Frugalty "hacks" that worked for you?

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I’ve stopped buying glossy women’s magazines and instead, I go to the charity shop and buy a second hand book instead - much cheaper, lasts longer and doesn’t preach to me about how I am living my life ‘all wrong’ because I don’t spend hundred on beauty products every year 😃

We also eat a lot of offal, tripe and cheaper cuts of meat because cooked properly, they are delicious and cost so much less than steak, chicken breast etc.

I think our biggest ‘hack’ is just having a mindset that can differentiate between ‘want’ and ‘need’ 👍
 
Where did you get a 100 pack of tortillas for $2? Come to think of it, where did you get a 100 pack of tortillas?
I was thinking of that yesterday grocery shopping. A 20 pack of tortillas was 1:99. It was the Goya brand, which I like because they seem to be less expensive for beans and cookies and olive oil.

Also, 8 ounces of cheese divided into 72 quesadillas? I guess there were other add ins like beans?
 
I was thinking of that yesterday grocery shopping. A 20 pack of tortillas was 1:99. It was the Goya brand, which I like because they seem to be less expensive for beans and cookies and olive oil.

Also, 8 ounces of cheese divided into 72 quesadillas? I guess there were other add ins like beans?
I think you all might be looking at flour tortillas. We use corn tortillas. The tortillas I bought were not a specific brand that I know of. They were made and sold at a Mexican grocery store near where we used to live. Flour tortillas in a regular grocery tend to be larger, come in smaller packs, and cost more. Occasionally we use those to make a dessert but for “food”, we only use corn (my husband is from Veracruz). Even in a regular grocery, I’ve never seen a pack of corn tortilla without at least 12-36 depending on the store.

We don’t grate the cheese to make tortillas. We crumble it with the edge of a fork. Queso fresco crumbles very easily. If I’m feeling lazy I will just slice the cheese into thin slices, but it melts so much nicer when crumbled. My recipe for those particular quesadillas is as follows:

One large yellow squash or two smaller ones (can sub. with zucchini or chayote), diced
Three or more squash/pumpkin flowers if available. Can omit or add more squash instead
One can of mushrooms or fresh mushrooms.
Half an onion,diced
Cilantro, minced
Salt and pepper to taste

Sautée these ingredients in a skillet until soft. Set aside
Lightly oil a large skillet or grill. While skillet is heating over medium-low heat, crumble cheese if needed. Add tortillas to griddle (mine holds 6 at a time), put a small spoon of squash mixture on one side, sprinkle crumbled cheese on top of the squash, fold tortillas in half. Cook until tortillas slightly browns, flip, cook until that side is slightly browned.

You can make quesadillas with canned beans easily, or just about any way you want. They are a very adjustable food that you don’t really need any particular ingredients to make work. Just tortillas, cheese of some sort, and imagination.

I’ve noticed many people here over stuff the tortillas, but in Veracruz quesadillas and cheese tostadas are very thin. They are meant to be finger foods and not messy at all. They were invented to stretch the food out and they are quite good for that. Rarely do we add meat to quesadillas, but if we do, it is leftover from something else and very small amounts. My husband loves chorizo con papas, though. At least once every couple of months I fix quesadillas with the leftovers. Those are everyone’s favorite quesadillas.
 
Do you have a recipe you can share? That sounds good.
This is my favorite:

1 cup dry milk
1/2 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
4 tsp cinnamon
Cayenne pepper to taste (I probably do about 1/8 tsp)

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and stir until well-blended.

It makes about 4 servings - one half cup of mix per cup. When using for a gift I’d just put in a pretty bag with ribbon. 🙂
 
Anyone know a good healthy substitute for pasta? I have a lot of pasta dishes (it’s cheap), but I’m trying to back off on the whole white bread thing.
 
Anyone know a good healthy substitute for pasta? I have a lot of pasta dishes (it’s cheap), but I’m trying to back off on the whole white bread thing.
I use cauliflower - a lot of people like it riced, but I prefer it in chunks. There’s also zucchini spiral cut into “noodles.” I’ve never bothered with that; again, I prefer chunks or slices. You can find instructions/recipes for both on-line.
 
I use cauliflower - a lot of people like it riced, but I prefer it in chunks. There’s also zucchini spiral cut into “noodles.” I’ve never bothered with that; again, I prefer chunks or slices. You can find instructions/recipes for both on-line.
Cauliflower works well. Roasted vegetables in general are pretty good substitutes. Spaghetti squash is a favorite pasta substitute for my kids. One of my daughters never eats spaghetti noodles. She puts her spaghetti sauce on green beans instead. Brown rice, quinoa, couscous and nearly any other grain are decent substitutes. Garbanzo beans work for many dishes as well.

Pasta is a good meal stretcher though. Even switching to the more expensive whole grain pastas are cheaper than many other meal ideas. I still find it is less expensive to fill up on vegetables though. Healthier too. Start your meal with vegetables or salad, or even fruit, then eat the pasta or meat or whatever the main course is that preferably also contains legumes and vegetables, and finish up with some sort of treat like fruit. Many dietitians recommend that a meal should consist of a plate that is 1/2-3/4 vegetables/fruit, 1/4 grains, and 1/4 protein. Legumes are both a vegetable and a protein so it’s very possible to make a meal that is 3/4 vegetable while still hitting the other values.
 
