Top Five Tips to Save Time and Money in the Kitchen
Eating and consuming food is life-long commitment. I know eating is a necessity for life, but when you think of it terms of a relationship, your perspective changes. Thinking of food in terms of a relationship allows you to consume food in a healthy manner, in a way that truly fuels your body and gives you the nutrition you need to carry out your day, or your life for that matter.
Check out our video below.
As a mom there is nothing worse when you have a house full of hungry people (or in their minds, starving!) and there isn't a stitch of food in the house. When this happens to me it usually results in a quick run to a big-box grocer which ultimately ends up being a more expensive grocery trip because I went in with very little planning and grocery shopping hungry (or with a house full of hungry people) results in buying more than you came for. After rushing around the busy grocery store you arrive at home where you still have to unload all those groceries, and put them where they belong. Oh yeah, and make something to eat for all those hungry people. By the time we clean up after the meal.... I'm exhausted!
To avoid this happening to you follow my five tips below.
My Top 5 Tips for Saving time and money In the Kitchen
1. Meal Plan
I use this term loosely. There are hundreds of different ways to meal plan from very detailed options to more relaxed methods. Choose a method based on your personality. If you are a very detailed-oriented person then choose a method that is more rigid. If you are more laid back and details overwhelm you, then decide on a more flexible strategy.
Meal planning has saved me on many a nights when I normally would have shuffled around the kitchen wondering what to make. What I love about meal planning is I don't really have to think about what I'm going to make that day, instead I spend about 10 minutes once a week the night before I grocery shop. Below is my method on meal planning...
MEAL PLANNING 101:
1. Evaluate what I have in the pantry, fridge, and both freezers.
2. As I evaluate my food situation I write down what we are out of and decide on meals I can make from what I already have. This includes making meals out of left overs.
3.If I need a few more meals for the week, then I'll decide what to make based on what we haven't had in a while or sometimes I'll decide by what meat is on sale at the store.
4.I also take into consideration busy nights versus relaxed nights. If it is a busy evening then I'm pulling out my handy-dandy crock-pot.
5. Next, I sit down and right out my meal plan along with my grocery list. Doing them together saves time and keeps me from forgetting an ingredient I may need to make my meals.
6. Dinner sides I leave open-ended.... I know what we like in terms of side dishes so I always make sure I'm well stocked in those items. For example, I always have the items I need to make a salad. In the summer I always can green beans and corn. I have frozen veggies in the freezer. We usually have avocados, which make great sides.
7. I don't plan a meal for every night of the week. I made this mistake when I was first married. Often times we will have enough left overs from a meal or two that it is not necessary.
2. Eat Left-overs
For those of you that don't like leftovers... you're not going to like me on this one, but this is a huge money saver. I've heard of husbands that refuse to eat leftovers... All I got to say is I'm so thankful mine does. If however you do have someone who doesn't enjoy eating leftovers then here's a little trick.... reinvent them. Take leftover mashed potatoes and turn them into potato pancakes... Take leftover sloppy joes and make loaded baked potatoes using the sloppy joe as a topping (very yummy by the way). Get creative in this department! Leftovers don't have to by monotonous or boring.
3. Reduce Meat Consumption
According to www.npr.org Americans are one of the top consumers of meat topping out at 270.7 pounds per person per year. That is a lot of meat! I'm not against eating meat, but I have found by reducing the amount we eat here at Greeting Tree Farm, it's not only better for our health, but it saves us some money too! I have found in many recipes that call for meat, if you reduce the meat by half you can't really tell the difference! If you missed my video showing this I will link it below...
4. Keep Meals Simple
The 1950's housewife combined with Martha Stewart and "The Food Network" has not been a good combination for the modern day mom. Let me explain.... I have nothing against these entities, in fact, they have brought many positive things to the American culture, but here's where I think things went a little wrong. Women today have serious pressure to whip out a fancy gourmet meal every single night, but realistically, this is not practical. Please don't mistake me, I enjoy treating my family to a really decadent meal, but it is not feasible for me to produce this every single night. When we look at what our great-great-great grandmothers fed their families, meals were simple.... Delicious, yet simple. The meal was usually made up with some type of roasted meat, potatoes and/or bread with butter and maybe jam, and lastly, the meal was finished out with whatever was on hand... pinto beans, green beans, a wedge of lettuce, corn, squash, etc. Potatoes and bread were usually a staple and the only thing that changed was the meat and veggies based on what was available at that time.
Keeping meals simple has saved me a lot of time and money in the kitchen. A cookbook that makes a good reference for this style of eating is "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon.
5. Eat, stock up, and preserve with the seasons
Check out our video below.
As a mom there is nothing worse when you have a house full of hungry people (or in their minds, starving!) and there isn't a stitch of food in the house. When this happens to me it usually results in a quick run to a big-box grocer which ultimately ends up being a more expensive grocery trip because I went in with very little planning and grocery shopping hungry (or with a house full of hungry people) results in buying more than you came for. After rushing around the busy grocery store you arrive at home where you still have to unload all those groceries, and put them where they belong. Oh yeah, and make something to eat for all those hungry people. By the time we clean up after the meal.... I'm exhausted!
