Unbelievable hacks for tomato sauce and coconut milk
With everyone's grocery bills going up, I wanted to share some of my best kitchen ingredient hacks that are also very cost-saving.
Here's my personal grocery inflation experience: I buy a jar of tahini about once every 8 months. The last time I bought tahini (10-oz jar, organic, around August 2021) it was $5.99. This week tahini was $10.99 to $15.99 at the store, depending on whether it was organic or not. Yikes!
TOMATO PASTE, TOMATO SAUCE:
1 tbsp tomato paste + 1 cup hot water (or broth) = 8oz can tomato sauce
COCONUT MILK
Use HALF a can of full fat coconut milk, and replace the rest with water. Voila! = 2 cans of "light" coconut milk for the price of one!
NO WASTE BROTH
Keep a gallon bag in the freezer. Add veggie scraps. When it's full, make broth. (Boil all the scraps with 4-8 cups water, strain, add salt if desired).
NO WASTE KITCHEN CLEANER:
Mix orange or lemon peels with white vinegar for 2 weeks = zero waste cleaner
BREADCRUMBS:
Pulverize the heel or any stale bread in a blender to make bread crumbs.
It's also worth noting that the "ethnic/International foods" aisle tends to have ingredients at a lower price. For example spices, rice, and lentils, sold in this section of my supermarket are half the price compared to items in other sections.
If you have access to actual ethnic markets where you live (e.g. Asian supermarkets), you can find even better deals.
Of course, cooking at home and meal planning are still the top two best ways to save money--not only because they are cheaper than restaurant prices for the same meal but because you also avoid impulse buying or buying things you don't end up using.