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.

Healthy Food Options

I have read many articles in the news paper that have people quoted saying that they have a hard time buying healthy food because it is so expensive. When I started buying food for myself and my husband I believed this to be true. It took a few years and some thought before I realized that being cheap and being healthy can go hand in hand. When I started buying food for my family, I went shopping with my mom to get the scoop on the good brands and what to avoid. She spends more money on food then I do but she makes a lot more money then I do, so this is understandable. I realized early on that my mom’s budget would not work for us so I had to rework things and substitute until I got to a reasonable amount. She buys things like whole wheat pasta, organic milk, and flavored water, healthy food that costs a little bit more. I was sure that by reworking things, I would have to settle for food that was not healthy, highly processed, and high in sodium. It does not have to be that way! You can have healthy food for your family and keep your budget in line.

I have learned that food gets expensive and bad for you when it is prepackaged, and made to be “convenience food”. The cheap prepackaged food is the worst for you. The best way to avoid all the junk they put in to this kind of food is simple: make it from scratch! You would be shocked at what they put in that shrimp scampi you are heating up or in that Hamburger Helper but if you just make it yourself, you have complete control over what goes in to the meal. Just to clarify, I am not talking about things like caned beans or frozen veggies. You don’t have to do everything from scratch to be healthy. Let’s take Hamburger Helper; the meal requires that you buy some hamburger, milk, butter and have some water on hand right? Well how about buying some egg noodles, hamburger, milk and butter and just adding some garlic powder, salt and pepper, and cheese? Chances are, you will have enough egg noodles to make another meal with them and you have spent the same or less money on a meal that is healthier for you. Another item that people often complain about is the price of juice. If you get the sugar water juice, it is cheaper then the 100% juice. Well that is an easy fix, don’t buy it! In Washington, water (yes from the tap) cost .001 cents a gallon. It is clean, tastes good, and is good for you. I realize that not everyone lives in a state with clean, good tasting tap water but if you do, take advantage of it. So, the lesson that I have learned is to make the food yourself and remember that there is often a simple, cheap, and healthy alternative to many food problems. Tune in next week when I answer the question “How do I find the time to make all of this cheap, healthy food?”

The Price of Food

The soaring price of food itself has been all over in the news lately. I have not personally seen my bill go up but many people have and I believe that it has a great deal to do with what you buy. When I plan out my meals, I always pick things that are fast and easy to make. The easy part means picking meals that don’t require a lot of ingredients in them. This keeps cost down as well as my sanity when I am cooking. I also do not include any meat in my meals. This is because I happen to be a vegetarian but it also has the effect of saving us money. Meat is expensive! I do splurge on some fresh wild salmon when it is on sale but most of our protein comes from cheese, beans, shrimp and tuna. Beans are a wonderful source of protein and they are cheap. That is why they are one of the staples of the people of Costa Rica (named one of the healthiest places to live because their people have the longest life expectancy). There are many wonderful meals you can make with beans being in the main dish or side dish that are very yummy. Like Mexican pizza, Costa Rican beans and rice, and bean enchiladas. You can find more ideas for meatless cheap food at one of my favorite web sites hillbillyhousewife.com. I would challenge any family trying to cut costs with just serving two meatless meals a week. See if it cuts your food bill just a bit. If you just can’t put down the steak, shop the sales and warehouse clubs, and make friends with a hunter. Maybe they will share some of that deer or moose they get with you. Unless they are feeding five children chances are they will have plenty left over after winter.

I am a big believer in store brand food. Look down people! All the way to the bottom shelf, that is where you find the deals. At Fred Meyers (a Kroger store), they even have the cheaper then the store brand. It is called FMV (For Max Value). Now I am not saying that you can go generic with everything but some things are the same no matter what brand they are and some things are better when they are store brand (like the FMV frozen veggies, the only mix with out lima beans all for $0.89). For instance, some store brand items I buy are mayo, mustard, ketchup, eggs, yogurt, canned fruit, rice, sugar, and hot dog buns, but I will buy brand name tortillas, tea, refried beans, fish sticks and bread. It is all about your tastes and the quality of the item. It just requires a little bit of experimentation on your part.