Sometimes the best frugal ideas are not about what you plan to do, but rather what you do to use what you have in an unexpected way.
Last night I made homemade Mac ‘n Cheese for dinner. Although it was already loaded with carbs (albeit whole wheat ones-I used ww noodles), I really felt that it needed something bread-like to compliment the veggies I had chosen as a side. Of course I decided this barely 2 hours before dinner needed to be on the table, so there wasn’t enough time to make a loaf of regular bread in the breadmaker. I didn’t feel like having biscuits-I wanted something with a bit of a crust. Why, I don’t know, I just did. I’m the cook, I get to decided these things.
So I pulled out my trusty “Beer Bread” recipe. This (and biscuits) is my standby when I have failed to plan ahead and need a bread for dinner. Beer Bread isn’t a yeast bread, it’s a quick bread with a somewhat heavy texture that is between a biscuit and a muffin in texture-savory not sweet. Baking powder and the carbonation from beer (or a soda) to make it rise. You mix it, let it rise for 20 min and then bake for about 40. It’s a very flexible recipe-you can add different herbs, cheese, or even bacon bits to fancy it up.
Now we get to the creative part of this endeavor. We have beer downstairs-Yankee Bill enjoys one now and again. But in the fridge we had a bottle of Cranberry Champagne that we had opened on New Years and hadn’t finished (the regular bottle got drunk, the cranberry wasn’t as popular). I am not drinking any alcohol for a while-part of the weight loss plan you know-and Yankee Bill confirmed that he wasn’t too jazzed with the flavor and wouldn’t be drinking any. So why not use the champagne that was going to go to waste instead of the beer that would eventually be drunk?
So I decided to try it in the bread. I figured if it was icky then I could throw it out. I mixed it up, and it looked decidedly PINK. Sigh. Oh well, I was willing to give it a chance.
I’m glad I did, because the finished bread turned out delicious! Now, I would never recommend that going out and buying a bottle of Cranberry Champagne to make beer bread as a frugal idea. However using Cranberry Champagne that you have already paid for and no-one in the house is going to drink to make bread instead of pouring it down the drain. . . well that IS frugal!
The moral of the story-take a risk occasionally in your pursuit of frugality~ and think outside the box!
Do you think carbonated mineral water would work in place of beer or soda?
Funny story- I was hugely pregnant with my daughter when one morning I decided I wanted to make beer bread. All I bought was a twelve pack of Schlitz (cheapest per ounce) and a carton of eggs. I wonder what the check out person thought because she sure did look at me funny. I just wanted to say, “How do you think I got this way” and point at my belly. ; )
do you have a favorite beer bread recipe, or did i miss your posting it in the past? i’d love to try it sometime.
We like beer bread, too–though I don’t eat it anymore! 🙁
Carbonated water will also work. I love food science!
And bravo for using what’s in the fridge–did the final product bake up pink, by the way?
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What a great idea! I never thought about making beer bread without a mix. I am off to google a recipe right now.
I just found your blog and really like it. I am from Syracuse – we’re practically neighbors! LOL
Wow! That was really smart! We love this kind of bread too and I love that it is such a versatile recipe. I think some of the best things I have created have come from a “frugal” state of mind 🙂 Thanks for sharing that idea!
Jenny-I think that any kind of carbonation would work. Try it and let us know!
Anon-Ooops! I’ll have to post it.
Mrs. W-Nope, it really didn’t look pink when it got done. Thank goodness 🙂 I would have eaten it pink, but I’m not sure about the guys. . .
Colleen-You are right, we are practically next door. .
Amy-It did work out well. I love sharing “out of the box” thinking-although someone might not be able to replicate it exactly, it just shows how you can think about problems in a different way.
I’d love to try the recipe (if you’re willing to post it). I can’t get the hang of using real yeast and sometimes I would like to be able to make a loaf of bread for a special dinner.