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Tuesday, November 15, 2022

Your Favorite Kitchen Tools for Saving $$

Cooking at home is one of the most accessible money saving activities for any household. Whatever you skill level in cooking, preparing foods at home instead of eating out saves money. 

We all have our favorite kitchen tools, some of which help us save food/money more than others.

What are your favorite money-saving kitchen tools and how do they help you save?

Here are 3 of mine:
  • rubber spatula -- I can usually get about a quarter to a half a portion out of a bowl or jar by scraping it well. I have 6 rubber spatulas and at least half of them are used each day. If I save a partial portion of two or three foods every day, that adds up to about 365 bonus portions of random foods by the end of a year. Little bits add up. And spatulas are inexpensive tools for making that happen.
  • my freezer -- I would have no place to store all of the beautiful free blackberries we forage each summer without my freezer. I also stock up of foods when on sale and keep in the freezer, plus I freeze surplus produce from the garden. On the pro side -- freezers can save a lot of money, but on the con side -- they cost a lot up front. Fortunately, most stand alone freezers continue to run for many, many years, even decades.
  • an extra-large, shallow bowl -- I used this bowl to mix and knead dough for our homemade sandwich bread for many years. This bowl is larger than my largest mixing bowl, so large that I was able to go from mixing the dough for 2 loaves of bread at a time to 4 loaves of bread. It was a game-changer for me, as I didn't have to bake bread as often, and I could bake more at one time, using less electricity for the oven. We still use this bowl for mixing extra-large batches of a lot of foods. I originally bought it at Target for about $7. It was one of those bargains that pay for themselves quickly.
How about you? What are some of your favorite money-saving kitchen tools?

29 comments:

  1. I use knives everyday for something as well as a kitchen scissors. Cookware is another thing I cannot do without. Spatulas are top for me as well to scrape out everything from a near empty bottle. (I also spatulas for near empty bottles of body lotion). I do love my instant pot (both of them) and my kitchenaid and use them often but I could do without if I had to but that would be a sad day. My deep freezer is also something I use everysingle day as well as my kitchen refrigerator/freezer. One thing I could do without is my dishwasher since I rarely use it.
    Alice

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    1. Hi Alice,
      I am still wondering about how much I would use an instant pot. I've thought about it a lot since your first mentioned it. Maybe someday.
      I use scissors in the kitchen a lot. My mom used kitchen scissors for cutting pizzas into slices.
      Thanks for your list.

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  2. Now you have me thinking. Along with rubber spatulas, I love my rubber scraper for bread dough, as well as my bench scraper--I use that for cutting straight lines on bar cookies as well as scraping. Upright freezer for food storage. Tongs--I find them easier to use than spatulas when cooking food like chicken on the stovetop. My list wouldn't be complete without my trusty crockpots. I use the hand mixer that I got cheaply as a young adult way more than my upright mixer that I inherited from my mom. Microwave. My cookware--when we got married, for some reason I didn't think to register for decent cookware and we continued to use our combined hodgepodge of pots and pans until my MIL decided that enough was enough and got us Cuisinart for Christmas one year. We also have inherited a lot of cast iron cookware and I use the medium size pan several times per week. I don't use kitchen scissors a lot but I keep regular scissors at hand to help me open packages of food. I also use clothespins as well as chip clips for closing all sorts of containers. Now you know some of my slightly odd kitchen secrets. :)

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    1. Hi Kris,
      How is your rubber scraper for bread dough different from your bench scraper? Is your bench scraper a straight metal blade mounted in a handle along the long edge? If it is, my sister-in-law uses one of those to clean up the counter mess after needing bread dough and making loaves. she also uses hers to divide the dough into loaf portions. My kitchen secret -- I've been married over 35 years and I'm still using a hodge dodge of cookware, some with missing handles, some with missing lids. I so badly want to have a nice set of cookware that looks "normal".

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    2. Here's a link for a bowl scraper. https://www.webstaurantstore.com/6-1-2-x-4-white-plastic-bowl-scraper/7145340.html It's basically a spatula without a handle. You have the right idea for the bench scraper and I use it for the same purpose as your SIL. I could get along without both of them but they do make baking and cleanup from baking a lot easier. When I make my no-knead bread, I use the bowl scraper to plop the bread dough onto the baking sheet from the bowl. You are supposed to avoid disturbing the dough very much and I feel like I have better control when I use that. I suppose I should also say that I like my Silpat silicone liner for my cookie sheet (I have another one from Aldi which was a lot cheaper than the Silpat and it works just as well). In addition to reducing the need to grease my pans, I find that it "grabs" my cookie dough and helps keep the dough from spreading out farther than I want it to.

