Pantry Tip #3

Evaporated, Powdered, and Condensed Milk

You'll very seldomly find milk in our refrigerator anymore. We love granola and every once in a while we'll make some (recipe coming!) and spring for milk, but we discovered that oatmeal (yes, this recipe is coming, too!) is cheaper and just as good for us so we have switched to that or eggs and toast most mornings.

At first, even though I hated having milk sour before we went through it all, I couldn't let go and stop buying it. What if I wanted to bake something that called for milk? Or wanted to make cream-of-something soup? Or needed some for my coffee or tea?

Somewhere along the line I had an aha! moment and picked up a box of non-fat powdered milk to have on hand. So cheap and lasts for so long!!! You can control the consistency to match your recipe by adding more or less water. And the best thing about it in my opinion is that it can be added to other dry ingredients to add water to at a later date. Like for instance in my homade instant oatmeal or in the cafe mocha mix that I often gift for Christmas.

I just recently started experimenting with evaporated and condensed milk too. What's the difference, you ask? Well, the short and simple answer is that condensed milk is sweet - used almost exclusively for baked goods. Evaporated milk, however, is almost as versitile as powdered milk. The rule of thumb is 1/2 evap. milk, 1/2 water to substitute the canned stuff for the real stuff in recipes. As Carnation's website says, it's "the creamier milk" and "the slimmer cream."

While I have to admit I'm not a fan of drinking any of the above substitutes, they are invaluable assets to your pantry and your wallet. Do you have any milk tips? Send 'em my way!