Who Knew?

I really like books about saving money, but as I also like actually saving money, I check them out of the library and rarely purchase them. The one exception to this is The Tightwad Gazette series by Amy Dacyczyn. These books are a compilation of a newsletter that she wrote out of her home as well as letters from readers. Most of the articles and letters are interesting and useful, and some are downright off the wall, like making children's toys out of bread tabs and melting the tiny bit of deodorant left in the dispenser in the microwave so that it can be melded with other remnants to make a new deodorant.

Years ago I read about how she replaces an egg in baking with a heaping tablespoon of soy flour and a tablespoon of water. I wasn't terribly interested in this fact, as eggs were dirt cheap at the time, and I didn't have children eating at a rather astonishing rate. I've been reading more and more (I think I really need to just stop reading!) about the treatment of chickens on egg farms, so I've been trying to buy organic and cage-free eggs. This is excruciatingly painful for me, as it makes my eggs now cost about 33 cents apiece.

So, in the spirit of experimentation I toddled on over to my local health food store and purchased some organic soy flour. I used it in place of the egg in the muffins I made this morning, and lo and behold it worked beautifully! Everyone scarfed them down, and as the soy flour only cost 3 cents, I think it was a success. Now I have to figure out how to invest that 30 cents.....