c/frugal-cooking-tips

Overheard someone at the grocery store say they freeze leftover tomato paste in ice cube trays and it clicked for me

I always threw half a can of tomato paste in the trash because a recipe never uses the whole thing. Then last Tuesday I was standing in the pasta aisle and this older lady told her friend she scoops it into teaspoon portions in a silicone tray and pops them out. Cost me like $3 for a tray at the dollar store. Now I got 12 little cubes ready for my next chili. Anyone else got a stupid simple trick for something that always goes bad before you finish it?

Always bought canned tomatoes until a buddy showed me you can freeze whole ones from the farmers market for $1 a pound

Grabbed a 20 pound box for $12 last August and I'm still pulling out perfect tomatoes for chili and sauce in February, has anyone else tried freezing instead of canning?

Bought a fancy olive oil and it went bad in 2 months

Ngl I spent $18 on this nice cold-pressed stuff from a local shop thinking it would last forever. It turned rancid after 2 months sitting in my cabinet by the stove. Any tips on storing oil so it doesn't waste my money like that?

Overheard a guy at the grocery store say he freezes his leftover tomato paste

I used to throw away half a can of tomato paste every time I made chili or sauce. This older dude was telling his friend he scoops it into tablespoon portions on wax paper, freezes them solid, then tosses the little disks into a bag. That one tip probably saves me $15 a year easy since I was buying new paste every single time. I tried it last Sunday with a 79 cent can and it worked perfect. No more wasted paste or hunting for recipes to use it up. Anybody else got small hacks like this that add up without much effort?

Ruined a batch of chili because I skipped one step

I was making my usual cheap chili last Tuesday in my tiny kitchen. Threw in canned tomatoes, beans, and some ground beef I got on sale. Forgot to drain and rinse the kidney beans first. The whole pot turned into a murky, starchy mess and took forever to thicken up. Has anyone else had a simple skip like that ruin a whole meal?

Can we talk about buying cheap spices in bulk?

I grabbed a big bag of cumin from the international market for $4 last month and it actually tastes way stronger than the tiny jar I used to get for $3 at the regular store. The savings are real but now I have more cumin than I can use before it goes stale. Anyone got recipes that go heavy on cumin so I don't waste the rest?

Asked my neighbor for an egg and got a 20 minute lecture on free range chickens

I knocked on her door Sunday morning to borrow one egg for a recipe, and she spent 20 minutes explaining how her chickens are named after dead rock stars and eat special organic feed that costs $12 a bag. Has anyone else had their cheap meal plan derailed by a well-meaning neighbor with strong opinions?

Finally compared store brand beans vs. name brand in my chili...

I did a side by side with a $1.50 can of store brand pinto beans and the $3.50 brand name, and honestly the cheaper ones held up way better after simmering for 20 minutes. Has anyone else found a specific store brand ingredient that beats the expensive stuff?

I nearly lost $40 in ground beef last Tuesday

I bought a family pack of ground beef on Monday and threw it straight into the fridge without checking the temp. By Tuesday night it smelled off and I had to toss the whole thing. Anyone else ever ruin meat by not getting it cold fast enough?

My grandma's 'depression soup' recipe I ignored for 15 years

My grandma always talked about this soup she made during the 70s with just water, a ham bone, and whatever vegetables were on sale. I always thought it sounded gross and bland so I never tried it. Last winter I had $12 left before payday and a half-used bag of lentils in the cupboard. I threw everything in a pot with that ham bone and some frozen mixed veggies and it was actually filling and tasty. Has anyone else discovered a passed over recipe from an older relative that surprised them?

Three months of meal prepping saved me $240 on lunches alone

My neighbor Joyce showed me how to save $6 a week on veggies

I was complaining about how fast my spinach goes bad and she just looked at me and said 'put a dry paper towel in the bag, it soaks up the moisture.' Tried it last Monday and my greens last a full 5 days longer now. Anyone else have a simple tip that changed how they store produce?

