Make Kitchen Life Affordable By Purchasing Crossover Ingredients

If there's one thing I've become an expert at over the past few decades, it's livin' la vida broka. Back in the dying days of print media, I scored a super cheap subscription to a now-defunct food magazine called "Gourmet," and, although I loved reading the recipes, mostly it was to laugh at them. What, you really think I'm going to order a few grams of Persian saffron from Dean & DeLuca just to add a certain je ne sais quoi to my paella? Haha, no, cheap supermarket turmeric will do just fine, and I can also use it to make anything from Indian-spiced chili to that TikTok-trendy golden milk.

My philosophy of never buying single-purpose ingredients (especially not expensive ones) doesn't just cover seasonings, but extends to my entire pantry and refrigerator. That bag of lemons? The juice will go into everything from tea to salad dressing, while the zest can be used for baking. If they start to go bad, they can still be used for anything from cleaning cutting boards to getting stinky food smells off my hands. That ground turkey I'm thawing in the fridge? Half of it will be used in dan dan noodles (which themselves are made with leftover ramen noodles and satay sauce), while the other half will be combined with vegetables and oats to make homemade dog food. Just about any ingredient can be multi-purposed like this, so nothing needs to go to waste.

One crossover dish that just about everyone's familiar with is the famous rotisserie chicken: It can be dinner one day, then the leftovers repurposed into a week's worth of meals including salads, sandwiches, tacos, and rice bowls. Okay, to make it stretch for a week, you either need a tiny appetite or a whole lot of filler, but let's just call this aspirational.

With leftover steak, one of my favorite things to do is slice it up and fry it in bacon grease (always save your bacon grease) with diced potatoes and onions, and top it with a fried egg. If I want something less greasy, I make a Thai-style beef salad.

Condiments, too, are more versatile than you'd think. Take mayonnaise, for one. Not only is it a sandwich spread, but it can be used to bake extra-moist cakes or coat the outside of grilled cheese sandwiches. Even when you're down to the dregs at the bottom of the jar, you can add vinegar and spices, shake it up, and have a creamy salad dressing.

I could go on and on, but I think I've made my point. Don't just think in terms of any one recipe, but look beyond it to plan what else you can do with the ingredients. Not only will this save you money, it's actually quite fun.