Affordable Replacements For Expansive Cooking Ingredients

It's a little tricky - absolutely you can substitute items in recipes in cooking - as long as it's understood that the end result may be quite different. Not necessarily bad - may even be better - but not the same. Vanilla extract versus bean is one where there is minimal if any difference. It's a little like using tinned tomatoes versus fresh when making a sauce. As an aside, we get vanilla paste from Costco - better again than extract in a number of ways (eg you get the tiny seeds so if you want it to look like you used real vanilla when making ice cream.... ;-) )

Another great substitute is crispy bacon instead of prosciutto - doesn't work for all recipes, but it definitely works in many cases. You can always put the bacon between silicon baking paper and flatten it before baking in the oven. Again, different taste and texture, but that doesn't mean it's bad.

Other things - well, I'd still get a bottle of balsamic vinegar rather than trying to substitute that to save money - it lasts for ages in the cupboard so a bottle will be your friend for ages. As for saffron - well it does cost a lot, but a little goes a long way. I'd probably leave it out rather than use something like paprika that will give you colour but the flavour might be wrong for the dish.

One of the best tricks, if you can call it that, is to always try to use recipes that use vegetables etc that are in season (and so at their cheapest). In addition, you can do things like bottle or otherwise preserve foods when in season and use them when you either can't get it in the shops (fairly rare now) or you have to pay more as the produce is being imported from overseas etc.

Oh, and minimise waste - if you have chicken, use the left overs to make stock. Same with vegetables getting a little old - unless you have a rabbit who likes the scraps!

Ninhursag it seems like you do know quite a lot about cooking which is great when it comes to cooking I barely manage to fry an egg :-/

nick123 wrote:

Ninhursag it seems like you do know quite a lot about cooking which is great when it comes to cooking I barely manage to fry an egg :-/

Thanks - I enjoy cooking. I know then exactly what has gone into the meal.... about the only thing I don't enjoy is cleaning the dishes afterwards! As for not being able to even fry an egg - all it takes is practice! No magic about it, unlike say gardening - the only thing I can grow that doesn't die is weeds. ;-)

ninhursag wrote:

the only thing I can grow that doesn't die is weeds. ;-)

First time I have come across someone who grows weeds :)

As for doing the dishes well hardly know anyone who like doing those, God bless the person who invented dishwashers!

mjay wrote:

First time I have come across someone who grows weeds :)

Can't say I do it intentionally. More that I plant things, and the plants die but weeds grow in their place. Ah well... at least most of them are green! :-)