Hi! As I get my new blog, FrugaliciousFood.com started up, let me begin by offering up a few budget suggestions that will enable you to still create “yummilicious” meals without spending your entire paycheck.
In this post, I want to talk about marinade ingredients since I make a LOT of marinades. And when I’m marinating a meat – say, chicken breast or a less expensive cut of beef – I’ll use a good amount of pineapple juice. BUT, if you are buying the juice in a can or bottle, you may have noticed that #1, pineapple juice can be pretty pricey, and then #2, you are left with excess juice that you may not necessarily want to drink. In other words, you may just use it for marinades, like I do.
If you have a super Walmart nearby, check their frozen juice section, because they oftentimes have FROZEN pineapple juice (for some reason, not all grocery stores in my area carry it, but Walmart does). It’s easy to spoon out what concentrate you need, it’s inexpensive, and you simply keep the remainder frozen until next time.
In general, if you can purchase frozen ingredients in bulk for your different recipes, you may find that it’s easier to maintain their freshness.
One thing I feel you should NEVER buy at a grocery store is items like cooking wines. They almost always have WAY too much sodium, and they are expensive. Instead, buy an inexpensive Marsala or Sweet Sherry at a liquor store. It is much less expensive, and it keeps fairly well in between recipes.