Question Of The Day, Sunday, July 15, 2018

[micknsnicks2mom]

good afternoon!

last week i went grocery shopping. i had yogurt on my list, plain yogurt in the 32 ounce containers. Aldi's didn't have any plain left, so i bought the vanilla flavored instead. for my current purposes, the vanilla will do fine, but i prefer to buy plain yogurt -- because it's able to be used in/for quite a few other things.

that has got me thinking about substitutions i use, because plain yogurt is something i use as a substitute for sour cream -- i rarely buy sour cream.

so for today's Question of the Day......



What (food) substitutions do you use? (can be anything -- using a different spice(s), using different nuts, even changing a recipe(s) to better suit your taste)



i'll start!

yup, i use plain yogurt instead of sour cream. i had thought i'd use some on the baked potato with chili over it meals i have planned coming up soon, but vanilla yogurt won't do for that....... it'll do fine with a little lemon filling mixed into it, and a little of it mixed into the apple crisp (cuts the sweetness a bit -- the crisp part, the topping can be too sweet for me).

i've also used white vinegar instead of sour cream in baking, specifically a very good pound cake recipe that i make occasionally.

i always use apple pie spice for recipes that call for that, but also for recipes that call for pumpkin pie spice. the spices are very similar, and the apple pie spice seems to work fine for me.

i like pretty much all nuts, but use walnuts almost exclusively. well, i also use peanuts, in some recipes. i'm not a particular fan of pecans, partly because they cost so much more than walnuts. the same holds true for almonds. so i substitute walnuts in recipes calling for other nuts, and i bake peanut pies instead of pecan pies.

another thing i do is to always cut down the amount of cumin called for in recipes. i'm just not a big fan of cumin.

and i only make half to two-thirds the amount of frosting when i make cakes. if it's a layer cake, i'll make 2/3rd's the amount. and if it's a sheet cake, or 9 x 13 cake, i'll make 1/2 the amount of frosting. that is, unless the cake is to be a gift -- then i'll make the amount of frosting the recipe calls for. for my personal taste, i prefer to taste the cake and the frosting equally.


How about you, what substitutions do you use?

 

[betsygee]

I do this a lot--it seems I'm always one ingredient short when I want to make something, and too lazy to run to the store.

Yesterday I was making pumpkin muffins. It called for pumpkin pie spice which I didn't have so I made up my own. That's an easy one if you've got cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.

I substitute my own vegetable broth mix for boxed or canned broth. That way, I only mix up the amount I need and don't end up with partial boxes of broth in the fridge that don't get used.

I've made buttermilk with lemon juice and milk, and a mix of white sugar and molasses instead of brown sugar.

I even made my own coconut milk once with unsweetened shredded coconut. I did have a slight mishap with that one, though. Seems I failed to secure the lid before I hit the mix button.

 

[Winchester]

betsygee That's funny! (Sorry, but yeah, it's funny.) Probably a real mess to clean up, too.

I use broth to saute meats and veggies instead of any kind of oil. I always have some kind of broth in the freezer and it's easy to thaw in the microwave. Healthier, too. I don't use salt when making my broths.

I sour milk with lemon juice, too, instead of using buttermilk (although, you know, you can always freeze leftover buttermilk).

For one ounce of unsweetened chocolate, use 3 tablespoons of cocoa and 1 tablespoon of shortening.

You can whip evaporated milk if you don't have any whipping cream.

 

[bodester413]

good afternoon!

last week i went grocery shopping. i had yogurt on my list, plain yogurt in the 32 ounce containers. Aldi's didn't have any plain left, so i bought the vanilla flavored instead. for my current purposes, the vanilla will do fine, but i prefer to buy plain yogurt -- because it's able to be used in/for quite a few other things.

that has got me thinking about substitutions i use, because plain yogurt is something i use as a substitute for sour cream -- i rarely buy sour cream.

so for today's Question of the Day......



What (food) substitutions do you use? (can be anything -- using a different spice(s), using different nuts, even changing a recipe(s) to better suit your taste)



i'll start!

yup, i use plain yogurt instead of sour cream. i had thought i'd use some on the baked potato with chili over it meals i have planned coming up soon, but vanilla yogurt won't do for that....... it'll do fine with a little lemon filling mixed into it, and a little of it mixed into the apple crisp (cuts the sweetness a bit -- the crisp part, the topping can be too sweet for me).

i've also used white vinegar instead of sour cream in baking, specifically a very good pound cake recipe that i make occasionally.

i always use apple pie spice for recipes that call for that, but also for recipes that call for pumpkin pie spice. the spices are very similar, and the apple pie spice seems to work fine for me.

i like pretty much all nuts, but use walnuts almost exclusively. well, i also use peanuts, in some recipes. i'm not a particular fan of pecans, partly because they cost so much more than walnuts. the same holds true for almonds. so i substitute walnuts in recipes calling for other nuts, and i bake peanut pies instead of pecan pies.

another thing i do is to always cut down the amount of cumin called for in recipes. i'm just not a big fan of cumin.

and i only make half to two-thirds the amount of frosting when i make cakes. if it's a layer cake, i'll make 2/3rd's the amount. and if it's a sheet cake, or 9 x 13 cake, i'll make 1/2 the amount of frosting. that is, unless the cake is to be a gift -- then i'll make the amount of frosting the recipe calls for. for my personal taste, i prefer to taste the cake and the frosting equally.


