How to Save Money in Your Kitchen

Check out the following kitchen tips, you may already be aware of some or all of them. This is reinforcement to help you pinch those pennies in the kitchen.

DISHWASHER

Do not run it unless it is full, it wastes water and electricity. Just rinse your dishes and put them in, takes only a few minutes. Now you are saving money not only on electricity and water, but the dishwasher detergent as well.

SELF-CLEANING OVEN

You need to use aluminum foil in the bottom if you have an electric range. With a gas range, do not put the foil on the bottom. Place it on the lower rack to catch the spills. Other wise you restrict the flow. Replacing the foil is much easier and much cheaper than running the cleaning cycle. Run the cleaning cycle only when necessary, think of the money you are saving.

COPPER AND BRASS CLEANER

Use baking soda, white vinegar and a little flour to thicken. This money saving tip came from my Mother, she had Paul Revere cookware, the ones with copper bottoms. She loved to have them hung up in her kitchen for display, but brass cleaner was expensive. She made up her own recipe for the cleaner and it works!! I know because I had to clean the pots.

Tomato ketchup can make your copper gleam better than an expensive polish, also. Simply mix ketchup and water in equal parts. Apply it to your copper with a soft cloth and wipe off.

UNCLOG DRAINS

Instead of buying Drano or other products, pour two cups of baking powder in a large pot of water. When it boils; pour down the clogged drain. It unclogs immediately.

BOWL COVERS

Shower caps from hotels, make great bowl covers. You can buy the quick covers as they are called, but why? When you travel, most hotels and motels provide you with the disposable shower caps. Tuck them in your suitcase and take them home to your kitchen. After you have used one, do not throw it away. A little dish detergent and water washes them well. Set them up to dry and reuse over and over.

ZIP LOCK BAGS

Zip lock bags; wash, rinse and reuse them. Another thrifty tip. With a little dish detergent, a good rinse, the bags are ready to be used over and over. Sometimes you have to turn them inside out to dry; you want them to stand up to drain well. The only time I do not reuse the bags is when I have stored meat in them. Too much chance for salmonella poisoning.

BANANAS

Old bananas freeze for making banana bread at a later date, leave the skins on and put them into a zip lock bag. When it is time to make banana bread, you want the bananas dark and mushy anyway. This is perfect, take the amount you need out of the freezer and let thaw for a few minutes, just enough to release the peel.

NUTS

Keep your nuts fresh by freezing them. Buying nuts is expensive, so don’t let them sit on the shelf and get rancid. If there is a re-sealable bag, then use it, otherwise place the nuts, package and all in a zip lock bag and put in the freezer, they will last indefinitely.

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Did you know you have some good flu fighters right in your kitchen?