Have you ever taken a look at the ingredients list on a can of nonstick cooking spray? I don't need a degree in either nutrition or chemistry to know that some of that stuff isn't good for us. In my quest to find a cheaper and better nonstick cooking spray I came across this site with a wonderful recipe for nonstick baking.
Cheaper and Better Nonstick Cooking Spray
1/2c. Vegetable Oil
1/2c. Vegetable Shortening (like Crisco)
1/2c flour
Beat all ingredients in a blender until fluffy and white. Store in the pantry until use in an air tight container. To use, brush pans with a pastry brush. Approximate shelf life is 2 months at room temperature.
Notice that this recipe calls for equal parts of all ingredients. If you don't bake often you can make it up in smaller quantities to avoid waste and maximize your savings.
Cost Comparison
One full recipe ($1.34) equals about the same amount of cooking in 1 can of cooking spray ($3.95 on sale after double coupons).
Savings $2.61
I bake quite a lot and love this stuff. I have to admit that for muffins, cakes and baked goods this recipe is hard to beat.
Showing posts with label cheap recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cheap recipes. Show all posts
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
What Makes a Recipe Cheap?
As you are looking through your recipes trying to decide on a quick cheap meal have you ever wondered what makes a recipe truly frugal? A good example of a truly frugal recipe is the cheap breakfast recipe we posted a few days ago.
The cost of a recipe and how "good" a recipe tastes are actually two totally separate issues. Let me explain. The cost of a recipe is greatly influenced by your attention to controlling the price of ingredients, how well you shop, your desire to reduce spending, and your attentiveness to preplanned purchases. On the other hand, how good a recipe is perceived to be is totally subjective.
In truth, recipes are good if the meals they produce are both filling and satisfying. If the meal is flavorful, filling, and what you are craving then the simplest dish will taste good to you. You can go out to dinner, eat a $30.00 meal and still not be satisfied if the meal was not what you were wanting regardless of the price. To make cheap meals satisfying all you really need to do is select a cheap recipe to satisfy your cravings. Simple right? The trick is to amass enough cheap recipes to gaurantee a variety of inexpensive meals in your diet.
Take a look at the cheap breakfast recipe we posted a few days ago and tell me what you see. What did you notice about the ingredients and instructions for cooking?
At some point I asked the same questions. I figured, as a long ago starving student, if there was a common denominator for savings that I needed to find it. Saving money was not something I particularly wanted to do, it was a necessity. I needed a shortcut to spotting inexpensive recipes because my time was short between work and school. As it turned out, that common denominator was right before my eyes all the time.
The fewer ingredients you use, the cheaper your meals will be. Cheap and quick meal recipes all have one thing in common, they use very few ingredients. It goes without saying that the cost of each ingredient needs to be controlled to make the recipe be frugal in the end. Sorry, not steak and truffles with wine sauce here.
There are several advantages to using fewer ingredients besides controlling costs. First, fewer ingredients mean less time grocery shopping and we know what happens the longer we stay in the grocery store: we spend a lot more than we should.
Second, fewer ingredients make prep time much quicker. Cheap recipes are usually speed demons to prepare. We have less to slice, dice, chop and clean up. I love the simplicity of the preparation of most cheap meals.
Lastly, and most important is the controlling of waste. You can do everything right when you shop, but if only $5.00 worth of produce goes to waste then you have increased your grocery bill 5% on every $100.00 you spend. Cooking cheap recipes helps you control waste by using larger proportions of fewer ingredients. Less to buy means fewer perishables that can potentially spoil saving you from wasting what you worked hard to save.
All and all, I have to say that I love cheap recipes. They need not be boring, just creative. Be willing to try new frugal recipes every chance you get. Save the ones you love and build a solid list of easy and quick to prepare meals that are as satisfying as the recipes are cheap.
The cost of a recipe and how "good" a recipe tastes are actually two totally separate issues. Let me explain. The cost of a recipe is greatly influenced by your attention to controlling the price of ingredients, how well you shop, your desire to reduce spending, and your attentiveness to preplanned purchases. On the other hand, how good a recipe is perceived to be is totally subjective.
In truth, recipes are good if the meals they produce are both filling and satisfying. If the meal is flavorful, filling, and what you are craving then the simplest dish will taste good to you. You can go out to dinner, eat a $30.00 meal and still not be satisfied if the meal was not what you were wanting regardless of the price. To make cheap meals satisfying all you really need to do is select a cheap recipe to satisfy your cravings. Simple right? The trick is to amass enough cheap recipes to gaurantee a variety of inexpensive meals in your diet.
Take a look at the cheap breakfast recipe we posted a few days ago and tell me what you see. What did you notice about the ingredients and instructions for cooking?
