Naturally Frugal Living
Have you passed on making a recipe because it called for simple syrup and you didn’t feel like running to the specialty store and paying four – five bucks for a small bottle of sugar water? Well, pull out those recipes because you can make simple syrup yourself easily and inexpensively! I use unrefined sugar when [...]
My husband likes to use a green scouring pad when he does the dishes. I am not the biggest fan of scouring pads because keeping them clean is troublesome. I don’t feel like I can get them completely clean when I hand wash them and when I put them in the washing machine they become [...]
I have a dessert cookbook that says bring the eggs to room temperature on every.single.recipe. This used to really annoy me, because if I opened the cookbook, it meant I had time to cook right then, I didn’t have an hour to wait. I don’t know if I am just disorganized, impulsive, or a combination [...]
There are many evenings when my kids walk into the kitchen and ask what I am making and I respond with, “I don’t know yet, I’ll let you know when it is done”. My response always elicits a “mmm, my favorite” and is followed by a reminder to write what I am doing down. They [...]
If you do not have a dehydrator, you can always dry your herbs in a paper lunch bag. 1. Cut 3 – 5 stems of the herb you wish to dry. Shake to remove any bugs. Pinch any damage leaves. Wash and thoroughly dry. 2. Make several holes in a paper lunch bag to ensure [...]
Ounce for ounce oil from spray cans is more expensive than much higher quality oils. I prefer to splash a little oil in a pan and then use a basting brush to thoroughly coat the dish with oil: It only takes a second. I have found that silicone basting brushes are easier to clean up [...]
This evening I did not feel like turning on the oven to roast the spaghetti squash for dinner. So I didn’t! I decided to microwave it instead and was quite happy with the results. How to cook Spaghetti Squash in a Microwave: Poke a couple of holes in a clean and dry squash. Like you [...]
I wonder how many of my posts are inspired by my need to compensate for a silly cooking mistake? This evening after I started making a Cola Cake, I realized that I did not have enough cocoa powder to frost the cake. You can’t just slap any frosting on a cola cake! Cola cake demands [...]
To minimize the mess when cutting up a watermelon, place a cookie sheet under your cutting board: Even though my cutting board has a juice groove, it cannot catch all of the juice that a watermelon produces. The cookie sheet prevents my entire counter from becoming a sticky mess. Do you have any tricks for [...]
Are you ever disappointed with a product after you read the ingredient list? Yeah, me too! Even when I am lucky enough to find a product without wheat, I am often dismayed by some of the other ingredients like high fructose corn syrup or modified food starch. Fortunately, I have found that creating substitutions from [...]