To avoid this happening to you follow my five tips below.
My Top 5 Tips for Saving time and money In the Kitchen
1. Meal Plan
I use this term loosely. There are hundreds of different ways to meal plan from very detailed options to more relaxed methods. Choose a method based on your personality. If you are a very detailed-oriented person then choose a method that is more rigid. If you are more laid back and details overwhelm you, then decide on a more flexible strategy.
Meal planning has saved me on many a nights when I normally would have shuffled around the kitchen wondering what to make. What I love about meal planning is I don't really have to think about what I'm going to make that day, instead I spend about 10 minutes once a week the night before I grocery shop. Below is my method on meal planning...
MEAL PLANNING 101:
1. Evaluate what I have in the pantry, fridge, and both freezers.
2. As I evaluate my food situation I write down what we are out of and decide on meals I can make from what I already have. This includes making meals out of left overs.
3.If I need a few more meals for the week, then I'll decide what to make based on what we haven't had in a while or sometimes I'll decide by what meat is on sale at the store.
4.I also take into consideration busy nights versus relaxed nights. If it is a busy evening then I'm pulling out my handy-dandy crock-pot.
5. Next, I sit down and right out my meal plan along with my grocery list. Doing them together saves time and keeps me from forgetting an ingredient I may need to make my meals.
6. Dinner sides I leave open-ended.... I know what we like in terms of side dishes so I always make sure I'm well stocked in those items. For example, I always have the items I need to make a salad. In the summer I always can green beans and corn. I have frozen veggies in the freezer. We usually have avocados, which make great sides.
7. I don't plan a meal for every night of the week. I made this mistake when I was first married. Often times we will have enough left overs from a meal or two that it is not necessary.
2. Eat Left-overs
Photo by Pixabay; Creative Commons CCO
For those of you that don't like leftovers... you're not going to like me on this one, but this is a huge money saver. I've heard of husbands that refuse to eat leftovers... All I got to say is I'm so thankful mine does. If however you do have someone who doesn't enjoy eating leftovers then here's a little trick.... reinvent them. Take leftover mashed potatoes and turn them into potato pancakes... Take leftover sloppy joes and make loaded baked potatoes using the sloppy joe as a topping (very yummy by the way). Get creative in this department! Leftovers don't have to by monotonous or boring.
3. Reduce Meat Consumption
According to www.npr.org Americans are one of the top consumers of meat topping out at 270.7 pounds per person per year. That is a lot of meat! I'm not against eating meat, but I have found by reducing the amount we eat here at Greeting Tree Farm, it's not only better for our health, but it saves us some money too! I have found in many recipes that call for meat, if you reduce the meat by half you can't really tell the difference! If you missed my video showing this I will link it below...
4. Keep Meals Simple
The 1950's housewife combined with Martha Stewart and "The Food Network" has not been a good combination for the modern day mom. Let me explain.... I have nothing against these entities, in fact, they have brought many positive things to the American culture, but here's where I think things went a little wrong. Women today have serious pressure to whip out a fancy gourmet meal every single night, but realistically, this is not practical. Please don't mistake me, I enjoy treating my family to a really decadent meal, but it is not feasible for me to produce this every single night. When we look at what our great-great-great grandmothers fed their families, meals were simple.... Delicious, yet simple. The meal was usually made up with some type of roasted meat, potatoes and/or bread with butter and maybe jam, and lastly, the meal was finished out with whatever was on hand... pinto beans, green beans, a wedge of lettuce, corn, squash, etc. Potatoes and bread were usually a staple and the only thing that changed was the meat and veggies based on what was available at that time.
Keeping meals simple has saved me a lot of time and money in the kitchen. A cookbook that makes a good reference for this style of eating is "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon.
5. Eat, stock up, and preserve with the seasons
Choosing to eat with the seasons takes a little practice, but at the end of the day it will help save some money on your food budget. Buying produce at the time of year when it is selling for the lowest price is the best way to go. I like to buy in bulk and then preserve my food through canning, dehydrating, freezing, and fermentation.
If you are new to preserving food, start with something that your family eats a lot of. For example, I use diced tomatoes a lot in my cooking so every summer I grow ten to twelve tomato plants in my garden and that produces enough tomatoes for me to can diced tomatoes that will last the whole year.
Below is a video where I teach how to can diced tomatoes...
There are many cookbooks and how-to books out there that teach how to eat with the seasons. Visit your local library and I'm sure you'll find something to get the job done!
In conclusion, I hope this gives you some tips and tricks for saving time and money in the kitchen. How do you save money in the kitchen? What are your time-saving hacks?
REFERENCES:
Barclay, Eliza. (2012, June 27). A Nation of Meat Eaters: See How it All Adds Up. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/06/27/155527365/visualizing-a-nation-of-meat-eaters.
Comments
Post a Comment