At some point I asked the same questions. I figured, as a long ago starving student, if there was a common denominator for savings that I needed to find it. Saving money was not something I particularly wanted to do, it was a necessity. I needed a shortcut to spotting inexpensive recipes because my time was short between work and school. As it turned out, that common denominator was right before my eyes all the time.
The fewer ingredients you use, the cheaper your meals will be. Cheap and quick meal recipes all have one thing in common, they use very few ingredients. It goes without saying that the cost of each ingredient needs to be controlled to make the recipe be frugal in the end. Sorry, not steak and truffles with wine sauce here.
There are several advantages to using fewer ingredients besides controlling costs. First, fewer ingredients mean less time grocery shopping and we know what happens the longer we stay in the grocery store: we spend a lot more than we should.
Second, fewer ingredients make prep time much quicker. Cheap recipes are usually speed demons to prepare. We have less to slice, dice, chop and clean up. I love the simplicity of the preparation of most cheap meals.
Lastly, and most important is the controlling of waste. You can do everything right when you shop, but if only $5.00 worth of produce goes to waste then you have increased your grocery bill 5% on every $100.00 you spend. Cooking cheap recipes helps you control waste by using larger proportions of fewer ingredients. Less to buy means fewer perishables that can potentially spoil saving you from wasting what you worked hard to save.
All and all, I have to say that I love cheap recipes. They need not be boring, just creative. Be willing to try new frugal recipes every chance you get. Save the ones you love and build a solid list of easy and quick to prepare meals that are as satisfying as the recipes are cheap.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Quick Cheap Recipes
In response to several recent emails asking for quick cheap recipes, we are going to be adding a new regular feature to the Use Supermarket Coupons blog…cheap healthy recipes. We are all pressed for time, and always looking for a cheaper and healthier alternatives to eating out.
If only cooking was not so time consuming, perhaps we would all do more of it. I love to cook, and get great pleasure from presenting my family with a home cooked, healthy, delicious and inexpensive meal. The only drawback is of course time in the middle of a busy work week. Quick cheap recipes are not just a goal, but rather a necessity.
The truth is that quick cheap healthy recipes are not so difficult to come by. To be honest, I have saved and adapted quite the repertoire over the years. Options for variety in our diet for quick cheap healthy recipes are definitely not the issue, finding the time to cook in the middle of the work week is another story all together.
We have one hard and fast rule in our house. Cooking during the week needs to be fast and efficient, under 30 minutes is the norm. We are probably not so different from any other household with kids and teens, during the week our evenings are jam packed with activities. Half an hour to get dinner on the table is all we can spare consistently, so half an hour is our time limit. Although 30 minutes of cooking and prep time is always the goal for dinner, other meals need to be quicker still. Time is just too valuable to waste during any part of our busy days.
Starting tomorrow, we will be rolling out our new feature begining with inexpensive quick and easy to prepare breakfasts and progressing on to lunches and dinners. Our goal will always be to offer healthy, quick and cheap recipes that appeal to your entire family while answering the age old question “How can I eat for cheap?”
Eating cheap is not the only goal for those of us seeking to pare down our grocery expenses. Maintaining a healthful diet while making food preparation simple and less time consuming makes the task so much easier. A large number of healthy quick cheap recipes are a must have strategy in reducing your grocery spending.
If only cooking was not so time consuming, perhaps we would all do more of it. I love to cook, and get great pleasure from presenting my family with a home cooked, healthy, delicious and inexpensive meal. The only drawback is of course time in the middle of a busy work week. Quick cheap recipes are not just a goal, but rather a necessity.
The truth is that quick cheap healthy recipes are not so difficult to come by. To be honest, I have saved and adapted quite the repertoire over the years. Options for variety in our diet for quick cheap healthy recipes are definitely not the issue, finding the time to cook in the middle of the work week is another story all together.
We have one hard and fast rule in our house. Cooking during the week needs to be fast and efficient, under 30 minutes is the norm. We are probably not so different from any other household with kids and teens, during the week our evenings are jam packed with activities. Half an hour to get dinner on the table is all we can spare consistently, so half an hour is our time limit. Although 30 minutes of cooking and prep time is always the goal for dinner, other meals need to be quicker still. Time is just too valuable to waste during any part of our busy days.
Starting tomorrow, we will be rolling out our new feature begining with inexpensive quick and easy to prepare breakfasts and progressing on to lunches and dinners. Our goal will always be to offer healthy, quick and cheap recipes that appeal to your entire family while answering the age old question “How can I eat for cheap?”
Eating cheap is not the only goal for those of us seeking to pare down our grocery expenses. Maintaining a healthful diet while making food preparation simple and less time consuming makes the task so much easier. A large number of healthy quick cheap recipes are a must have strategy in reducing your grocery spending.
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