A Collection of helpful hints for
the Frugal Kitchen that cooks
good food!
A Collection of helpful hints for
the Frugal Kitchen that cooks
good food!
Sixteen short articles about various things related to the recipes in this cookbook, explains some terms, suggests some alternatives, a bit or two of advice.
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Make your own cream of whatever soup mix
Storing hard cheese without refrigeration
Three Steps to Managing Your Food Budget
What to do with Bacon Ends and Pieces?
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Three Steps to Managing Your Food Budget
Understand the tricks that advertisers use to convince you that their brand names are better than
the foods you make yourself. Beware of the marketing games that say, "Buy Brand X, your
troubles will be over." Learn how to identify a goal; plan the steps you need to take to achieve
that goal.
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Bouillon, Broth, and Stock
These ingredients may be substituted for each other. "Broth" and "stock" tend to refer to the
same thing, water that has had vegetables, or beef, or chicken (or all three) stewed in it so it is
flavored. If you don't have stock on hand, add bouillon to water. If you need one cup stock, use
one cup water plus bouillon. Stock keeps well in the refrigerator and you can add to it as you get
extra stuff from your cooking. For example, if you use a can of corn, and don't need the liquid
for that recipe, add it to your stock in the refrigerator. Stock can also be frozen. One handy way
is to freeze it in ice cube trays, and then use the "stock cubes" like bouillon. After they've
frozen, you can transfer them to a freezer bag or container.
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Powdered Milk versus Liquid Milk
Oh, the kids do whine don't they? "I don't like powdered milk." But they will never know if
you cook with it. Any time you see "milk" in a recipe, you can substitute powdered milk. You
can either mix it with water and add it as liquid, or you can add the dry milk with the dry
ingredients and then add the appropriate amount of water. The basic rule of thumb is 1/3 cup
powdered milk plus 1 cup water equals 1 cup of milk. For a richer milk, add ½ to 2/3 cup
powdered milk per cup of water. For milk the consistency of evaporated milk (an ingredient you
sometimes find in recipes), add one cup powdered milk to one cup water. Use powdered milk
when making up mixes, and save yourself one more step in the cooking process. When making
gravy or sauces, reconstitute the milk and then add to the flour and fat.
| Meat, chicken, cheese, beans, or fish | Vegetables |
| Eggs, soup, sauce, gravy, crumbs | Seasonings, spices |
| Rice, corn meal, macaroni, noodles, potatoes | Biscuit dough, pastry, crumbs |
NO doubt about it. Casseroles are one of your most economical meals. They taste good too! These six categories of ingredients indicate the main parts of a casserole main dish.
First you have the meat (or other protein), then you add some vegetables, then you add something like rice or pasta or potatoes to fill up the dish. These ingredients are held together by some kind of creamy liquid or gravy. Often the casserole is topped with dough, pastry, or some kind of a crumb crust (such as crumbled crackers mixed with melted margarine). The seasonings and spices support the flavors you are combining. A casserole is a good choice for thrifty cooks. Yum factor is very high. Thrift factor is excellent. Casseroles can be made ahead of time and frozen for reheating later, thus saving time. If you're making one, you might as well make two and freeze one for later.
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Salt, Fat, and Sugar
Truly, these are yummy. Sigh, all too often, they are too much of a good thing. When you
examine a recipe, consider how much sugar and fat it's got. You can almost always cut the fat
and sugar down from most recipes. Make it "full strength" the first time, and then the second
time, cut out (for example) half of the fat and half of the sugar. If the taste factor is seriously
diminished, the next time you make it, cut out only one-fourth of the fat and sugar. See if it
tastes better. Chances are, it may taste fine with half of what the recipe calls for (there are
exceptions, like pie crust). Recipes with only a small amount of fat (say 1 or 2 tablespoons) may
be hard to cut because a certain amount of fat may be necessary to make (for example) a sauce or
gravy. In regards to salt, use less salt in cooking and allow people to add salt to their personal
taste. Don't be afraid to experiment! And remember, one advantage of cooking your own food
is that you have control over how much sugar and salt and fat that you add. The factory foods
come packaged with all kinds of hidden fats and sugars and salts. Make it yourself and you re
the one that is in control.
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Fun Vegetarian Variations
For those looking for a more vegetarian diet (less or no meat), look at the recipes with meat and
then imagine them with beans instead of hamburger, or chopped and shredded zucchini, yellow
squash, and/or carrots. Use vegetable stock in place of beef or chicken stock. Combine beans
and grains in sauces and see what happens.
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Convenience Store Traps!
Just how much convenience do you really need? This is something to think about. Convenience
can get pretty expensive. Suppose you go to a convenience store every day. You buy a pack of
cigarettes, a super gigantic size soft drink, and some potato chips. Add it up -- cigarettes, $2.25,
soft drink, 99 cents, chips or other snack, 89 cents, that's $4.03 plus 32 cents tax, your total is
$4.35, thank you very much. Actually, your total is $130.50, which is what you are spending at
the so-called convenience store every month. You could also say that your total is $1,566 which
is what this one visit per day, every day, costs you for a year. "But I don't buy brand name
cigarettes, I get the cheap ones." Ok, if the cigarettes are 99 cents, then we're still talking $2.98 a
day, $89.40 a month, $1,087 a year. So think about your convenience store habit. With a little
planning, you can have a soft drink and a treat every day, but without paying the high
convenience store cost. You could probably use an extra thousand dollars every year. That's
how much money you will make, every year, by kicking the convenience store habit.
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Freezing Breads and Rolls.
