Cheaper, Better, Faster by Mary Hunt Page B

milk
    Use nonfat dry milk in baking. It’s cheaper than whole milk and will help you stretch your budget. Try stretching yourfresh milk by mixing 50/50 with reconstituted dry milk (mixed with water according to package instructions). Make sure it is very cold and your family is not likely to detect your cost-cutting ways.
    Baking—with blueberries
    When making muffins, pancakes, or quick breads that call for blueberries, freeze the berries first. The frozen blueberries will keep their shape, and they won’t break up in the batter.
    Bread—burned toast
    Scrape the really dark part off with a cheese grater, and no one will have to know.
    Bread—hot dinner rolls
    To keep dinner rolls hot at the table, heat a ceramic tile in the oven while the rolls are baking. Put the warm tile in a breadbasket, cover it with a napkin, and lay the rolls on top. Cover the rolls with a napkin, too, and they’ll stay warm for the entire meal.
    Bread— making crumbs
    Don’t discard bread, rolls, bagels—even garlic bread—that have become hard. Store them in a plastic bag in the freezer, and when you need bread crumbs, simply grate a piece of your stash with a cheese grater. You’ll have uniform, perfect bread crumbs.
    Bread—mini hamburger buns
    Use a biscuit cutter to cut the centers out of bread ends and you have a perfect-size hamburger bun for a young child. Use the scraps for bread crumbs.
    Bread—soften
    To freshen bread or rolls that have become a little bit hard, sprinkle the inside of a brown paper bag with water, add the bread or rolls, fold the top over tightly, and place in a 400 degree oven for 3 to 5 minutes to heat.
    Broth—clear
    Pour broth through a coffee filter to produce clear broth.
    Broth—fat free
    To get rid of the fat from canned beef and chicken broth, store the cans in the refrigerator upside down so the fat congeals on the “bottom” of the can, which will be at the top as they stand in the refrigerator. To use, turn the can upright and use a can-punch-type opener to pierce a hole. Pour the broth, and the fat will stay behind.
    Broth—seasoning meats and veggies in the microwave
    To season meats and veggies when cooking in the microwave, add chicken broth or beef broth, not salt. Cooking in broth enhances flavor, while sprinkling with salt can cause food to cook unevenly, discolor, and dry out.
    Browning while broiling
    Broiled meat, fish, or poultry will brown more evenly if brought to room temperature before cooking.
    Butter—creaming with sugar
    To cream butter and sugar quickly, first rinse the bowl with boiling water.
    Butter—grated
    When a recipe calls for dotting the surface of a pie filling with butter, rub a cold stick of butter across the coarse side of a grater and sprinkle the grated butter on the filling.
    Butter—substitute
    When baking, you can cut down or omit the butter or margarine by substituting applesauce. A good rule of thumb: no more than 1 tablespoon of applesauce per 1 cup of flour.
    Butter spread—homemade
    To make your own butter spread, combine 1 pound softened margarine with 1 cup buttermilk, ½ cup vegetableoil, and 1 teaspoon butter flavoring. Mix well and store in the refrigerator in a container with a tightly fitting lid. Tastes just like butter and stays soft.
    Buying—cereal
    Buy plain cereals, and then add your own extras like raisins, sliced almonds, honey, and dried fruit. You’ll save a lot of money. You’ll also know exactly what and how much has been added.
    Buying—dairy
    The date on dairy products is the date retailers must pull unsold products from the shelf. Properly stored, the product will be good for at least 7 days past the printed date. Unsalted butter has a shorter shelf life than salted. Whichever kind you buy, extra sticks are best stored in the freezer. Milk, cream, cottage cheese, and similar products should be stored in their original