Cheapo Alternatives

With the price of food so high these days, we've found a couple of cheaper alternatives to some staples:

1. Using skim milk powder when you are cooking with milk. ( ie for pancakes, cream soups) It virtually tastes the same as liquid milk after it's cooked. Though it does taste kind of funny when you are just drinking it.

2. Popping your own corn...a $2 bag of kernels and a >$20 air popper can produce a LOT of popcorn!!! We can make probably the equivalent of 10 bags of microwaveable popcorn. It's no-low fat as you control the amount of REAL butter you put in it...along with any other flavor powders.

3. Growing your own herbs can save you truckloads of money!!! We bought our basil plant for $5 three years ago and it has faithfully been producing fresh basil for us ever since! Better yet, you can propagate it easily by pinching the tops and putting it in water until it roots...You can also save green onion tips (the white, rooty end) and grow it hydroponically (how's that for a big word?) and harvest green onions for 2-3 times.

What else have you found?