It is best to freeze breads and rolls after baking. Properly wrapped, they will be just as good after
freezing as they were before. Cool the baked bread or rolls completely, then wrap and freeze
immediately. For bread: thaw the bread in the original wrapper at room temperature (about 3
hours to thaw a 1 pound loaf of bread.) Slices of frozen bread can be toasted without thawing.
Frozen rolls may be placed in a 275 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Bread and rolls properly
wrapped may be frozen for up to 3 months. Bake biscuits according to recipe, cool, wrap and
freeze immediately. Thaw at room temperature or warm in 275 degree oven.
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Margarine, Shortening, Oil
Cooks tend to substitute margarine, butter, shortening, or oil, depending on their personal
preference and what they have on hand. Shortening is best for flaky pie crusts, greasing pans
before baking, deep frying. Margarine works well in biscuits and for sauteing a few vegetables.
Butter is tasty, but it is also high priced. Oil works anyplace margarine or shortening does.
Recipes may call for one or the other, but use what you have on hand or are accustomed to using.
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What to do with bacon ends and pieces?
Chop 'em up into bits and then fry them. Use them as a base for gravy (make the gravy with the
fried chopped bacon ends and pieces in the gravy). Add a few to hamburger to add extra flavor,
use them (fried and grease drained) as a flavor enhancer in casseroles. Add to soups or beans.
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Freezing Casseroles
When cooking a casserole that you plan to freeze, under-cook it by about 10 minutes. If there is
a crumb topping, do not put it on until ready to reheat for serving. Quickly cool the casserole to
stop the cooking (you can set the covered pan in a larger pan of ice water.) To save on the
number of casserole dishes you need, before putting the casserole into the dish, line it with
aluminum foil. When frozen, lift foil out of dish, wrap to exclude all air, return to freezer until
needed. When ready to reheat, put back into dish, with the aluminum foil for reheating (this also
saves time in cleaning the dish afterwards). It doesn't have to be thawed before reheating.
Casseroles can be stored for about three months.
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A Greased and Floured Pan?
Take a pan, and rub it with shortening (oil, margarine, or butter will work, but shortening is best
for this job.) Shake a little flour in the pan, and then shake the flour around the pan, including
the sides, so that the shortening is coated with flour. This helps your cake, bread, or dessert pop
right out of the pan.
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Make your own Cream of Whatever Soup Mix.
2 cups powdered nonfat milk -- 3/4 cup cornstarch -- 1/4 cup instant chicken bouillon -- 2 tbsp
dried onion flakes -- 1 tsp basil leaves, 1 tsp thyme leaves, ½ tsp pepper
Combine ingredients, stirring till evenly distributed. To substitute for 1 can of condensed cream of whatever soup, combine 1/3 cup of dry mix with 1-1/4 cups of cold water. Heat and stir until it thickens. Use as you would the canned product. Makes the equivalent of 9 cans of soup, at a cost of pennies per recipe. Mushroom: add ½ cup finely chopped mushrooms. Celery: add ½ cup minced celery. Potato: add 1 cup cooked diced potatoes. Chicken: add ½ cup cooked chicken. Vegetable: add 3/4 cup cooked vegetables. Broccoli: add 1 cup cooked chopped broccoli.
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How to make clarified butter
Clarified butter stores indefinitely without refrigeration (this is handy if the power gets cut off
because of a storm, utility problem, lack of money to pay the bill, or y2k disruptions. It's also
healthier, as clarifying the butter removes most of the cholesterol, but retains the delicious butter
taste.
Melt the butter in a pan with a low heat and bring it to a slow boil. If any scum rises to the top,
skim it off. Boil slowly (don't burn) until the white solids clump together on the bottom of the
pan. The butter oil will be clear and golden. Skim off the butter oil into a clean jar with a tight
fitting lid. You can collect the remaining oil and solids in the bottom of the pan, and strain it
through cheesecloth or coffee filters, to collect the last of the oil. The solids are then discarded
(or fed to animals). Lard can also be clarified by this method, and loses most of its cholesterol
while retaining its taste.
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Storing hard cheeses without refrigeration
Hard cheeses (such as cheddar, mozzarella, jack) can be stored without refrigeration.
(Remember that cheesemaking began as a way to preserve dairy products long before there was
refrigeration.) It only works with hard cheeses, soft and processed cheeses must be refrigerated.
Dip the cheese into a salt water solution (salty enough that an egg floats), and place it on a rack to dry. On the next day, thoroughly rub the cheese with salt. Do this again on the 3rd day. By this time, a rind should be developing on the cheese. Melt wax in a double boiler (a pan inside another pan with water in the outer pan) and dip the cheese in it, and set it aside to cool on a rack. When the first layer is dry, add a second layer. Wrap it in cheesecloth and continue to apply layers of wax until it is smooth and shiny and entirely encased in several layers of wax. If you don't have cheese cloth, add a couple extra layers of wax. If mold develops, just cut off the mold and eat the rest.
In the event of severe diarrhea and dysentery, or loss of fluids due to excessive heat, you need to know how to make an oral rehydration solution (common store names for oral rehydration solutions are Gatorade and Pedialyte).
Combine ½ tsp salt and 8 heaping tsp (or 2 handfuls) of powdered cereal and dissolve in 1 liter of boiled and cooled water. Powdered rice is best, but corn meal or wheat flour or cooked and mashed potatoes can also be used. Boil this mixture for 5 to 7 minutes to form a watery porridge. Cool quickly and give to the sick person. Give the dehydrated person sips of this drink every five minutes, until he or she begins to urinate normally. Keep giving the oral rehydration drink often in small sips, even if the person vomits. Not all of the drink will be vomited. When using, make it frequently, especially in warm weather. Without refrigeration, it can spoil in a few hours. (Source: Where There Is No Doctor, David Werner)