Friday, December 29, 2023

In the Kitchen: Learn how to Make Do with half, Using Substitutions, and Making it Instead of Buying!

I hope you have had a wonderful Christmas (we did) and you enjoy the New Year!  

The birds have been taking a long break and all I have in my fridge right now are 3 eggs.  At least one out of four will lay so everyday I come back in the house feeling like I've won a prize.  

How did my egg situation get like this?   Well, I decided not to lime my extra eggs this year.  Instead I gave some extra eggs to the neighbors, my daughter, and the rest we used up ourselves (Thanksgiving cooking).  Now, my goal is to depend on my eggs though and not buy any from the store as long as possible.  So, I'm making do and saving up my eggs for recipes I know that will be coming up the next week.  



This morning I decided to make egg bites and the recipe calls for 5 eggs. I feel, of course that you need real eggs in eggs bites so I'm going with just making a half of a recipe and use 3. 

Making half of a recipe is great for when you don't have quite enough ingredients or for a recipe you are just not sure of.  Ingredients are high and to throw a bad recipe away is a killer on your budget.  

Of course you want to make sure that you have enough for your family.  My recipe this morning will make enough breakfast for a family of 6 and we have 3 so cutting it in half will be perfect for us.  Actually, one person in our family probably will not eat this breakfast, so we will have some leftovers that I can freeze or use up this coming week.  Some mornings are busy, so looking in the fridge or freezer to find a breakfast already made just feels like a life saver. It can be a big budget saver too...buying take out egg bites just for one person, can be very expensive.

Making it:

My mind is made up to do this recipe this morning.  You know how you get a recipe in your head and you just have to make it?   Well, of course, I'm missing another ingredient, cottage cheese.  I have milk though and I just printed a make it yourself cottage cheese recipe. 

 


Using Substitutions:

Substituting can be great too.  Instead of bacon this recipe I'm going to use some of the leftover ham that we have from Christmas.  Husband will love this! 

This could be a great way to problem solve if you decide to do a No Spend January.  Learning how to make do and get what you want at the same time is a big part of that whole scenario.  Deprived is one thing you and your family don't want to feel like during that time.

Do you plan on a No Spend January this year?

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14 comments:

Cheryl Kimbley said...

I substitute in recipes all the time. Actually, other than baking, I rarely follow a recipe! I just wing it.

Belinda said...

We are not planning on a no spend January, but will still be very frugally minded as usual. Good plan to ration your eggs, and yes egg bits out at a restaurant are very expensive. I've made them at home here too and they do save money. Getting one egg a day would feel like a prize. I know I was always tickled to get eggs from our chickens.

I hope you have a great weekend, Vickie.

Vickie @Vickie's Kitchen and Garden said...

Cheryl, Substituing is a great money saver. Winging it can produce some great dinners -you just have to remember how you did it the last time everyone liked it ha ha
Have a Happy New Years!
Vickie

Vickie @Vickie's Kitchen and Garden said...

I'm not sure I'll do a no spend January either...just concentrate on being frugal like you are.
The egg bites were delicious and we have some leftover for future breakfasts!

Laura of Harvest Lane Cottage said...

I'm not planning a no spend January, but I don't buy much besides food anyway. I'm interested. How did the make it yourself cottage cheese come out?
Blessings from Harvest Lane Cottage,
Laura

Vickie @Vickie's Kitchen and Garden said...

Laura the cottage cheese came out perfect. The title was misleading though it definetly took longer than 15 minutes! It made a lot also so I'll have enough for many more recipes.
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and you have a wonderful New Year.
Vickie

Chef Owings said...

Doing a low spend Jan instead of a no spend Jan.
Especially in the grocery area as I need to buy plants for the gardens. Lost 6 patches of Strawberries due to blight.

Vickie @Vickie's Kitchen and Garden said...

Chef, so sorry to hear about your strawberries. Strawberries are one of our favorite berries so I understand completly. Can't wait for July and those strawberries!
Happy New Year
Vickie

Patricia B said...

Hi Vickie,
yes, we wil be doing a no spend Jan this year. It will give us opportunity to get creative with what we have in the pantry and pay off bills with the grocery budget we usually spend. Thats the plan at this time. We live rurally so shopping is a process at best.
our chickens took a break in October and have started laying again, Happy about that!

Mrs G said...

Happy New Year! Your post resonates with me. During 2020, I researched a lot of substitutions. Just recently, I was making pumpkin bread while visiting our son and family and couldn't find any baking powder. Son and I looked online and were able to make our own. I plan meals based on what we have. Since there are just two of us, I tend to either make smaller meals or freeze part for later. It's so nice to be able to pull something from the refrigerator or freezer and not have to cook again. I also enjoy creating my own recipes. Your comment about remembering your new recipes made me smile. That is so important. I have been known to make something everyone enjoyed without writing down what I did.

Vickie @Vickie's Kitchen and Garden said...

I imagine Patricia that shopping would be a little tough living rurally. Although that's something I always kind of wanted. You will have a lot of money I'm sure to pay off bills with the savings of not shopping.
I'm glad your chickens are back to laying (I'm jealous). We hardly have sun anymore and lots of rain/snow. I bought a battery light for the chicken coop and received it today...hope that might help them remember what to do!
Have a great New Year's day!

Vickie @Vickie's Kitchen and Garden said...

Mrs. G, I never knew you could make baking powder-what a life saver that was I bet!
Freezer meals are best that's for sure. Less work, less electricity/gas, and hardly any dishes..perfect in my books!
Yes, I need to remember to write down the good recipes. We were in a pinch one time as I was growing up and Mom just threw a bunch of good stuff out of the pantry and made dinner for the 7 of us. We loved it and we named the recipe "it." We would ask for "it" here and there but she never could remember "it" again. True story and I'll never forget that one. LOL

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