How about you, what substitutions do you use?

I'm going to try the yogurt in place of sour cream. I have a scone recipe that uses sour cream and there are times when I don't have the sour cream but do have yogurt. I've used maple syrup in place of white sugar in a crepe recipe a few times. Those came out fine. I've also used canola oil in place of butter in a biscuit recipe. The biscuits turned out ok , but definitely weren't the same without the butter taste. The texture was fine though. That kinda surprised me.

 

[MonaLyssa33]

Since I had weight loss surgery, I have to make sure I get enough protein, so I often use plain Greek yogurt for a lot of things like dips and other things that require sour cream.

When I eat cereal I use a drinking glass instead of a bowl because it's more portable so I can eat it in bed or on the couch without risk of spilling.

 

[Kieka]

We tend to cut the salt and sugar in most recipes. I more commonly combine elements of multiple recipes. I'll look up several of the same type and then take different parts from each in terms of seasoning and cooking time. I wouldn't try it with anything baked unless we are talking flavorings; but it works well for soups, dressings, marinades and stews.

 

[Blakeney Green]

I don't like mayonnaise, so I make things like egg salad with plain yogurt instead.

 

[betsygee]

betsygee That's funny! (Sorry, but yeah, it's funny.) Probably a real mess to clean up, too.

I use broth to saute meats and veggies instead of any kind of oil. I always have some kind of broth in the freezer and it's easy to thaw in the microwave. Healthier, too. I don't use salt when making my broths.

I sour milk with lemon juice, too, instead of using buttermilk (although, you know, you can always freeze leftover buttermilk).

For one ounce of unsweetened chocolate, use 3 tablespoons of cocoa and 1 tablespoon of shortening.

You can whip evaporated milk if you don't have any whipping cream.

I know. It scared me and then I had to laugh. And yes, I was cleaning up bits of coconut for days.

I didn’t know about the substitute for unsweetened chocolate! That’s useful.

 

[1 bruce 1]

Like Kieka , we cut sugar, usually in half for most baked goods because they're just "too sweet" for us!
I will often substitute vegetables for other vegetables I like, or omit them all together. When we make beef stew (good food for a cold, dreary fall day!), the recipe is a base and we usually end up omitting half the vegetables and adding in others. And adding more beef and potatoes, etc.

 

[muffy]

When I went vegan I used substitutions when I was still able to cook and bake. I used substitutions for sugar, butter, milk and eggs but I forgot what I used to use. I know one thing I used for baking was bananas in place of eggs.

 

[1 bruce 1]

Not really a substitution, but buttermilk will create the worlds MOST soft sugar cookies ever. If you like 'em crispy, this is not for you but buttermilk = soft sugar cookies that don't dry out. So delicious.

 

[raysmyheart]

When cooking, I tend to substitute salt for taste with either black pepper or a spice mix, herbs de Provence.

I try to only purchase one type of bread at a time these days, as I have experience wasting a lot of bread if I buy too many and I am cooking for just myself here. So, one type of bread will substitute for a variety of breads. If I buy pumpernickel, I will use it as hot dog and hamburger rolls, for toast, grilled cheese. It just saves mye from throwing away a lot of bread.

I tend to switch up vegetables a lot, for example in beef stew, I will often use what vegetables I have in the freezer and in spaghetti sauces, too.

 

[Winchester]

I didn’t know about the substitute for unsweetened chocolate! That’s useful.

betsygee Using cocoa for the unsweetened chocolate works well....I've done it several times. My MIL taught me that an emergency is the only excuse for substitutions. However, as I got older, I learned to pooh-pooh that. I'll try anything once!

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

I do this a lot--it seems I'm always one ingredient short when I want to make something, and too lazy to run to the store.

Yesterday I was making pumpkin muffins. It called for pumpkin pie spice which I didn't have so I made up my own. That's an easy one if you've got cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.

I substitute my own vegetable broth mix for boxed or canned broth. That way, I only mix up the amount I need and don't end up with partial boxes of broth in the fridge that don't get used.

I've made buttermilk with lemon juice and milk, and a mix of white sugar and molasses instead of brown sugar.

