Showing posts with label frugal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label frugal. Show all posts

Friday, November 3, 2017

Ingredient Substitutes to the Rescue

Image found here.
You might be trying to save time.  You might be trying to save money.  Or you might be in the middle of a holiday baking frenzy and need a substitute so you can just get on with the recipe!  Besides that, the hallmark of an excellent (and frugal) cook is the ability to work with what you have on hand.   Before you run out to the store, try these substitutes.  You might be surprised at how well they work!


Ingredient Substitutes

1 cup sugar - 3/4 cup honey, 1 cup granulated sucralose, 1 cup granulate stevia such as stevia in the Raw.  In my opinion, baked recipes taste better with sucrolose vs. stevia.  A lot of stevia can leave a bitter aftertaste.


1 cup brown sugar  - 1 cup white sugar plus 1 tablespoon molasses.  Or in a pinch plain old white sugar will do just fine.  It will change the flavor, but not in a way that ruins the recipe.  I have also subbed turbinado (Sugar in the Raw) and that is a great option as well.

1  cup vegetable oil - 1 cup regular (not virgin) olive oil, canola oil or peanut oil or 1 cup applesauce or 1 cup pumpkin or 1 cup prune puree.  I have excellent luck with subbing extra pumpkin in pumpkin bread and leaving out the oil.

1 cup shortening - 1 cup coconut oil (not virgin unless you want a coconut flavor).  I actually prefer coconut oil, the expeller pressed variety, in certain recipes.  There is a chocolate chip cookie recipe my mom made for years with shortening and when I tried it with coconut oil I liked it even better.

1 cup butter - Butter has a signature flavor and fat profile that makes things just so.  Switching this ingredient with substitutes will definitely work, but your end results will just be different.  In chocolate chip cookies you can use coconut oil (I prefer flavorless expeller pressed) or margarine.  In cakes you can even sub in oil.  The end product will be tasty, the texture will just change.  Changing fat for fat usually works just fine.

1 cup buttermilk - 1 cup plain yogurt or 1 cup plain greek yogurt

Evaporated Milk - 3 parts whole milk, 1 part half and half

1 teaspoon vanilla - 1 teaspoon extract of choice (this will change the flavor).  Imitation vanilla extract will also work just fine.  Some rather particular foodies might disagree, but I say it's no big deal.

1 egg - 1 tablespoon flax meal plus 3 tablespoons water. Let sit 5 minutes before using.  This is good in recipes such as quick breads, pancakes, etc.  It will not do when egg is a main ingredient such as in quiche (imagine a flax pie, ick!).  I have had good results with quick breads such as this banana bread.

1 cup white flour - You can try subbing in different flours if you have them on hand.  I prefer unbleached white flour, so I most times sub that in.  You can also sub in whole wheat or white whole wheat quite easily.  Whole wheat flour tends to require more liquid in the recipe, so keep that in mind if you use this as a substitute.  I find great luck doing half white flour and half whole wheat flour without any other changes to the recipe.  It adds some whole grain without anyone really noticing.

Chocolate chips - Chopped chocolate bar, M&Ms

Baking soda/powder - Read this article.  It can be done!

Green onions - Though the recipe won't be exact, any onion will work.  In a pinch you can even use a little onion powder or re-hydrate dried onions.

Chicken - Easily sub in turkey and sometimes even pork.

Ground Beef - Any ground meat such as turkey, chicken or pork will work.  Ground meatless crumbles can also be used.

Cream of anything soup - Follow the recipe on this site or on this site.  You probably have all the ingredients on hand.


Are there any ingredient substitutes you are looking for?  Did I miss anything?  Let me know in the comments below.  And thanks for stopping by!


You might also like:
6 Things To Do With Canned Pumpkin
Helpful Tips on Equal Measures
Buy It, Make It, Maybe


Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Easy Pizza Sauce

Image found here.



I didn't realize I hadn't posted this recipe to my blog.  It's so easy that you can make it in the microwave.  The original recipe is from my mom, but I've tweaked it to our family's taste.  You can easily adjust it to your family's taste.  Try adding basil instead of Italian seasoning, or add fresh garlic.  Try less sugar.  Try more water if you like a thinner sauce, less water for a thicker sauce.

Easy Pizza Sauce

Ingredients:

1 small can tomato paste
1 tomato paste can of water
1-1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Stir.  Cover and microwave 3-5 minutes.  Remove from microwave and stir.  Spread on pizza dough.  Make pizza as you normally would and enjoy!  This recipe makes enough for two pizzas with a little extra, depending on how thick you like your sauce.

This is an easy and frugal recipe that anyone can make.  Sometimes I like to double or triple it and freeze the extra for later.


You might also like:

Perfect Pizza Crust

Hummus


Thursday, July 30, 2015

Cloth Napkins

I spend far more time than I probably should on Pinterest.  In my defense, I have come across some really great ideas that have sparked my creativity.  This is one of those ideas.  So, I was on Pinterest looking for tips on being frugal and in one of the little squares a picture for cloth napkins appeared.  I clicked the link, became more interested and actively searched for more pins on napkins.  In just a few short minutes I was inspired!


I walked to my craft room and dug through my fabric, some of which had been sitting there for close to 10 years.   The fabrics I chose appear to be cotton blends.  Then I got out my pathetically dull scissors and went to town.  I cut up long lengths of fabric into napkin-sized squares.  I did this by using another cloth napkin that I had in the closet as a guide. I ended up with over 20 rectangular pieces of fabric that would soon be napkins.

Next, I ironed and pinned down the seams so that they would be easy to sew.  I folded them so that no rough edges would show.


Then I took out my sewing machine, which buy the way, I think is the easiest machine ever!  The task I have the most trouble with is the bobbin, and this bobbin threads automatically after you load it and begin sewing.  Major score!  Anyway, I began sewing up the edges and these pretty napkins are the result.

Unfortunately I did not do a step-by-step tutorial.  I'm still a little bit of a newbie at sewing.  In the