Instead of buying primarily olive oil for the kitchen, buy a vegetable oil in bulk and use that for most of your cooking. The 'extra' bottle of olive oil will last longer and you won't have to spend as much. I used to use olive oil for pretty much everything and then buy butter for baking. This saves me cash!
Source: I read about this tip in one of Suze Ormans' books.
By Natalya from Wodonga, Australia
I would rather spend a bit more to buy the olive oil and have the added health benefits than to buy cheaper and have more fat.
Olive oil is so much healthier and the extra money might save you medical bills down the road.
I mix olive oil with canola. OO is not meant to be heated as it breaks down quickly and you lose the nutrient value and the taste. When using it with heat, it should be for a quick saute only. I also mix oil with butter sometimes as the oil helps butter not burn and keeps the flavor.
I learned this both in culinary school and a nutrition class.
A good tip and it's great to save money but the difference in oils makes a world of difference in the flavor of your foods and overall health benefits of the foods because of how assorted oils are processed. I do use vegetable oil for some baking items and in the deep fryer though. :-)
DorothyNYC mentions that olive oil is not meant to be heated except in a quick saute but that is not true. What matters is the heat smoke/flash point of the oil. Assorted olive oils actually have a similar smoke/flash point of canola oil and all of the assorted olive oils have a higher smoke/flash point than butter.