      Delete
    3. Hi Kris,
      Thanks for the link. That bowl scraper looks like it would be great for transferring cake batter or quick bread batter to baking pans, in place of scrape, scrape, scraping a bowl with a rubber spatula.
      Good to know about Silpat liners and grabbing the dough.

      Delete
  3. Kris, our family has always used clothes pins in place of clip chips. My father always did this, and all of us have followed suit. I thought this was common until my millennial nephews informed me that our family was the only one they had ever observed using clothes pins in this way. Who knew? So we share in one of your "odd kitchen secrets". Lynn

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    1. Not only your family Lynn, but we use clip clothes pins for closing things, too. My mother used them for everything and you could always find one on most stands in her house.

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    2. Hi Lynn,
      We use various chip clips now, but I grew up in a household that didn't use any sort of clip for a bag (chips cereal, crackers). We just rolled the top of the bag down. Chip clips and using clothes pins as clips was a novel thing to me 10 years ago. Living somewhere mostly damp 9 months of the year, I have found using any sort of clip on bags keeps foods much fresher and crisper.

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    3. My clothes pins have come in handy when my kids have had outdoor band concerts. They are great for clipping sheet music to the music stands so the music doesn't blow away. Lili, my family also just rolled the bags up--I thought that was the normal thing to do for many years. I do have some chip clips but it seems like I never have enough and I don't feel like it's worth spending the money on more when I can use a clothespin and accomplish the same thing.

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  4. I also use spatulas to get out those last servings. I remember the author of the Tightwad Gazette mentioning this as a frugal "must do" and she was right, as Lili's math points out.

    I too love my crock pot. My DH is in charge of washing up dishes and he HATES to wash the crock pot. I have found myself of late using it serially. Yesterday I cooked a crockpot "rotisserie chicken". After I took the chicken out, I then put thawed broth into it along with vegetables to make chicken and rice soup. Before, I might have washed it in between, but decided there was no need for that. He was relieved that he only had to wash it once!

    I couldn't make it without my freezer. As others have said, it has my sale meats and veggies, frozen fruit I've picked, etc. I must confess that it sometimes becomes a jungle as it's a chest freezer. I have not come up with a good organizational system. I will inventory it but I need to be a bit more active in updating my list. Sometimes I'm not quite sure what all is in there, except that it is filled to the brim.

    I have an Instant Pot. I'm slowly gaining in confidence in using it, but not quite there yet. Do like it for cooking dried beans.

    Of late, I've used my small toaster oven more, in an attempt to save energy. With just the 2 of us, I can roast asparagus, potatoes, etc for a meal in it without heating up the oven. I also use my microwave to begin to soften peppers and onions, for instance, before finishing them off over a gas (propane) burner.

    I'm still using daily the Revere ware pots and pans I received as a wedding gift 44 years ago. My Corning ware is the same age and is used constantly as well. I have a cast iron Dutch oven that I use when I bake the rustic no-knead bread. It was my grandmother's. It brings me joy to use it. I'm not sure how old it is as I don't know when she got it, but my grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1962. Just knowing that her hands and my namesake great aunt's hands touched that same handle as me makes me smile :)

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    1. I still use cookware and bakeware that my husband and I purchased from an elderly lady who sold the contents of her home to us. We received appliances, cookware, bakeware, beds and so many other things for our new home as newlyweds. I don't have a lot of the items like appliances or beds (got rid of the last bed that was breaking about 2 years ago) anymore but I still use a lot of that stuff today. My favorite is an orange soup ladle that I used even today!

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    2. Hi Lynn,
      What a treasure you have with the Dutch oven. All of those years and all of those cooks.
      The last time we had to cut our spending drastically, I pulled out the toaster oven and used it daily. I may have to find space on the counter again for it. I agree, toaster ovens save a lot of electricity/money.

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  5. We got a set of stainless steel mixing bowls as a wedding gift that includes a very large bowl that comes in handy from time to time. We use the smaller bowls almost daily. We also are using the same crockpot we got as a wedding gift. I inherited my mother's pots and after 60 years they are in great shape. I am really happy to have them.

