What I can share is only my experience. In the marketing of ingredients, I make a thorough computation of the amount I would need, from the main ingredient like meat or fish, from the garnishings of vegetables and even for sauteing needs of garlic and onions. When cooking, I use the right size of pot or pan depending on the amount of food I will cook. Small amount needs a small pot, right? And a smaller pot requires a smaller amount of heat. In this age of non-stick pans, cooking oil is not a necessity but if you prefer then just a little amount will do to fry an egg. When the food is nearing to be cooked, turn off the stove 30 seconds before harvesting. The remaining heat in the pot or pan will be enough to do the final touches of the dish you are cooking. Do you have kitchen saving tips to share?
Good tips. One thing I try to do is make sure I "rotate the stock" just like they do in stores. When you add new items to the cupboard or the fridge or freezer, place them in the back behind the items you already have. That way, the oldest ones get used first, so you don't end up with expired products that simply go to waste.
I try to cut down on food waste by only buying what we are going to consume within the time before it goes bad. I have had to purchase a smaller size of milk since it was not being consumed before it spoiled. I use the microwave to heat things up instead of using my stove all the time and that cuts down on the amount of electricity that I am using. I also try to use up leftovers so that they do not go to waste or I will freeze them for another time.
@morgoodie, freezing stuff for later use is a great way to prevent waste. Speaking of frozen food, I've found that I can save by using frozen vegetables. While it might seem like they are more expensive than canned, I stock up when they are on sale. I only use as much as I need, so none goes to waste. With a can, some would get thrown away. I much prefer fresh frozen to waterlogged canned vegetables and anyway, and now, it works out to be the better bargain as well.
Lately I realized that instead of buying ready-made powders of chilly, turmeric etc it is more economical to grind it at home. Also we can have pure chilly and turmeric powder which are free from any type of preservatives or adulteration. I started grinding it at home with the help of my food processor. It is not a tedious task at all and the outcome is quite satisfying. I was surprised to see that I could save more than 50% on those essential ingredients. Companies use various types of coloring agents and preservatives to increase shelf life. But when we can do it at home why should we pay for the poison.
Very good tips. Mine is something pretty simple, but at the same time is very useful: always use the amount that I'm really going to consume. Nothing more than that.
Wow, grinding your own spices is a pretty cool idea. I never thought of that. I bet you get a lot more for the same (or less) price. Simple but true, @Shine_Spirit. Good advice. This one took me a while. I went from cooking for a big family to cooking for two adults and one (picky) child. It was a tough transition for me, and I always seemed to make too much of everything. Thankfully, I'm pretty good at finding creative ways to use leftovers. Now, I try to cook just what I need, unless I intentionally cook more with a plan in mind in advance for the leftovers.
@thisnthat Thanks. I think that often the simplest / obvious choices are the best ones. But sometimes it takes some time to realize this.
Here's another savings tip that I think is cool. Some of the vegetables that we use regularly can be re-grown.Log In Romaine lettuce, and green onions, and more. These three are the ones I've heard of most often. If you've ever done starter plants in water that's all you really need to know. You cut off the bottoms, place them in water, and wait for them to grow. Free food from what you already have. You can't get much cheaper than that.
There are another tips of saving in a kitchen while purchasing the grocery items if we buy at a bulk quanity, suppose purchase for the whole month then we can get a discount. Or buy it from the wholesale store these will help you in saving a lot.
It's true that buying in bulk can be a great resource, as long as you know you'll use all of the product. I used to buy large quantities and just split the bulk up into smaller containers. I still try to when I have that option. Some things can also be frozen for later use, if you're afraid you won't use the stuff in time. I don't have many places nearby that allow me to really take advantage of it. I used to live where there were shopping clubs and warehouse stores, and I really miss those.
I will often use the toaster oven instead of using the regular oven when heating up small quanitities of food. This saves the energy from using the regular oven. The other thing is that using a minimal amount of heat like that in the toaster oven saves the extra heat that is generated by your oven so you use less AC.
I agree with all the points that OP has suggested in his post. I also agree that grinding our own spices at any stage either fresh at cooking time or pre grind them is one of the best ways of getting pure and at cheaper price. You know we Indians use a lots of spices in our food like turmeric, chili, black pepper, dry and green coriander, fenugreek, saffron, ginger dry and fresh, cumin and many more so we mostly by raw and grind them at home which is guarantee of pure and saves money at the same time.
That's really good tip. And yes by this person can save lots of stuff, kind of oil, gas and other stuff. Personally I don't cook, but I can pass this information to others who are into it. They can really save good amount of stuff by following this. For one meal it may look small saving but if we think about long term then yes it can be really good saving.
There are so many ways that you can employ to cut down on costs in your kitchen. For me, major area where I can optimize my savings is to buy dry groceries in one go for an entire month. Stuff such as rice, cereals, pulses, spices and condiments etc. keep well for months and are cheaper to buy in large quantities. For fruits and vegetables,I buy them once every two days so they are used up quickly when they are fresh and so, lesser the chances of them going bad and waste. Apart from that, I make my own curry pastes and sauces which are cheaper to make and also taste better when made home fresh without any added preservatives.
So many good ideas. I always did the toaster oven thing in the summer too, @Ke Gordon. @nangk08, I think it's wise to do a major shopping trip, only going out on extra trips for fresh items. Some people shop every day, but I think that leads to spending a lot more. When we had a lengthy power outage, I shopped daily. I spent much more money that way. It's just too easy to add other things to the cart. I try to be more aware of impulse buys, but I still don't shop every day. Making your own sauces, condiments, etc. is another great tip. I do that too, along with some homemade salad dressings. If I can get the spices for those in bulk, even better.
This is something I am trying to do right now too. Even though we might not be able to grow the whole food again, I read that it's good for us to eat the sprouts too, such as carrot sprouts. It's a way to reuse the waste, save money and be healthy too. I am not experimenting all kinds of vegetables/fruits (from seeds) we eat, and see which can grow well.
Good ideas. Closing the lid and placing water over the pot will retain the moisture and the food will taste good. Yes. slow cooking adds to the taste. We grind masalas and deep freeze them for future use. We use our pressure cooker for rice cooking. We even make chapatis and store them.
Fantastic ideas to save money in the kitchen. Learned somethings and do others in my own kitchen. I unplug the stove s,when not in use, saving energy and money. I really like the tip about regrow veggies, I'm going to try it. I love Manoa lettuce, but no space for growing it in your back yard. So I'll try it. This is Manoa lettuce which is a delicate type of lettuce.
I just learned how to make cleaning enzyme from the kitchen scraps. We just need to buy brown sugar, and use the scraps from the fruits we have eaten, perhaps orange, lemon, pineapple, dragon fruits. A friend told me I have to get a glass bottle to make the enzyme, but I have learned that plastic bottles are fine for cleaning enzyme too. I am going to make this soon, and I am really excited about it. It's another way to reuse the kitchen scraps and save money on buying cleaning products!
