Little Ways to Save Money in the Kitchen

"Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship."

Benjamin Franklin

You don't have to make major changes to adopt a more thrifty lifestyle. These are little things you can do to save money every day in your kitchen.

CUT COSTS Use ¾ pound of meat in a recipe that calls for a pound. You may want to add an extra potato or another handful of rice or noodles to compensate for the missing meat. You family will never notice.

STRETCH THAT "SKETTI" Do your kids love canned pasta? Buy one can of pasta with meat and another can of pasta without meat (which is substantially cheaper) and mix them together.

CHEAPER CHILI To stretch canned chili, buy a can of kidney beans and mix the beans with the chili.

MORE MEATLOAF To make meatloaf go further, add quick oats, crushed crackers or bread crumbs to the hamburger mixture.

DOUBLE UP Double the recipe for your family's favorite casserole. You'll only need to warm up the oven once, and you can freeze the half you don't eat.

TWO-FERS Cook two recipes with identical cooking temperatures at the same time. Open the oven door to check on your creations as infrequently as possible to prevent heat loss.

GET CREATIVE If your family shuns leftovers, disguise them. Leftover meat and potatoes become stew, soup or casserole. When I don't have quite enough meat for another meal, I cut it into small chunks, add it to gravy and serve it over boiled, baked or mashed potatoes, biscuits or rice.

AN A-PEELING IDEA Use a vegetable peeler for peeling carrots, cucumbers or potatoes, etc. Peelers are inexpensive and can be put in the dishwasher for cleaning. You'll end up with less waste and more nutrition from your produce.

FRESH VS. FROZEN Frozen vegetables are convenient but are they nutritious? Experts say they are. Vegetables which are harvested and immediately frozen can retain more vitamins than produce which is shipped across the country and is days old before it reaches your table. They are also inexpensive and produce no waste. Add frozen vegetables to soups and casseroles right from the freezer.

MEATLESS MEALS Plan at least a couple of meatless meals each week. Cheese, beans, and eggs are good meat substitutes.

WASTE NO WATER Don't run the dishwasher with less than a full load of dishes.

SAVE A TREE Use a sponge rather than paper towels to wipe up spills. Put the sponge in the dishwasher each time it's run to sanitize the sponge.