15 Cooking Tips That Save Time And Money

Sometimes it’s the simplest things that can make your life easy with saving time and money! Add today’s easy cooking tips to your kitchen routine to make every day easier!

• If you often use powdered milk in your baking, keep a small container of it at your baking center.
• Make an all in one salt and pepper shaker: Place 1 part pepper to 6 parts salt in a old spice jar or salt shaker. (I actually also keep a separate shaker with my homemade seasoned salt since I use to so much.)
• Add some honey and apricot preserves to your regular barbecue sauce and brush on your meat for a delicious change.
• If you have leftover baked potatoes, make hash browns with them by cubing or grating them. Then fry in bacon grease or oil.

• To make a quick vegetable soup, use a can of vegetable juice for the base and then add the vegetables and other ingredients. For chili, use a can of tomato juice for your base.
• If you are like us, you probably end up with lots of little dabs of leftovers after you make tacos. To make good use of these, make a taco pie the next day. Here’s an easy recipe. I did not include amounts for the ingredients so you can improvise with whatever you have left over.
  
  Taco Pie
  1 can refrigerator biscuits or crescent rolls
  leftover seasoned taco meat
  beans, cooked and seasoned (optional)
  onions, sliced or chopped (optional)
  grated cheese
  1. Preheat oven to 350°.
  2. Press biscuits or crescent rolls into a 9 inch pie pan. (You can also use a square pan, a pizza pan or, if you have a lot of leftovers, use a 15x10x1 inch pan with 2 cans of biscuits.)
  3. Sprinkle with leftover seasoned taco meat, beans and onions, if desired.
  4. Bake until golden brown.
  5. Remove from oven.
  6. Sprinkle with grated cheese.
  7. Return to the oven and bake long enough to melt the cheese.
  8. Serve with lettuce, tomato or any of your other leftover taco fixings.
     
• Add a half cup of sour cream to your banana pudding (the large box) after it has been mixed for a different twist.
• Use kitchen shears. If you don’t keep a pair of kitchen shears (scissors) in the kitchen, get some and store them where they are easily accessible. Use them to cut green onions, chives and all kinds of herbs. Cut chicken breasts into strips and cut thin cuts of beef into cubes for stew. Next time you cut anything with a knife think, “Can I cut this faster with my shears?” and then try it.
  
  If you cook things like vegetables and herbs, you can rinse the shears and use again. If you cut meat, toss your shears in the dishwasher or sanitize them before using on other items to prevent contamination.