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    1. Hi Ward/June,
      You reminded me of a set of nesting bowls we've had for 35 years. I use all of the different sizes on a regular basis. What I like about having such choice in size is I can choose the size that most matches my need and don't have to take up space in the dishwasher with too big of bowls. I'm guessing this works out this way for you as well with your stainless steel bowls. There's something really homey and welcoming about a kitchen filled with tools and appliances that have stood the test of time.

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  6. My Instant Pot, All-Clad spatulas, and cast iron pans.

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    1. Yours is the third mention of instant pot in this list. I'm going to have to put more serious thought and research into this appliance. Thanks for your list.

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  7. My crackpots..plural. My various knives. My microwave and freezers. I, too, use clip clothespins to secure open bags...no need to spend on those fancy clippy things..lol!

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    1. Hi Linda,
      Good knives -- absolutely. I may not bake our bread if I didn't have a good knife for slicing it. Another clothes pin clipper. The other things about using clothes pins is they can do double duty. If you're hanging laundry and need just a couple more clips for the afternoon, you can "borrow" them from the pantry. I love tools that can serve more than one purpose.

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    2. Linda, plus I find that clothespins are far more durable than the plastic clip chips. The latter seem to break after a short while. I don't think I've ever purchased the clip chips, rather have been given them as promotional items.

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  8. Oh goodness...spellcheck...crock pots..not crackpots! Geez! Hope you all could laugh with me, please!

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    1. Linda, sometimes these errors provide much needed humor in our lives. I needed that laugh so badly today!

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  9. Instant Pot, toaster oven, immersion blender

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    1. Hi friend,
      I love my immersion blender, too. Also my smoothie blender (like a Magic Bullet), but I know a lot of folks don't have one of those (ours was from a free pile). And yes, another instant pot.

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  10. I discovered using clothespins from our DIL about 10 years ago, and since have adopted using it in our kitchen. Prior I bought bag clips duh! To cover bowls small and fairly wide, I use a product called "CoverMate by Touch" in place of plastic film wrap. It is a stretch to fit plastic cover (like a shower cap) that is washable and reusable. I don't think it is still sold but we use this daily, especially to cover wide or heaping tall sizes. It is more the convenience and ease rather than saving money because I use a lot of water to rinse out the caps. I bought a lot of these during a vacation, and based on our rate of use, we probably have enough for the rest of our lives.
    This past week we bought a new single serve coffeemaker from Walmart, called 'Insta Solo", the same company that makes Insta Pot. It is cheaper and better than the Keurig Supreme Plus that we bought from Costco a year ago. We were never happy with that purchase and tried everything to make it work, replacing the universal filter cup and descaling, but it still was undependable, at times water would leak out or w3 would find grains in our coffee. Costco refunded our purchase very graciously and even apologized. We have an Insta Pot (mainly to cook beans) so trusted the brand for another appliance. We now enjoy our coffee so much more.

    Have a good Thursday,
    Laura

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    1. Hi Laura,
      I read somewhere a tip to use those flimsy hotel shower caps as bowl covers. Your CoverMate sounds a little like that. That's funny about having a supply enough to last your lifetime. I feel like that about somethings I've bought/stocked up on.
      Good to know about the Insta Solo coffee maker. I'll keep that in mind if we ever take the plunge and buy a single cup coffee maker. Thanks for sharing.

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  11. My three things: rice cooker, electric kettle, and pocket knife sharpener.

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    1. Hi Koicollen,
      I do like electric kettles and have thought about buying one. When I've used them before they heated the water so quickly and seemed very efficient.
      I also would love a rice cooker, mostly so rice would turn out reliably well. I cook rice in a pot in the stove and my method is rather unreliable. Is the pocket knife sharpener to sharpen the pocket knife, or a pocket knife that has a blade sharpener on it?
      We keep a pocket knife in a drawer next to the sink because it has a can opener on it, the kind you have to punch in around the edges. A lot of can openers miss a length of the lid it seems, so I have to use the pocket knife to finish getting the lid off. So I should say this is a very, very useful tool (the pocket knife). I should check out some of the other features to see what else it can do.
      Thanks for your list.

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  12. Hi Lili, Our stove runs on propane so your statement about an electric kettle being more efficient is exactly why I love both the kettle and the rice cooker.
    The name of the sharpener is confusing. Sorry about that. It’s a pocket size knife sharpener with a handle so you can hold it steady on the countertop. The description on Amazon says pocket size but the pocket would have to be pretty large. For many years, I used a bulky electric sharpener and it took up valuable space in my kitchen cabinet. This one is roughly 6 inches long and fits nicely in a drawer.

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