20 Frugal Kitchen Tips

1. Save clean carrot scrapings, celery leaves, outer onion layers, vegetable peels and freeze them in a ziploc bag. When you have a soup bone or chicken carcass, throw everything in a pot to make a lovely homemade soup stock.
2. Although fresh ingredients are best for tasty soup, get into the habit of keeping “soup bits” on hand. Keep a container in the freezer to add leftover bits of cooked meat and another for leftover veggies. This is the ultimate frugal way to make soup, just add to stock and you have an easy homemade soup. Previously mentioned in 12 Tips For Tasty Homemade Soup.
3. Save turkey & chicken carcasses (and unappetizing poultry parts) to make homemade stock for soups, mentioned in 10 Frugal Leftover Turkey Recipes.
4. Shave some dollars off the grocery bill and make your own bread, see How To Make Homemade Bread Plus Recipe.
5. Buy fresh fruits in bulk when they’re in season and make your own jams & jellies. They’re much healthier for you and can be quite frugal (better yet if you are lucky enough to be able to grow your own fruits). See How To Make Strawberry Jam: Small Batch Making For Beginners.
6. Grate orange and lemon peel before peeling. Dry and add to spice cake or any cookies or puddings. The dried grated peel will keep well in a covered jar. Previously mentioned in 45 Cooking & Baking Tips: A Collection Of Timeless Wisdom.
7. Grow your own herbs, see How To Make A One-Pot Indoor Herb Garden.
8. Grow your own green onions, see Never Pay For Onions Again: How To.
9. Save those bananas! Pop them in the freezer when they’re too ripe to eat and you can use them for baking banana bread and other baked goodies. See Freeze Bananas Plus Banana Bread Recipe.
10. Try bulk cooking to save money on grocery buys as well as having prepared meals on hand (less tempting to order out), see Once A Month Cooking: Tips & Resources.
11. Instead of buying expensive flavored creamers, try cinnamon sticks, dried citrus peels or homemade flavored sugars in your coffee and tea. See Homemade Lemon Sugar Recipes, Homemade Vanilla Sugar Recipes and Homemade Lavender Sugar Recipes.
12. Skip the expensive flavored vinegars, oh my gosh they’re so easy to make! See Multipurpose Herb Vinegar: Recipe to get started.
13. Experiment with using powdered milk in recipes, it’s much cheaper than buying fresh milk!
14. Meat prices got you down? Buy cheap cuts then choose slow cooking recipes to make them with…the meat will be tender and fall apart with a fork! See Crockpot Pull-Apart Roast Beef Recipe.
15. Even expensive loose teas are quite cheap when you calculate what it costs per cup, but try making your own tea with various herbs you’ve grown and native plants. See Homemade Herbal Teas – How To.
16. Leave the expensive breakfast cereals on the grocery shelves and serve a hot & healthy meal instead with oatmeal–it’s so cheap! See How To Make Crockpot Oatmeal & Oatmeal In A Thermos.
17. Make your own lard from fat you’ve trimmed from meat. See Rendering Fat For Cooking Use.
18. Pass on the gourmet seasonings and season meats, stews, soups and bland leftover meals with your own special blend of dried herbs that you’ve either grown yourself or salvaged bits from dried herbs & spice bottles. See Making A Herb Pot.
19. When you have a variety of root vegetables on their last legs but not enough of any one to make a full dish, chop them all up, throw them in a roaster, coat with a light layer of oil and seasonings. Roast together for a hearty dish of roast vegetables.
20. Don’t throw out bread, use it to make croutons, bread crumbs or bulk up casseroles. See Kick Up A Casserole With Herb Crusts.

You’ll find more ideas for cutting costs in the kitchen here: 15 Tips For Leftover & Surplus Food Items.

Also check out How To Save Money On Groceries – Tips Guide.

Don't Miss These Tips:

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• 10 Frugal Leftover Turkey Recipes