Tip #3 - Quality of ingredients

Because I'm trying to be Ms. Frugal, last night I decided to get the no-name brand of shortening. I won't be doing that again. I've always used Crisco and now I know why. Tonight I made my Chicken Pot Pie recipe and the crust was AWFUL. It wouldn't set like it should because the no-name brand shortening was WAY too soft and had no density to it. It was pretty much impossible to work with.

So some of your ingredients, you may not be able to be cheap on. Like my meat, I am VERY picky about where I buy my meat from. I am picky on the cuts of meat and everything. You just never know...

I have not found the same problem with sugar, powdered sugar, brown sugar, flour, you know, the basics. So that is kind of weird.

Oh, and one funny thing, I was at Costco exactly two weeks ago and I picked up the 25-pound bag of flour (SO CHEAP) and thought -- I'll NEVER get through that much flour...HAHAHAHAHA -- I emptied the last of the bag into my regular flour container today. I had planned on seperating the flour into Ziplocs and putting it in my deepfreeze and it never made it there! I guess I've been a busy girl!