One of the great things about practicing a frugal lifestyle is the opportunity to be creative and work with what you have, rather than running out to purchase anything additional. Using cooking substitutions is a good example of that sort of practice and attitude.
Many times, when you “make do” with what you have, you even discover something new. Cooking is definitely one of those things that allows for a little substitution here and there. Out of something? Use something else.
Here are some more ideas for frugal cooking substitutions.
If you are making your own gravy (and you should be, as it is one of the great ways to be frugal), you’ll need to thicken it. If you are all out of flour or cornstarch, try this little trick. You can substitute pancake batter! It works pretty well. But one rule with this substitution: only use up to three tablespoons. Any more, and the gravy just won’t come out well. If you goof up and add to much, well I suppose that you could always serve your meal with maple syrup!
Do you have a lot of recipes that call for white wine, red wine or cooking wine? I seem to come across recipes like this all of the time. I’d love to try them, but I never have any wine in the house. We don’t drink it, and it seems a shame to purchase a whole bottle to use only half a cup in a recipe. I used to just substitute water, but that always left something wanting in the finished meal. But, not I have some great substitutions. For white white, try substituting 1/3 cup of white grape juice to every 1 tablespoon of unseasoned rice vinegar. A good substitute for red wine is 1 cup of regular grape juice, 1 tablespoon of strong brewed tea and 1 tablespoon of that unseasoned rice vinegar.
Mary Ann Romans also writes for the Computing Blog here at Families.com where she shares everything from the latest news on technology to cool downloads and fun websites.
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More Budget Baking (and Cooking) Substitutions