Save Money on Butterby Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 21 Feb 2008 09:36 AM Butter can be one of the most expensive staples in the refrigerator. we tend to use a lot of butter in our household, so much so that we have labeled ourselves the "Buttertons," just as in that margarine commercial. We eat pretty healthy elsewhere and are of a good weight, so I am not yet too concerned about the extra fat and calories of butter. I am concerned, however, at the increasing cost of butter. So here are some ways I am trying to save on butter. The first and most obvious way to save on butter is to use less of it. I seldom cook with butter, usually using olive oil instead. While olive oil isn't exactly cheap, per use it is less expensive than using butter. I also have made a change on how I add butter to vegetables or casseroles. Instead of carving off tablespoons to place on top of dishes, I use my cheese grater to grate the butter on top. This gives a nice even coverage on the dish, and we use so much less better this way. Whipping the butter helps it stretch when using it to spread on bread or toast. Those great whipped butters in the store get you two ways: one because they are more expensive than regular butter and two because you are getting as much air as butter. Whip it yourself instead. Try whipping it with olive oil to stretch it even more and give it a nice spreadable consistency. I look for sales on butter. They occur quite often, but some sales are better than others. Buy one get one free is always a good deal. The second best sale is two for $4. I have seen other sales such as 2 for $5 or 2 for $6, and I try to avoid those. When butter is cheap, I stock up and freeze it. Another way to save on butter is by using margarine or a spread, which in general, is less expensive. My family tends to get bad reactions from margarine, so this isn't always the best way for me to save. Do you have any money saving ideas for butter? Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here. Related Articles: Is Your Food Bill Too High? Three Quick Tests Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevantfrugal tags User Comments MegfromAllAboutAppearances (330) 21 Feb 2008 10:33 AMDo you have a breadmachine? I've heard that you can make butter with them, and some even advertise that you can. I haven't tried yet, but I plan to. I just got a breadmachine yesterday from a fellow freecycler. Also, make sure that you aren't using olive oil at high temps. That's not healthy.  Mary Ann Romans (26886) 21 Feb 2008 10:55 AMI haven't heard about making butter in a bread machine, tell me more!  deedee1231 (4030) 21 Feb 2008 05:37 PMMy Mom's bread machine has a butter churn setting on it, but you can still make butter in a machine that doesn't have a butter setting--you just have to make sure you take it out after it mixes and before it begins to bake. All you put in the machine is about 1 cup of very cold heavy cream or heavy whipping cream, and just let it mix...and mix. After about 30 minutes of mixing, you will be left with about 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup of buttermilk. You can save the buttermilk or just dump it down the sink if you wont use it, but then you will need to rinse the butter with ice cold water a couple of times to get all of the buttermilk off the butter. Then you flavor it with 1/4 tsp salt or herbs and use it or use it plain! jonesx6 (1606) 21 Feb 2008 07:32 PMHey with the snow and ice coming I may try to make butter in my bread mchine tomorrow. You can use the buttermilk for pancakes or freeze and it thaws out nicely. Aldi's has butter for a few pennies over $2, not bad. I try and buy several at a time. Laura MegfromAllAboutAppearances (330) 22 Feb 2008 12:12 AMIt may be only certain machines that have the feature, but I was looking at this one that does. The one I just got from freecycling is from another company, and there's no mention of butter in the manual or online as far as I can tell. I'd love to know if there are any recipes out there that don't take a specific machine program. In the meantime, if you have a Toastmaster, this recipe may help: http://www.recipelink.com/mf/2/8450 MegfromAllAboutAppearances (330) 22 Feb 2008 12:13 AMThanks deedee! Mary Ann Romans (26886) 22 Feb 2008 05:07 AMI would love having the buttermilk. This sounds like a great idea. My machine makes jam and dough, so I wonder if one of those settings would work. Has anyone figured out the cost of making the butter and buttermilk versus buying it? Community Tags butter, frugal, Food, thrifty Discuss this article
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