The Great 'Cheap cooking substitutes' Hunt

KTB1

I do the butter milk trick and use supermarket value brand flour etc.

I also used dried chick peas etc. Far nicer than tinned stuff. I do much more than needed and then freeze it so can take a handful etc as required.

Also use lentils in casseroles to bulk them.

themull1

I can cook and bake from scratch, but I still like cook in sauces/cheap curry sauces that I can add my own stuff to for convenience, I will get the sauces for a pound when they're on offer. I work, and sometimes go for the quick option.

Jnelhams

Caster and Icing Sugar are easily made in a blender. a couple of tablespoons of milk added to an egg make for a bigger omelette.

juliamarsh

VfM4meplse wrote: »

I am going to turn this thread on its head with a question.

I bought a load of finely ground Matzo meal for 10p a pack a while ago, intending to use it instead of breadcrumbs. It is a very "floury" breadcrumb, I've used it twice now and the results were not good. This evening I decided to make bubble & squeak patties, shaped the mixture, dipped in melted butter and then the Matzo (I would normally use panko) before baking. The result was weird! The outside took some time to get a golden, but the crust was actually burnt and bitter (seemed to be burning from the butter layer inwards!). So okay it was crispy but not a good result.

I should have just quit whilst I was ahead and served it straight from the frying pan

What can I do with this other than feed it to the birds in the park?

Not sure how fine the Matzo is, but many years ago when I was going out with a Jewish boy I regularly used to go round to his family for Friday supper and it was always fish and chips. His Mum used to coat the fish in Matzo meal instead of breadcrumbs/batter and it was SO delicious, why don't you give that a try? Not sure what she put on it first to make the matzo stick but I am guessing perhaps beaten egg or milk. Good luck!

piecemeal

Instead of cans of coconut milk (£1?) buy a block of creamed coconut (about 70p). The block will make about can's worth of milk. DH is the expert on this and has gone to sleep; he grates a bit of the block and then dissolves it in boiling water.

jonthedog

As a student I used to make mushy pea guacamole; not quite the same thing, admittedly, but a 15p tin of mushy peas (or blitzed up tin of beans of your choice) makes quite a nice dip if seasoned with chilli sauce, garlic, etc. Avocados are ridiculously expensive nowadays (tho the nice market trader outside my work sometimes does 7 for a £1, so sometimes I have guacamole instead of mushy peas!).

terra_ferma

piecemeal wrote: »

Instead of cans of coconut milk (£1?) buy a block of creamed coconut (about 70p). The block will make about can's worth of milk. DH is the expert on this and has gone to sleep; he grates a bit of the block and then dissolves it in boiling water.

I use that to, it has the added advantage that fat separates so you can remove it if you want a lower fat version.
I actually shred directly over the food I'm cooking and add water separately, the lazier system seems to work fine for me.

Ezmondino

Agree on using granulated sugar instead of caster in all recipies, even meringue. Never felt there was any difference in taste or texture.

CeeJay

Soworried wrote: »

:rotfl: No mistake, expensive means nothing to me or my health. Turmeric is one of the healthiest spices you can have. The crocin levels in saffron are cheap in comparison.

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=78

I don't want to get into the turmeric/saffron argument as there is a place for both in my kitchen.

I would like to say a big thank you though to Soworried for the link to that excellent website. That has gone straight to my bookmarks.

Back on the turmeric/saffron topic, in Portugal you will often find that in the shops turmeric is labelled as "açafrão indiana" which literally translates as Indian Saffron.

djlester_2

So I should probably do the sums and work it out. I'm a good enough cook - do a lot from scratch. A pretty standard staple is Spag Bol for a lot of people, and we'll exclude the meat / onion / mushrooms for comparison.

You can buy a packet of mix for about 80p. the mix will usually need a tin of toms if I recall correctly, so add 45p there. But that's it - we're done. I have also just seen that tesco own brand mix is 15p on mysupermarket.
Alternatively a good size jar of own brand sauce seems to be £1.15
When I cook from scratch I used mixed italian herbs, a stock cube or two, garlic, mace, splash of Worcestershire sauce. If I want to thicken it some beef gravy granules and tomato puree I suppose.

Mixed herbs - 95p
Oxo (12) - £1.20 (don't like the others - never seem to dissolve for me!)
Lazy garlic - £1.45 (yes, I know fresh is cheaper but it seems to get wasted).

I guess the mace and w. sauce are small fry in comparison.
I think the cost then of the ingredients must be around 50p per batch. You are saving 30p. For the hassle - is that worth it? That said - I do make it myself, buy in bulk for the herbs and oxo. But I also add bacon for flavour that I wouldn't otherwise I think.

For the more "exotics" like red thai paste, or indian curries - I think it's partly the fear of the unknown, and partly the huge list of ingredients to make the paste. I would tend to buy paste rather than full blown sauce though. And there can surely be no excuse for buying a white sauce for pasta etc. just make it and then then flavour it with tomatoes or anything else you like.