Monday, July 25, 2005

The Soymilk Debacle

I'm always in search of ways to whittle down the grocery bill. As it stands right now the two most expensive items in our grocery budget are tofu and soymilk. Tofu we use as a treat, a yummy addition to a meal. If things are tight, we skip it. Soymilk on the other hand is a staple in our house. We use it in cereal, smoothies, pancakes, homemade ice cream, pudding, its just in everything!

Recently, I read somewhere that you could substitute the water from cooking pasta for milk in baking. I was intrigued but we eat a ton of pasta so I gave it a try. Here's the verdict. Pasta water works beautifully in pancakes and other baked goods. It ruins, smoothies, ice cream and pudding by making them grainy and pasty tasting. (In a pinch you can substitute the pasta water for half of the soymilk in smoothies, etc but only in a pinch and definitely not for company!)

By the way, when something does turn out less than delectable I try to find a way to rehabilitate it rather than waste it. Just yesterday I experimented with adding a bit of coconut to our breakfast smoothie. It sounded like an exotic addition but in reality it was awful. That smoothie became the wet ingredient portion of the next morning's pancakes.

1 comment:

Katie said...

I actually bought a soymilk machine last year, I believe it was a Soy Joy. After using it for two weeks we took advantage of the moneyback guarantee. It just couldn't compare to Silk which we all love. It also was a pain in the tush to clean.