Ways to Save Money in the Kitchen

Your kitchen can be a money-hungry monster, eating up big chunks of the weekly paycheck and stretching your budget to the limit. Here are 55 ways on how you can keep your kitchen's appetite within bounds:

1. Buy tomatoes in large quantities while they're in season. Preserve them for use as stewed tomatoes.
2. Buy canned hams on sale - freeze them for use in place of costly breakfast bacon.
3. Don't let food in the freezer age beyond the point it can be used. Keep list of freezer contents.
4. Get as many as three meals from one smoked ham shoulder. Roast it or serve in a casserole.
5. Comparison-shop for cheese. Domestic brands are usually cheaper than imported, and prices differ from brand to brand.
6. Buy cheese in solid form. It's cheaper than using sliced cheese.
7. Use ice milk instead of ice cream. It tastes just as good.
8. Buy plain pasta instead of fancier kinds.
9. Chunk-light tuna is cheaper than solid-pack tuna when you're making casserole dishes.
10. Reconstitute frozen orange juice with ice water. It will taste like fresh orange juice and save money.
11. Recycle aluminum foil or plastic bags and wrap. Wash them in hot water for reuse.
12. Use sponges to wipe up spills rather than paper towels and reusable plastic cups instead of paper ones.
13. Buy by the case in discount grocery stores or try to make case lot deals with your grocery or supermarket.
    
14. Buy your kitchen staples in large amounts when they're on sale. When you begin to run out, look for sales.
15. Reduced price items are near the end of their usefulness. But them only for immediate use.
16. Use your kitchen appliances appropriately: Don't use the oven when a toaster will do the job.
17. Use cooking oil sparingly. It's expensive and a small amount will usually do the job.
18. Refrigerate items even if they don't need it. They'll last longer.
19. Use outer leaves of vegetables instead of trimming them. They contain important vitamins.
20. Don't overcook vegetables. They'll shrink and lose much of their vitamin content.
21. Freeze liquid from boiled, seasoned meat, fish or poultry bones after skimming off fat and use for sauces.
22. Use round or chuck roast instead of sirloin. Tenderize and roast at 475 degrees for 25 minutes - then at 350 degrees for an hour.
23. Get more than one meal out of chicken by using recipes designed to utilize leftover chicken.
24. Freeze chicken livers and use them later to make a meal or a pate.
25. Use tuna in fish recipes rather than more expensive fish.
26. Don't throw out old vegetables when cleaning refrigerators, Chop finely, saute in garlic butter and serve.
27. Take tablespoon-size lumps of leftover tomato paste, put on wax paper and freeze for later use in sauces.
28. Shred and freeze leftover pieces of cheese for later use.
29. Saute chopped leftover mushrooms in skillet, add cup of water, cool and freeze in ice cube trays for later use.
30. Use herbs and other seasonings in place of the wine in recipes.
31. Chop up and freeze leftover parsley or chives for later use.
32. Saute frozen leftover pasta with Italian sausage, onion and peppers. Heat and serve with Parmesan cheese.
33. Empty ice cube trays, put cubes in plastic bad and store for parties.
34. Leftover whipped cream frozen in rosettes can be added later to desserts. Put them on frozen and allow to thaw.
35. Use chopped prunes instead of raisins in pastries. It's cheaper and tastes just as good.
36. Use dried stale bread and crusts to make bread crumbs.
37. Mix equal amounts of reconstituted, non-fat dried milk and whole milk to stretch your supply.
38. Use beef or lamb liver instead of costly calf's liver.
39. Make sour milk to replace buttermilk in recipes. Add a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to cup of milk.
40. Make your own salad dressings.
41. Chop up leftover cold cuts, freeze and use later in quickies or casseroles.
42. Use fruit juices plain or mixed with soda water in place of commercial soda pop.
43. Save the cooking liquid from poaching a chicken, freeze and use later for broth in a variety of recipes.
44. Buy chicken breasts with wings, freeze until you have a good supply and use them imaginatively as entrees.
45. Use same pan you sauteed meat in to cook your vegetables and potatoes. You'll save energy.
46. Make double batches of lasagna, chili, spaghetti sauce, etc. freeze half and save for another day.
47. Substitute cheaper source of protein for meat.
48. Put a half-cup of granulated sugar in blender and make a full cup of your own powdered sugar.
49. Use large egg poacher to cook several baby foods at the same time.
50. Use leftover pie crust trimmings to make tarts, cheese rolls and other kinds of pastry.
51. Use leftover holiday eggnog to flavor ice cream.
52. Freeze single leftover meals until you have enough to reheat and give your family a menu to choose from.
53. Use good quality paper towels instead of commercial coffee filters.
54. Instead of making one pie that will serve eight, make a dozen cupcake-sized individual pies with same ingredients.
55. Keep potato chips, packaged cookies and crackers fresh by stapling bags shut them as air-tight as possible.