Frugal Kitchen Tips

• Check out my Granola Article for great tips on using up odds and ends in your pantry Here
• Make powdered sugar in your blender by whirling granulated sugar with a little corn starch added to keep it smooth.
• Sell your extra baking to your's or your husband's co-workers, and use the spare cash to supplement your food budget or pad your change jar.
• Adding baking soda to your beans
  when you cook them helps them soften, if you live in an area with hard water. It also cuts down on the gas production :).
• Use a Drinking Glass or bowl to support Ziploc bags when pouring liquidy items into the bags.
• Uses for Potato Water
  Potato water has better uses than being dumped down the drain. Add it to your mashed potatoes. Add it to soups,stews or casseroles. Or you can cool it and use to water your plants!
• Place activate charcoal (purchased at pets stores in the fish section) in a clean sock or pantyhose tie off, and place it in your Fridge to fight odors. Works much better for tough odors!
• Store your brown sugar in the freezer, it will not harden in there.
• Plastic Liners from cereal boxes have many uses so don't throw them away!! You can use them in the freezer, or use them to cook things in the microwave. My mil cooks her corn and sweet potatoes in them. you can use them for lunch sacks, or you can use them as a substitute for wax paper.
• Plastic Milk Jugs
  Cut off tops, take off lid and use as a funnel. Cut them off closer to the bottom and use them in the garden for frost protection or self waterers.
• Freeze your vegetable and meat leftovers during the week. On the weekend, start a pot of soup with the leftovers. Use leftover chicken, ham or beef (including grilled hamburger) to start with water. You may add powdered chicken or beef boullion to give the broth flavor. Add vegetables, frozen chopped onion, seasoning and finish with rice or pasta. Freeze in tupperware containers and take for lunches throughout the week.
• Freeze crusts and then process them in a food processor while they are frozen. You will have instant bread crumbs. Store them in the freezer to keep them fresh.