Every good cook needs to know good substitutes

One thing about cooking that people need to know is that it's okay if you don't have everything the recipe calls for...be creative.

For example, just the other day I made a polenta which is usually made of cornstarch...but I only had whole wheat flour on hand. Did it look like polenta made from cornstarch? No. Did it taste like polenta made from cornstarch? Probably not exactly. Did it still taste good? Yes!

Here is a list of substitutes from a book I like to visit from time to time called, Beer is NOT a food group: Motherly Meals on Meager Means by Lori Powell Gordon. I was gifted this book when I was in college from a women who I will always hold near and dear to my heart.

The author of the book, Lori Gordon is a wonderful cook and she is funny and smart too, which is a great bonus when you read her work. She is also a MN native, so it always feels MN nice to shop local. She has another cookbook out that I have not personally tried, called, If my house were on fire, these are the recipes I'd take. Once I get through all of the other gems I have in my kitchen it is a book I would consider purchasing.

Common Substituions (as they appear in Beer is NOT a food group)

1 cup butter in baked goods = 7/8 canola or other vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk = 1/2 cup yogurt and 1/2 cup milk or 1 TBSP vinegar and enough milk to make a cup.

1 cup brown sugar = 1 cup white or raw sugar plus 1 tsp. molasses

1 oz. unsweetened chocolate = 3 TBSP. cocoa powder plus 1 TBSP butter

1 clove garlic = 1/8 tsp garlic powder

1 TBSP raw ginger = 1/2 tsp. powdered ginger

1 TBSP chopped fresh herbs = 1/2 tsp. dried

1 cup honey = 1-1/4 cup sugar plus 1/4 cup liquid

juice of one lemon = 2-3 TBSP lemon juice

1 TBSP prepared mustard = 1 tsp. dried mustard

1 package dry yeast = 1 TBSP = 1 cake compressed yeast

1 TBSP = 3 tsp

2 TBSP = 1 fluid oz

8 fluid oz. = 1 cup

2 cups = pint

2 pints = quart

4 quarts = 1 gallon

* If you bake with honey lower the oven temp by 25 degrees.
* If you don't have the right size pan for baking use the closest one you can find. Don't fill a pan too full if the contents are going to rise, like cake or bread. Two-thirds full is safe. If your pan is smaller than the one in the recipe, it will have to bake longer because the batter will be deeper. Check baked goods by their color, if they spring back when touched, or if a toothpick poked into them comes out clean, as a recipe will suggest. This is almost the best way to tell if its done.

Also one to note that is not mentioned by Lori that I've recently done: 1 TBSP cornstarch = 2 TSBP flour

If you have any good substitutions you'd like to add to this list, please feel free to comment :)