Found a $3 cast iron skillet at a garage sale last Saturday and it changed my meal prep completely

I used to burn everything in cheap non-stick pans and kept buying new ones every few months. This old skillet cleaned up with just salt and oil, and now I cook all my chicken and veggies for the week in one go. Anyone else had luck finding cheap cast iron secondhand?

My aunt told me to freeze leftover tomato paste in ice cube trays

She swore by it for years but I thought it was silly. Last month I had half a can of paste and decided to try it. Now I have 6 little cubes in a bag in my freezer. Used one for a chili last week and it worked perfect. No more throwing away half-used cans or buying tiny tubes for triple the price. Does anyone else do this or have other tricks for saving small amounts of ingredients?

Old guy at the firehouse showed me his bean recipe

He told me to soak dry beans overnight, then cook them with a bay leaf and a ham hock. Cost him like $4 for a pot that fed 4 people for 3 days. Anyone else got a good trick for stretching beans further?

My neighbor showed me a trick with leftover veggie scraps that blew my mind

I was chatting with my neighbor Sarah last weekend while we were both out in our yards. She saw me tossing carrot peels and onion skins into the trash and stopped me right there. She showed me how she throws all that stuff into a big freezer bag instead. Once the bag is full, she boils the scraps with some salt and bay leaves to make her own veggie broth. I tried it myself on Monday with a bag I had been saving for a week. The broth came out way tastier than the store bought kind and it cost me basically nothing. Has anyone else tried making broth from scraps like this? What combinations work best for you?

Had a lentil soup disaster last Tuesday... my $3 dinner turned into a salty mess.

Hot take: I always thought making my own veggie broth was a waste of time until my pot of beans in my Chicago apartment boiled over and left me with a salty, burnt mess.

Honestly, I just added a bunch of carrot peels, onion skins, and celery ends I had saved in the freezer to the pot with fresh water, simmered it for an hour, and it saved the whole batch, so has anyone else rescued a meal with kitchen scraps?

My wife convinced me to try making our own yogurt in a cooler, and it actually worked

I was sure it would fail, but after leaving a jar of milk and a spoonful of store-bought yogurt in a warm cooler overnight, we had a perfect quart for about $1.50. Anyone else have weird DIY kitchen tricks that actually save cash?

I spent $40 on a big bag of dried chickpeas and my friends think I'm nuts

Everyone says canned beans are the cheap way to go, but I bought a 10-pound bag of dried ones for about forty bucks. It takes a bit of planning to soak them, but the texture is way better and the cost per meal is way lower. I've made hummus, stews, and even roasted snacks for months now from that one bag. Has anyone else found that a bigger upfront cost on a staple actually saved them more in the long run?

My friend said my bean soup looked like dishwater

He came over last Tuesday and saw my big pot of white bean and kale soup simmering. He just stared at it and said, 'Dude, that looks like the water after you wash a pan full of grease.' I was a little hurt, but he had a point. Now I always add a spoonful of tomato paste or paprika for color, and it tastes better too. What's the weirdest cooking feedback you've ever gotten?

Just hit 30 days of cooking every single meal at home

I added up the grocery receipts and it was $127 less than my usual takeout budget for a month. Has anyone else been shocked by how much they save by just not ordering in?

I keep seeing people throw away the green parts of leeks and it's such a waste of good food.

Bought a big bag of dried chickpeas on a whim and it's been a game changer

I saw a 5-pound bag for about $6 at the discount grocery and figured why not... I've been soaking a cup overnight and then cooking them in my slow cooker while I'm at work. It makes enough for a whole week of lunches, like hummus or just tossing them in a salad. The cost per meal is pennies compared to buying canned. I'm honestly surprised I didn't try this sooner. What other dried beans are worth the extra prep time?

I just fed my family of four for a whole week on $47 and the grocery receipt felt like a trophy.

It started with a huge batch of bean and rice burritos using dried beans and a $1.50 bag of rice, and honestly, who knew a cheap bag of potatoes could stretch so far into different meals?