Mock recipes are an alternative when you're looking for a clone of a popular dish or want to use healthier ingredients without sacrificing taste. You can use them in a pinch when you're pressed for time or missing an ingredient, too. Recipes for mock potato salad, mint cookies, guacamole, apple pie and more are available at FrugalVillage.com/forums.
The first reader tip shares another mock recipe:
 

Mock tuna salad:

This is really a chickpea salad, but if I add enough ingredients, my hubby does not realize it's not tuna -- not right away, at least! I cook my own chickpeas from dried because I think the flavor is superior. I leave a little texture to them rather than mashing them until they are smooth. The goal is a texture akin to tuna salad.
16 ounces (1 can) chickpeas, mashed
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1-2 teaspoons spicy brown mustard
1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish
2 green onions, finely chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon finely minced yellow onion (optional)
Chopped celery (optional)

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Serve on a sandwich with lettuce, a slice of tomato and whatever else you like with a tuna salad sandwich. -- Saule, Illinois

Skunk spray remedy:

My dog recently took a direct hit from a skunk. My vet recommended Skunk Off shampoo, which worked pretty well, but the smell still lingered in the main area of concentration (just under her left ear). I used the peroxide/baking soda/Dawn remedy below and it worked very well -- the smell is about 99 percent gone.
Skunk spray solution:
1 quart peroxide
1/4 cup baking soda
1-2 teaspoons Dawn dish soap

Mix ingredients and pour slowly onto affected area, rubbing it in well. Let stand for about 10 minutes. Use a cloth to wipe around the face, being very careful around eyes. Rinse well. Repeat as necessary. I found it worked miraculously! -- S.B., Pennsylvania

Keep sliced apples from turning brown:

A very simple solution which I have used for years with great success is to dissolve 1 teaspoon of salt in one cup of cold water. After coring the apple, I slice it one half at a time and put the slices in the salt water for only as long as it takes to slice the other half. This brief plunge in the solution does not noticeably affect the flavor of the apple, and it preserves the color for as long as you would have the tray out to serve. I have even refrigerated leftovers in storage baggies and found them in good shape the next day. -- Joyce W., email

Second use for a dish rack:

I store coloring books, construction paper and puzzle books upright in a dish rack, and I use the cutlery cubby for crayons, pencils, markers, glue sticks, scissors, etc. -- Holly, Ohio

photo by mjhoy