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Monday, May 13, 2019

Finding Less-Expensive Substitutes


The substitute this time is for raisins. I've been buying a 4-lb bag of raisins for $9.37 each month. Now that we have rhubarb in abundance, I am making sweetened, dehydrated rhubarb bits. I have set aside some of May's raisins, to add back to the supply of available foods in June, and am encouraging the household to use these rhu-sins, instead. If this works out for my family, I will spare $9.37 from June's budget to use for other foods.

I posted about how I make rhu-sins back in 2013. Here's a link to that post, explaining how I do this.

The rhu-sins are great in oatmeal, granola, cookies, and salads, as well as snacking on as is. Basically, any place dried cranberries would go, rhu-sins can too.

10 comments:

  1. Rhu-sins sound so good! $9.37 would be a great savings for you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Kris,
      I'm working out my June shopping list this week, and if this works for us, that $9.37 will help a lot.

      Delete
  2. Do you have any problem with stringiness in the dried rhubarb?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi live and learn,
      stringiness, no. But it is fibrous, like other dried fruit. The bits of rhubarb were only about 1/4 to 1/2-inch chunks so any strings were limited to that length and not a problem, fortunately. Good question, though.

      Delete
  3. I really want to try this! I don't have a food dehydrator though.

    Alice

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Alice,
      Have you ever dehydrated in your oven? There are explanations for how to do this online. And some people have dehydrated fruit on trays in the cars, parked in the sun all day. Just some suggestions.

      Delete
  4. I'm all about substitutions too. I have never tried rhubarb, but this sounds like the right substitute for raisins. I've been tweaking our diet and looking for more healthful substitutes. I've replaced iced coffee in the afternoon for cold seep green tea, and husband's pork rinds for sunflower seeds. I'm also mindful about limiting meat and dairy, and adding beans and fish into our diet where ever I can, like adding lentil sprouts to our salads, and tofu and natto served just as plain side dishes daily. The goal is no more than ONE serving: 2-3 oz red/processed meat, 1c milk, OR 1 egg daily. I'm hoping to reverse our health problems before we are stricken with disease.

    YHF

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi YHF,
      You've found some good substitutions for you and your husband. How is he doing without his pork rinds? Sunflower seeds are yummy, and if you have to shell them yourself, it does slow down the snacking.

      With your lentil sprouts, do you sprout ordinary lentils from the grocery store, or do you buy special sprouting lentils. My concern is that regular lentils may not sprout, like they may be treated with heat to kill bugs or something. I don't know if this is true at all, just wondering what your experience has been.

      Delete
    2. I am using regular bagged lentils and they sprout just fine. So prolific, in a few days we have nice green sprouts to add to our toss salad.
      Husband sure misses all his unhealthy snacks, but I promised him it will get easier, the healthier he eats. We should have started in our 40s but it takes a health scare to change our habits. He is not out of the woods yet, and recurrence is always a possibility. I am hoping that by changing our diets, exercising daily, and finding a more positive attitude, we will have at least tried our best.

      YHF

      Delete
    3. Thanks, YHF. I've got some lentils soaking right now. I'll see how this goes. Yet another interesting food item to make with basic and ordinary ingredients.

      Delete

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