How to Fight Rising Food Prices with Low Cost Food Alternatives

When food prices rise, families on tight budgets are quick to explore cost cutting measures. Some of us switch to lower priced brands, while others cut back on prepackaged goods.

There is yet another way to fight those rising prices, and that is to substitute some of your favorite foods and ingredients with low cost alternatives. Low cost substitutions aren't anything new. During the Great Depression and the years of World War Two, families were learning how to do without foods such as sugar, butter, cheese, bacon, and eggs. Old cookbooks from these eras were filled with recipes that called for some pretty creative substitutions.

To fight rising food prices in today's economy, here are some low cost alternatives that will help give some relief to an already squeezed grocery budget.

Make your own hamburger

At $3.49 a pound for lean hamburger, it won't be long before families decide to forgo the Hamburger Helper for a meal that less pricey. Hamburger is nothing but ground meat, and a much lower cost alternative is simply to grind your own from an inexpensive roast. Chuck roasts and other budget pot roast can usually be found for $1.49 a pound. Chop up that pot roast and run it through the grinder ~ fat and all ~ for a fresh and ultra lean ground beef. If you don't have a Kitchen Aid with a meat grinder attachment, an old fashioned hand crank model will work as well. Hand crank meat grinders are a dime a dozen in thrift stores across the country.

Use apple sauce instead of Mazola

With corn prices rising along with everything else, it won't be long before our favorite Mazola or other vegetable oils are out of our budget. For quick bread recipes calling for vegetable oil (such as carrot cake, zucchini, or banana bread), an equal amount of applesauce can be substituted instead. This low cost alternative is lower in calories and much healthier too.

Use soy powder in baking