Cheap Cooking tips

Last week I wrote about how it is possible to buy healthy food and stay in a budget. My biggest tip was to make your own food. This way you are in control of what goes in to your food. Well, I know that many people are thinking, “That will take forever!” As a person that has been making dinners for myself and my husband for the last five years, four of those years I was a full time college student and three of those years I was also working full time, I know what it is to be dead tried and not have much time.

There is a way to make healthy food for your family that does not take a lot of time. I have some basic rules that I go by to help me when I am planning my meals. First I keep it simple, only three items of food per meal. So for example I would have fish, baked potato, and salad. Second I try to do one protein, one starch, and one veggie. This way you know that your family is at least getting a semi healthy meal. The last tip, (the most important in my opinion) is to never ask what anyone wants for dinner. In my house the cook gets to decide what is for dinner unless it is someone’s birthday. I am not evil about this, I don’t make something that I know the people I am feeding hate, but on the other hand I am not a short order chief. You don’t need to be making separate meals for everyone. It is a waste of time and money. You may also find that just because your spouse or children turn up their nose at something, does not mean they don’t like it. Just yesterday I made cheese ravioli, butternut squash, and salad for dinner. My husband comes in, sees the squash and says “Ewww, what is that”. But I paid no mind to him and served it anyways. He was very surprised to find that he likes butternut squash. This scene plays out often in our home.

I also want to clarify about making food from scratch. I do not mean everything. There are plenty of things that I buy in cans or frozen but it is not the whole meal. Beware of anything that claims to have a whole meal in a bag or box. Side dishes in a box are also something to be wary of but some things are fine. Like canned beans, frozen veggies, frozen ravioli, and canned tomato sauce. You probably don’t have time to make everything from scratch but getting as close as you can is always a good idea. I make my own corn muffins from scratch because it takes the same amount of time as from a mix, tastes better, and is cheaper but I buy canned tomato sauce because it is cheaper and a more efficient use of my time. Once again it just comes down to doing a little research on your part and finding what works for you. Next week I will share some of my quick and mostly healthy recipes.