Home Cooking Money Saving Tips, Ideas and Advice to Reduce Your Monthly Budget

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COOKING ON A BUDGET - Page 2

Prepare Your Meals Ahead Of Time (continued)

2. When you see those favorite meal ingredients (even perishables) on sale at the store, or if buying in bulk provides considerable savings, make sure you stock up and save, and get ready to make some meals. You may even consider planning your weekly meals around what is on sale that week.

3. When making a favorite meal, make a large batch and create “frozen dinners” for you and your family. Since you are already cooking, the amount of extra work and energy cost is minimal. Or if you like, set aside a “cooking day” once a month and prepare many kinds of meals for future use. All you need are some freezer containers for the types of portions you prefer, enough freezer capacity and a little organization. Most any kind of meal will freeze well. Even many breakfast items can be prepared ahead of time and frozen. For instance, mix up a large batch of pancake mix, griddle the pancakes and freeze them. When you would like pancakes, just pull the pancakes out of the freezer, microwave and enjoy. Or make a batch of muffins and freeze them. Preparing all kinds of meals ahead of time will result in nutritious meals you and your family will enjoy, that can be pulled out of the freezer on a moments notice. And you will save a lot of money. It’s really that easy.

4. You can even share pre-cooked meals with friends and neighbors and increase the variety of great dishes you can enjoy while saving. Sharing frozen pre-cooked meals with neighbors is easy. Just get a group of neighbors together that agree to prepare and share certain entrees. Or, if you like to socialize, set aside a morning or afternoon, and cook together. It can be a lot of fun and a lot of savings.

5. Also consider preparing large batches of the major ingredients of easy to cook meals, rather than the full meal. For instance, spaghetti sauce can be prepared in very large batches and frozen for a long period of time. And, for many families, spaghetti sauce can be used in several types of easy to prepare recipes. Just let a container of sauce defrost during the day when you are away, and when you come home heat up the sauce, spend ten minutes boiling some pasta, and you have a homemade inexpensive meal in short order. Or put the sauce on some chicken that was previously prepared and frozen. The same can be done with chili, soups, other sauces, beef, etc. Almost any major ingredient of a home cooked meal can be cooked ahead of time, and used with quick-to-prepare “side dishes” for an easy home-cooked meal. Use your imagination and eat healthy for less.

6. Don’t forget about the kids and dessert. All kinds of desserts and treats can be made ahead of time and frozen. Most thaw quickly, or do not need to be thawed like frozen juice Popsicles.

7. You can even make some meals ahead of time that only need to be refrigerated, and that you intend on eating in the next several days. So, you do not have to cook every night to save money with home cooked meals. Just plan ahead, save and enjoy the convenience of coming home and just heating up one of your home cooked meals.

8. Whether or not you care to make a large batch in order to freeze the extra meals, there are other ways to cook ahead and have a ready-to-eat meal when you get home. Try using a slow cooker or crock pot to make many types of meals, from stews to soups, as well as other types of dishes, when you are away for the day. Just prepare the ingredients the evening before (or perhaps even a day or two before) and put them in the slow cooker in the morning. By the time you get home, a hot delicious dinner will be waiting for you and the family. There are many types of great recipes for this type of cooking. As an extra benefit, you might even save a bit of electricity cost cooking this way, versus firing up that big oven all the time.

Save On The Ingredients

In addition to making your own, versus buying pre-cooked and processed foods, a little diligence on the cost of ingredients in your recipes can save even more. Look under the “Groceries & Sundries” heading in the “Shopping” section for tips on saving money while at the grocery store. But also consider the following savings ideas when preparing your meals.

1. Do not hesitate to change a recipe so it can be made less expensively. It will help your budget, and may even taste a bit better. Be creative. For instance, does the recipe really need all the meat it calls for? Or, perhaps, a different, less expensive, meat can be substituted. Maybe you can stretch that hamburger by adding some bread or cottage cheese. Or, instead of that brand name ingredient named in the recipe, can a more generic ingredient serve just as well. Can you use a little more filler like potatoes and beans to stretch a recipe? Maybe a little less sugar would be good, or eliminating ingredients that enhance a recipe’s color, but do not contribute to taste, would be OK. It’s just a matter of always trying to reduce the cost of a recipe in any way possible, while maintaining its nutrition and taste.

2. When it comes to vegetables and fruits, try using recipes that use items that are in season. In-season produce may not be inexpensive, but it sure is a lot less expensive than buying produce when it is out of season (and it tastes better too). Take advantage of seasonal bargains and make recipes that save you money. Remember, many recipes can be frozen, so you can enjoy out-of-season produce at in-season prices.

3. When a recipe calls for vegetables, see if less expensive frozen vegetables may suffice. Once a recipe is cooked, especially if you are planning on freezing it, the difference between fresh and frozen may be negligible, and there may be savings to be found. In addition, taking vegetables out of the freezer may be just a bit easier and less expensive than that extra trip to the store.