Anyone know a good healthy substitute for pasta? I have a lot of pasta dishes (it’s cheap), but I’m trying to back off on the whole white bread thing.
Trader Joe has riced cauliflower both fresh and frozen. I use it in the place of pasta and rice sometimes.
 
Anyone know a good healthy substitute for pasta? I have a lot of pasta dishes (it’s cheap), but I’m trying to back off on the whole white bread thing.
Spaghetti squash!!!

Very mild in flavor, holds sauce well (particularly red sauce), and almost no calories. I haven’t made regular pasta in more than three years!
 
Cauliflower is hatred given the form of a vegetable.
Funny!

You should read the Honest Toddler’s book sometime–he/she also has strong feelings on the subject of cauliflower, especially cauliflower used as a substitute for tastier food products.
 
Funny!

You should read the Honest Toddler’s book sometime–he/she also has strong feelings on the subject of cauliflower, especially cauliflower used as a substitute for tastier food products.
Yes! I deleted what I typed about substitutions. My mom and aunt conspired to get me to try a slice of apple pie and I knew something was up. Why were they trying to convince me to try something I already liked.:hmmm: It was made with zucchini!!! :mad: Now I have trust issues and any substitutions such as cauliflower for mashed potatoes are blasphemy. Why a mother of a child that was already a very finicky eater would do that is beyond me. They thought it was funny but I’m not being cute when I say trust issues.
 
Spaghetti squash!!!

Very mild in flavor, holds sauce well (particularly red sauce), and almost no calories. I haven’t made regular pasta in more than three years!
Spaghetti squash is great. A spiralizer (whatever they’re called) is great as well. You can turn zucchini and summer squash into noodles. It’s not as economical as pasta but it’s a great substitute. We have friends and family who usually grow tons of zucchini in their garden and most years we end up with a ton of their extras. Nobody grew zucchini this year. 😦
 
Cauliflower is hatred given the form of a vegetable.
That’s what I used to think. As a very small child I had an unfortunate encounter with it that kept me from eating it for years. I was in my 20s when my mother insisted I try it the “new” way - steamed with cheese melted over it. Fell in love with it. For a long time that was the only way I’d eat it, but eventually learned to like it all sorts of ways - but NEVER boiled. 😃

Added - my favorite way to cook cauliflower - almost any veg really - is to slice it & sauté it in lots of butter.
 
Another thing that I just thought of, is for those that want to substitute, and that is replacing eggs in your recipes, if you want/need to do that.

I had a friend who is a vegan who used to bake for us, and she told me how she substituted the eggs in her recipes with applesauce.

You can also use applesauce to substitute the oil called for in a recipe, too, when baking.

Everything that she baked was really moist and delicious. I wouldn’t have even noticed the difference, if she hadn’t told me.

Here is a link to a website that shows you how you can use different substitutions:

chefinyou.com/articles/egg-substitutes-cooking/
 
I think that while certainly more frugal than red meat, the affordability (or lack thereof) of fresh fruits and vegetables really does depend a lot on where you live.

Sadly, not everyone is fortunate enough to have friends with gardens or even one yourself; or have access to a farmer’s market (that isn’t so trendy as to be overpriced); or near an ethnic food market (I’ve noticed that such markets, whether Korean, Chinese, or Indian, Caribbean, etc., tend to have cheaper produce than a generic American supermarket).

I agree with Gordon Sims that I don’t find “zoodles” or spaghetti squash to really be economical as a pasta substitute, at least not year-round. Zucchini is pretty cheap in August, but not as much in December. Especially if you buy generic “house brand” pasta at a supermarket. I can buy a one pound box for as little as 50 cents if I buy when they’re on sale, and certainly they keep for eons.

That being said I certainly understand people using vegetable “noodles” as a healthier substitute for pasta, or cauliflower “rice” as a healthier rice substitute. I personally find the only such “noodle” I can tolerate as a total replacement for pasta in a dish is butternut squash. Surprisingly filling. I do load up pasta dishes with vegetables though, usually 1/2 to 2/3 of my pasta dishes wind up being vegetables, not pasta.

As for “cauliflower rice” I really haven’t been too impressed with the concept. I usually like Trader Joe takes on foodie trends, I found their “rice” had too many stems in it to really be palatable. On the other hand I do like their “broccoli slaw” made from broccoli stems.

I like to make lo mein (I live near an Asian market so I can buy authentic noodles on the cheap) and really load it up with vegetables, and the broccoli slaw works very well there, though not as cheap as regular cole slaw, which I can buy for 99 cents for a 1 pound bag. That is about the same price as what I’d pay per pound for unprocessed cabbage, and I don’t have to throw away the core and dirty outer leaves. (I do buy whole cabbage if it’s on sale though, it can get as low as 59 cents a pound around St Patrick’s day).

Also, a “diet hack” that I have found works well is to use “salad plates” not “dinner plates” to serve food. Apparently when people see a plate full of food they already subconsciously expect to feel completely full after finishing the plate, and it usually works for me. Once in a while I will get seconds.
 
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