Saving money in the kitchen
- First, learn to shop around. Where do you get the best buys?
- Second, try not to buy cookware new! It’s a terrible waste of money. Scour thrift stores, the Salvation Army, etc. for cast-iron cookware. Give it a good scouring… if it’s especially dirty salt, baking soda, or even clean sand can be used. Then “cure” it by coating with cooking oil and putting it in a very low oven for a few hours. Wipe occasionally. Yes, it’s normal for the grease to look a bit dirty in coming off. After a few hours, wipe completely dry and put away.
- Don’t waste money on most household cleaning products. The only ones I’ve found of value are Lime-Away (we have awful stains if we don’t use it due to minerals in our water) and Murphy’s Oil Soap. Stock bleach, dish soap, vinegar, and baking soda. Also lemon and lavender essential oils!
- For basic kitchen/bathroom cleaning, use a small amount of vinegar mixed with just enough dish soap to suds, and a few drops of lemon oil. Spray on, wipe off.
- To clean the oven, saturate spills with vinegar and let sit. Scrub really bad spots with a bit of baking soda.
- Clean your microwave easily by heating 1/2 coffee cup vinegar until it boils, then wipe out the steam.
- Use 1/4 cup Murphy’s Oil Soap to a bucket of water to clean your floors. Add a few drops of lavender oil to make it smell nice!
- Just use a bit of bleach to clean your toilets. Watch out for pets!
- Vinegar and old newspapers make the best window cleaner. You can also use rubbing alcohol.
- Scent baking soda with essential oil and sprinkle on carpets. Leave for 15 minutes (or overnight), and vacuum up!
- Try to buy packages of meat that have “extras” - if there are four in your family, buy a package of six good-sized pork chops and cook them all. Cut up one of them in very tiny pieces and use it in quesadillas, or mix with mayo for sandwiches. Cut the other in small chunks and toss it into rice as it’s cooking. You could add onions, whole cumin, and frozen peas for a very tasty and fast meal!
- We’ve been eating a lot of turkey these days… we buy 1-lb rolls of it from Aldi’s for around 69 cents a package. It makes the BEST chili, is great to fry up and make a gravy with, all sorts of things! Best of all, it’s gluten-free (DO read labels if you’re celiac or wheat-allergic, many turkey items have gluten added!
- Don’t bother with kool-aid… it’s nasty, and it’s terrible for you. It’s a myth that children need to get their vitamin C from Kool-Aid. Feed them some fruit and vegetables, for heaven’s sake! And don’t bother with soda’s either, except for special occasions. We drink sweet tea or water with most meals. Sweet tea is very easy to make. For one gallon, bring water to boil in a small pot (it doesn’t really matter how much… just a small pot!). Turn off heat when it reaches a boil, and toss in five tea bags. You can use regular tea, or for a treat use four regular and one herbal. Peach, Raspberry, Blackberry, Orange, and Mint are all good. You can also toss in some mint from your garden. Or a cinnamon stick! Let it steep for a few minutes, until it’s nice and dark. Then put 1 cup of sugar (less, if you don’t like it so sweet) in a gallon pitcher, dump in the hot tea, and stir well. Fill to the top with cold water. Serve with mint or lemon.
