/cheez-it-crusted-chicken-tenders-4/

 

[jodiann12]

A frugal kitchen tip I have is to learn how to make your own condiments such as mayo, lacto-fermented ketchup, mustard and barbecue sauce. It's healthy and won't have any harmful ingredients or preservatives, and not to mention more economical, too.

 

[Shellyann36]

A frugal kitchen tip I have is to learn how to make your own condiments such as mayo, lacto-fermented ketchup, mustard and barbecue sauce. It's healthy and won't have any harmful ingredients or preservatives, and not to mention more economical, too.

I am experimenting with this as well. I think it is way healthier than purchasing the brands in the store.

 

[Soliloquy]

I've heard of making your own mayonnaise and of course barbecue sauce, but I've never seen a recipe for ketchup or mustard. Would love to try the ketchup in particular!

 

[justusforus]

I have never had a problem using generics for all of my cooking and baking needs. If you are baking "from scratch" I assure you that yours are going to taste better than store bought or heaven forbid some of the pre mades, like frozen dough. I too would love to hear how to make ketchup as well, since that is something I am a little partial to the "Heinz" brand on, but if I learned to make it I could experiment till I got the taste to where I liked it.