For a lot of cooks, there are times when we do not have the right ingredients in the cupboard to make our intended recipe. However, don’t despair, you probably have a suitable substitution on hand, saving the cook a trip to the grocery store. Here are a few.

Milk

A lot of dishes call for milk. If you realize you are out of milk or don’t have enough to complete a specific recipe, make sure you keep a supply of evaporated milk readily available. Evaporated milk or reconstituted milk can be stored for a long time and once mixed with water and sometimes a bit of butter, can easily taste just as good as regular milk.

Baking Powder

If you do not have baking powder readily available, use baking soda and a dash of buttermilk. For a tablespoon of double acting baking powder, substitute 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda and a 1/2 cup of buttermilk.

Self Rising Flour

Self rising flour is easy to create at home, just combine one cup of all purpose flour with 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of baking powder.

Butter Milk

Ran out of butter milk? You can simply make your own. You can substitute 1 cup of butter milk with 1 cup whole milk and a tablespoon of vinegar. You can also substitute 1 cup of butter milk with 2/3 cup of plain yogurt and 1/3 cup whole milk.

Garlic

Need garlic, but don't have any? Replace it with garlic powder instead. About 1 clove of garlic equals 1/8 of a teaspoon of garlic powder.

Honey

You can easily replace honey with sugar and water. 1 cup of honey equals about 1 and 1/4 cup of sugar and a 1/4 cup of water.

Substituting Sugar

If you are short on sugar on hand or would like to exchange it due to health problems, here are some tips to substitute sugar:

Sugar can be replaced with maple syrup, corn syrup, brown sugar, honey, stevia, and molasses. However, some recipes will ask for sugar or a granular sweetener instead of syrup due to baking and texture requirements.

If you striving to reduce the amount of sugar you eat due to health issues, consider the many sweeteners, sometimes called sugar substitutes at the supermarket. These sweeteners include, Sweet and Low, Splenda, Equal, and plant based Stevia.