Frugal kitchen tips and hints. Share!!!

[miss_thenorth]

Ok, loving to cook, and also loving to save money as well as RRR, what are some tips you all have in the kitchen.

My favourite is buying regular ground beef (cheaper), and instead of browning it in the frying pan, that splatters everywhere, I boil my ground beef, and then strain and rinse with hot water. This gets all the fat out of and off the meat, and you are left with lean meat to add to your spaghetti or whatever. Your stove top is not a mess either.

anyone else have anything to share?

 

[enjoy the ride]

I do a lot of chicken stir fries so I de-bone it a lot. But I don't throw the non-used away- I collect it in a bag in the freezer until I collect enough for a big stock pot full of soup.
I also use canning jars for a lot of food storage- washing off the lids and keeping them seperate for non-long term storage things in the fridge.

 

[Cassandra]

This is probably a no brainer for most of you, but I put a bar of soap in a soap dish by the sink to keep everyone from using the more expensive dish soap for handwashing.

Saved me a bundle!

Cassandra

 

[miss_thenorth]

I reuse our milk bags, and use a straw to suck the air out for freezing. Also do this with regular ziplocs.

 

[patandchickens]

My favourite is buying regular ground beef (cheaper), and instead of browning it in the frying pan, that splatters everywhere, I boil my ground beef, and then strain and rinse with hot water.

Oh hey, can I ask a question about this? I have read this many times and wanted to try it, but for whatever reason I only ever seem to think of it in summertime and what do you DO with the now-grease-loaded rinse water?? In wintertime I could set it outside to let the grease congeal to remove it, then put the water part of the water down the drain; but in summer, not so much. And no way do I want to put all that grease down thru my pipes and septic

So, what am I missing here? There MUST be SOME smart way of getting around this.

Thanks in advance,

Pat

 

[patandchickens]

I love this topic and hope it will eventually run to many many pages

Call me slow, but I realized just the other day that when you are simmering bones for stock, after you strain the liquid to get out clots and chunks, you can add that to any foam you skimmed off and feed it to the chickens

Also, if you don't have a 'thing' about feeding chicken meat back to chickens (I am not trying to debate the pros and cons here), you can put parts of the boiled carcass out for the chickens. As assiduous as I am about picking things clean, beaks can get off even more

Pat

 

[miss_thenorth]

My favourite is buying regular ground beef (cheaper), and instead of browning it in the frying pan, that splatters everywhere, I boil my ground beef, and then strain and rinse with hot water.

Oh hey, can I ask a question about this? I have read this many times and wanted to try it, but for whatever reason I only ever seem to think of it in summertime and what do you DO with the now-grease-loaded rinse water?? In wintertime I could set it outside to let the grease congeal to remove it, then put the water part of the water down the drain; but in summer, not so much. And no way do I want to put all that grease down thru my pipes and septic

So, what am I missing here? There MUST be SOME smart way of getting around this.

Thanks in advance,

Pat

Well, I know this doesn't help you, b/c if I remember correctly--you don't have a dog, but what I do is pour the grease water over their food.

But you don't need that much water to boil the meat. so you could probably just strain it into a bowl, and put it in the fridge to congeal. The chickens could probably get it once its cooled.

 

[FarmerChick]

HA HA Cassandra--I yelled at Tony yesterday for using my Palmolive instead of the cheap hand soap pump right next to it..LOL...how dare he...that stuff is expensive! But I love that brand!

 

[FarmerChick]

All leftover veggies are put into baggies and froze for my pot luck beef stew or soups.
Any leftover corn, butter beans, green beans, mushroom stems, etc. etc. are kept for the soups etc. in the freezer until I need them. Doesn't take long to bag up enough to cook with.

Since I farm I have tons of varities of veggies at hand, but if I have to shop at the store for some things, then I buy very little produce at one time. I hate waste in this dept...LOL...so shop less, eat fast, and go buy more.....at least I don't waste it.

I fry my meat and use paper towels to soak up any grease. Just tip the pan, blot with paper towels and toss. I do this for convenience but I like my meat fried. For some reason boiled doesn't do it for me. ??just me..LOL

Very little is true garbage. In the end dogs get it all.

 

[patandchickens]

Well, I know this doesn't help you, b/c if I remember correctly--you don't have a dog, but what I do is pour the grease water over their food.

Doh! Never thought of that! Yeah, we do not have a dog at present (in a couple years, probably - concievably sooner, as the older cat that's the main limiting factor [she is extraordinarily paranoid] may not make it too much longer, alas) but that is good to remember for when we eventually do.

But you don't need that much water to boil the meat. so you could probably just strain it into a bowl, and put it in the fridge to congeal. The chickens could probably get it once its cooled.

That's a good idea too! I could just let it sit a little for the grease to rise, and pour or ladle that into a smaller container to put in the fridge to congeal. Why did I not think of the fridge

Thanks very much, see, I *knew* there was something I was missing!


Pat, gonna do it tomorrow with the ground beef that I bought today.