Every Monday, I answer a few of the questions that my readers send me. If you have a question you’d like me to answer in a future Q&A post, just leave me a comment here or email me (thefrugalgirl [at] gmail [dot] com) and put Q&A in the subject line. I look forward to hearing from you!
To limit sweets eating do you only serve homemade treats (not processed cookies or candy, etc) and not every day and only with some meals? We eat healthy foods but sweets are our downfall. I love your blog. It is very helpful and uplifting to me! Thanks for taking the time and energy it takes to provide so much goodness to people. Your optimistic attitude is very helpful for me.
-Linda
I’m so glad my blog is encouraging to you!
I’m actually kind of a slacker when it comes to non-bread baking. My kids would love it if I made more home-baked desserts, but there are only so many hours in a day. 😉
I do sometimes make granola bars or energy balls for dessert, but otherwise my kids usually eat something like two Starburst candies, or a small piece of chocolate.
I’m mostly of the opinion that dessert is rarely healthy, so I focus more on portion control than on trying to come up with healthy desserts.
I’ve been trying to cut back on our grocery budget each month by using things up before they go bad and also only buying things I will actually use all of. I’ve noticed I seem to have a great deal of difficulty using things like half and half, whipping cream, etc. that I buy to use in specific recipes. I know about the buttermilk substitute of milk and vinegar but do you know of substitutes for any of the other kinds of dairy? I hate the idea of making something we won’t eat just to use the leftovers..that’s more wasteful that just throwing it out to begin with. Would love to hear any suggestions you might have!
Erin
I do tend to buy specific dairy products like buttermilk and half and half, because the substitutes never seem to be quite as good (especially buttermilk substitutes. There’s just nothing quite like real buttermilk). The good thing about dairy products is that I find them to be quite versatile, and so I rarely have trouble using them all up (as long as I’m paying attention!). If you become skilled at using up various dairy products, you won’t have to rely on inferior substitutes.
You can use buttermilk to make pancakes, waffles, or biscuits. If you have more than you can use right away, you can freeze the buttermilk, although it won’t be as thick when it thaws.
Half and half and whipping cream can be added to eggs when you scramble them, used in place of milk in baking recipes, or thrown into a smoothie (whipping cream takes yogurt/fruit smoothies to a whole new level!). Half and half and whipping cream can also be frozen.
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Readers, do you have any good substitutes to suggest to Erin? And if you’ve got a great way to use up things like half and half or buttermilk, I’d love for you to share it.
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Today’s 365 post: Who designs a pot with no holes in the bottom?
Joshua’s 365 post: Cool Cars
Anne
Thursday 15th of September 2011
I just keep a list of things I make with those ingredients so I can have a pre-brainstormed idea of how to use it up...including those pesky recipes that call for yolks or whites! I find that buttermilk lasts quite a bit beyond the date so I don't worry as much about that, and our default for cream is that it usually winds up in a pasta sauce or soup.
TracyDK
Tuesday 13th of September 2011
If you have extra cream lying around, just put it in a mason jar and shake it until it turns to butter. And you can even make herb butter and put it in the freezer. Or you can whip it into butter. It turns into butter JUST past the whipped cream stage. You'll see it start to separate. Might not make much, but it's really handy to have around.
jan
Tuesday 13th of September 2011
with buttermilk, mayo and herbs, you can whip up an excellent 'ranch dressing.' No chem, no packages, no bottles. (I don't like bottled ranch dressing myself)
Lisa
Wednesday 14th of September 2011
I do this too! Homemade ranch-style dressing is 100% better than the stuff in the bottle!
Jo's Country Junction
Tuesday 13th of September 2011
Here's a great recipe from my blog that I make with any fruit that needs to be used up. It's great with blueberries, peaches and rhubarb depending the season. I use half and half or cream interchangeably in the recipe.http://www.joscountryjunction.com/?p=4152
Cream soups is another great way to use it up.
SandyH
Monday 12th of September 2011
If you don't bake with buttermilk often, buy the very small size. At Walmart it's about 1.09. I do use a lot of it, as I bake a lot, and nothing makes cakes moister and pancakes more tender than buttermilk!
As was mentioned above, just purposely choose a recipe to use it if it's about to expire, and freeze the results if you're not using right away. Bonus! Freezer food!