I even made my own coconut milk once with unsweetened shredded coconut. I did have a slight mishap with that one, though. Seems I failed to secure the lid before I hit the mix button.

View attachment 242269

you substitute ingredients quite often!!! that's great!!

last fall, when i made my yearly baking supplies purchases, i just bought plain white sugar and 'baking' molasses (1 gallon). i'll use those to make brown sugar -- 1 tbsp molasses to 1 cup white sugar for light brown sugar, and 2 tbsp molasses to 1 cup white sugar for dark brown sugar. i had been buying brown sugar, but i found that it hardened (though it can be microwaved carefully to soften it). i decided that i'd rather mix white sugar and molasses together, as i need the brown sugar. plus, buying the white sugar on sale, and the molasses in bulk costs less for me, than buying brown sugar.

oh my!! the last time that happened here was when i was using the hand held mixer for some carob cake batter...and lifted it out of the batter -- forgetting to turn it off first. there were spatters of cake batter all over the place!

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

betsygee That's funny! (Sorry, but yeah, it's funny.) Probably a real mess to clean up, too.

I use broth to saute meats and veggies instead of any kind of oil. I always have some kind of broth in the freezer and it's easy to thaw in the microwave. Healthier, too. I don't use salt when making my broths.

I sour milk with lemon juice, too, instead of using buttermilk (although, you know, you can always freeze leftover buttermilk).

For one ounce of unsweetened chocolate, use 3 tablespoons of cocoa and 1 tablespoon of shortening.

You can whip evaporated milk if you don't have any whipping cream.

you use very interesting substitutions!!! most wonderful!!

and you reminded me that it's not plain white vinegar that i use as a substitute for sour cream (in the pound cake recipe) , it's actually milk and white vinegar mixed together that i use as a substitute for buttermilk, which is a substitute for sour cream.

i really like that substitute for unsweetened chocolate! i think that would work well using carob powder and shortening too.

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

I'm going to try the yogurt in place of sour cream. I have a scone recipe that uses sour cream and there are times when I don't have the sour cream but do have yogurt. I've used maple syrup in place of white sugar in a crepe recipe a few times. Those came out fine. I've also used canola oil in place of butter in a biscuit recipe. The biscuits turned out ok , but definitely weren't the same without the butter taste. The texture was fine though. That kinda surprised me.

you sometimes use substitutions!!! very nice!!

i've never had a problem when i've used yogurt instead of sour cream in recipes.

that's interesting!! using maple syrup in place of white sugar in a recipe. and it's good to know that oil can be used in place of butter in recipes, though at the sacrifice of the butter flavor!

which reminds me that i almost always substitute half of the oil in recipes for baked items, with applesauce. that's a pretty well known substitution.

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

Since I had weight loss surgery, I have to make sure I get enough protein, so I often use plain Greek yogurt for a lot of things like dips and other things that require sour cream.

When I eat cereal I use a drinking glass instead of a bowl because it's more portable so I can eat it in bed or on the couch without risk of spilling.

you use plain Greek yogurt as a substitute for sour cream, and use a drinking glass instead of a bowl for cereal!!! awesome!!

i really like that idea, for cereal!

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

We tend to cut the salt and sugar in most recipes. I more commonly combine elements of multiple recipes. I'll look up several of the same type and then take different parts from each in terms of seasoning and cooking time. I wouldn't try it with anything baked unless we are talking flavorings; but it works well for soups, dressings, marinades and stews.

you cut the salt and sugar in most recipes, and combine elements of multiple recipes!!! most excellent!!

it's taken me many years to get to the point where i'm comfortable combining elements of two or more recipes, but i do feel pretty comfortable doing so these days.

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

I don't like mayonnaise, so I make things like egg salad with plain yogurt instead.

you substitute yogurt instead of mayonnaise!!! that sounds great!!

i've never tried using plain yogurt instead of mayo. that sounds interesting!!

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

Like Kieka , we cut sugar, usually in half for most baked goods because they're just "too sweet" for us!
I will often substitute vegetables for other vegetables I like, or omit them all together. When we make beef stew (good food for a cold, dreary fall day!), the recipe is a base and we usually end up omitting half the vegetables and adding in others. And adding more beef and potatoes, etc.

you cut the sugar for most baked goods, and will substitute vegetables or omit them!!! very nice!!

i cut the sugary frosting when i make cakes, either making half to two-thirds of the frosting called for in the recipe, or using no frosting and instead simply dusting the cake with a little confectioners sugar. i don't like the sweet frosting to overpower the cake's flavor.

Not really a substitution, but buttermilk will create the worlds MOST soft sugar cookies ever. If you like 'em crispy, this is not for you but buttermilk = soft sugar cookies that don't dry out. So delicious.

wow! thank you for mentioning that.