5 things that save pennies.

It is the mindset.   Save pennies, make dollars.   You would be surprised what can be made from those things that people normally would shove in the trash..

• Last week, we splurged and bought chicken wings for 1.00 a pound.   I say splurged because i had just paid the same amount for boneless, skinless chicken breast.   I cut the “drums” from the “thighs” and there was the wing left.   Not much meat there.   I threw them in a bag and put them in the “garbage “ door shelf of the freezer.   When I have enough chicken bones , I will make chicken stock overnight.   
• There are always scraps .   We wash the carrots and celery in vinegar water.   Vinegar is 4.26 a two gallon pack at costco.  The peelings and the tops and bottoms of the celery can be frozen and saved for stock.   Stock, when purchased can be 2.00 a quart.   Its a no brainier to dump saved chicken bones and veggie scraps into a slow cooker with water to within a inch of the top and let it go all night.   Pour it through a sieve or colander in the morning.  Let cool and freeze.  
• Freezing the pizza sauce in an ice cube tray and dumping the cubes into a quart bag is a good addition to the ‘garbage” door shelf.   That makes a pizza sauce (2 cubes ) for a medium sized pizza .20.   
• Anything that can go on a pizza that is left from another meal can be frozen for a pizza.   The smallest amount can be used .   A little sausage, peppers, ham cubes, mushrooms, chopped onion, anything you put on a pizza.   
• It goes without saying that you can use the heels of the bread or any extra hamburger or bot dog buns to make bread crumbs.   Put it through the food processer with a plastic blade and the children can make them.   Or, if you dont have a food processer, let the bread dry in the oven and grate it with a box grater.   I used to do that out on the deck with a sheet pan under the grater.   Again, bread crumbs are often 2.40 cents a pound.   There are better uses for your 2.40.
• The ‘juice’ that is left from draining the diced tomatoes can be used to flavor rice instead of the water.  Sometimes I also add some vegetable or chicken bouillon .   It s more flavor and maybe just a little nutrition .   
• Many cooks put a little pasta water in their sauces.   
• That little bit of peas and carrots in the frozen bag can be added to a cheeseburger macaroni cassarole....homemade.  
• I save the coarse salt that my daughter doesn’t use from their frozen pretzels. 
• Leftover cornbread can be the base for a chilli bowl. 
• Leftover black beans can make their way into a salad or hamburger used for enchaladas.  
• Leftovers dont have to be just the same thing heated up.  I cant tell you how many men are against eating leftovers.  I have heard it many times.   I suspect if they were the ones cooking and doing the cleanup, they might not be so opinionated .(hows that for being snarky LOL) but, reimagining a bit of leftover, can solve the problem.  
• Bits of cheese make their way into mac and cheese in our house. I stole that idea from a happy hour menu!LOL.  They are a rich source of ideas.  Flatbread comes to mind...and it doesn’t have to be burned and like a cracker.   
• We had two strawberries left from our fruit plate the other night.  I threw them in my oatmeal just before my husband go to them to throw in the garbage disposal.   “No food is going to do you any good if you are feeding it to the garbage disposal.  HHA  HA /!