Budget Cooking
Is your family food budget tight? Try these budget cooking and budget meal planning tips for making easy delicious meals on a budget. Cooking on a budget can be a challenge. But it doesn’t have to mean boring, tasteless meals for your family. If you are looking to become a budget-minded cook, these tips and ideas will help you on your way. Next to our homes and paying for education, food costs are one of the largest expenses for a household. When cooking on a budget make sure to not only shop wisely but also to eliminate waste as much as you can. 
This is a constant struggle in my home. Gone are the days as a single woman where I would happily examine the isles of my favorite grocery store, picking up whatever ingredients tickled my fancy in the moment. Now as a wife and mother of a young boy, I’m much more budget conscious and concerned about what will be good for my family. Even though I meal plan religiously, I still find that there is room for improvement. These tips help me. Hopefully they will be helpful to you as well. Take the time to meal planThe benefit of planning meals is that you save both time and money. Simply deciding on meals in advance will eliminate the need for repeat visits to the grocery store, where you can easily be tempted to spend more money on items you don’t need. And it doesn’t have to take up a bunch of your time. Not sure how to get started? No worries, we have the basics of meal planning here. Also consider adding more frugal recipes to your weekly meal plan to save even more money budget cooking.
Set a grocery budget – then stick to itHere is where you will need to marry what you decide to cook with setting your food budget. Make sure that your meal choices will fit into your budget. This may mean making a few compromises. However, compromising doesn’t have to be a bad thing. For example, a more economical skirt steak or flank steak would be an excellent compromise to a filet mignon recipe you had your heart set on, and just as delicious!How much should you spend? How much you spend will of course depend on your circumstances. Every family is different. The number of family members, ages (young children or teenagers), where you live, etc. Being from Bermuda where we import almost everything, food costs are astronomical, so I’m always looking for ways to keep my food budget in check. Here are some tips to help you with your grocery budgeting.
Give store brands a tryI admit that I have suffered from being a no-brand snob, only buying brands I know and like. However, the fact is that store brands can be just as good (even better sometimes) than brand names. I broke my addiction to brand names by buying store brand or generic brand staples first, like salt, pepper, rice, and dried pastas. Now I’m always on the lookout for more ways to include store brands as part of my weekly grocery buy.
Buy and cook what's in season
The price of fruits and veggies varies depending on if they are in season. So, planning recipes around what is in season is great for budget cooking. If you live near a farmers market, check it out for great deals. Not only will you be saving money, but cooking what is in season also means you’ll be making and eating healthier meals as well.
Cook from scratchAlthough there are many convenience foods out there, cooking from scratch is a great way to cook on a budget. Cooking from scratch you can control things like sugar and salt in a dish, which is a great bonus. By making such items as your own bread, marinara pasta sauce, and chicken stocks, you will not only save money, but also cook healthier meals for your family.Big Batch cookingCooking meals in big batches is another great budget cooking tip. The next time ground beef or stewing meats are on sale make up a big batch of a dish, like chili or stew. Better yet, forget the meat and make a big batch of vegetarian stew for an even more budget friendly meal. Adding beans to a vegetarian stew I find gives it a "meaty" quality, and I don't even miss the meat. Have some for now and freeze the rest for later.Make a pot of hearty soupMaking a pot of hearty soup from items in your fridge that might be close to expiring, as well as some additions from your pantry, is a great budget cooking idea. You can be creative and reduce waste by using ingredients in this way. What’s left over, you can always store in individual freezer containers and you’ll have a quick and easy go to meal for later in the week or month. Now that’s budget cooking at its best!Use pasta and beans to stretch a mealPasta and beans make for great budget meals. They are both inexpensive, easy to cook, and with the right ingredients added to them are simply delicious! They are also filling making for satisfying meals any night of the week.Never eat more than you can lift. - Miss Piggy Looking for more budget cooking ideas, check out our budget meal planning section of the site.
|
and the rest of the web
E-zine:
Meal Planning Musings
for more meal planning tips and freebies
Sign up today!
Recipe Collections
Click on the images below to go to the various recipe collections.
