Making Do and Doing Without: Substitute for Canning Jars and Substitute for Vegetable Broth

For me making do is not about deprivation, it is about doing more with less. It is about prioritizing my resources so my belongings improve the quality of my life, rather than become a drain on my time and energy. Doing without is not about denial, it is about choosing to use our income to reflect our passions and values. I don't make do and do without just because I am frugal, though admittedly I am, I do it because leading a “simpler life” allows me to live a fuller, more purposeful life.

Each Monday, I share a post on how I have made do in the past week. If you have a post about repurposing, reusing, making do, doing with out, or improvising, feel free to link it up at the bottom of this post.

Substitute Old Peanut Butter Jars for Canning Jars

Last week I shared how I coupled a canning jar to use my blender as a mini-food processor as well as a smoothie maker. I received several emails from readers who said they liked the idea but didn’t have canning jars. Here’s the great news: You don’t need canning jars. Many commercial glass jars have a standard mouth. I can use the jars that my peanut butter and brown rice syrup come in interchangeably with canning jars. So before you send your glass jars off to be recycled, check the mouth to see if you can repurpose them in your kitchen.

Substitute for Vegetable Broth

We had a small dinner party on Saturday. Most of the food could be prepared in advance, but the alfredo sauce needed to be made at the last minute to be perfect. So one minute before the last minute, I noticed that I was out of vegetable broth. I also discovered that I was out of chicken broth (I am making some in the slow cooker as I type). I thought that using milk or water would make the sauce too bland, so in a moment of desperation, I placed a cup of water and 2 teaspoons of Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute in a glass bowl and microwaved it until it came to a boil. I strained the “make do broth” through a sack cloth towel (because I don’t have cheese cloth) and added it to the recipe. Both my husband and daughter told me the alfredo sauce tasted better than ever before. If you don’t live near a Trader Joe’s you can substitute any no-salt seasoning mix to make vegetable broth in a pinch.

This post is linked to Kitchen Tip Tuesday and Works for Me Wednesday.

How do you make do or do without?