Saving Money

I am astonished when searching for cheap meal ideas to find that many recipes are submitted boasting to be a cheap meal and bragging that it will save you money. Then I see that the recipe contains shrimp, or is loaded with cheese, or calls for boneless, skinless chicken breast. I wonder, how could this recipe save me money?

I guess that saving money on food is relative. It all depends on what you were spending on food before you decided to cut back to save money. So if you were eating out before, then making a gourmet dish at home actually could save you money.

However, if the money just isn't there, and you must eat for as little expense as you can, then you would approach things much differently.

There's still a balance between eating for less money and eating healthy. Our health is worth a lot, so it wouldn't be an option for me, for instance, to feed my kids ramen soup every day. Even if I had only the 50 cents a package that it costs here, I would use that 50 cents to buy something else. You'd be surprised what you could do with 50 cents worth of dry beans or lentils or barley (or a mixture of all 3). It would fill my childrens' tummies better and be enormously more nutritious.

That said, I do still let my children eat ramen soup once in a while. (Only when it goes on sale for 30 cents or less. LOL) But I do always make sure they get some food groups in there with it.

So I guess what I'm saying, is that you need to make some choices. You need to decide what sacrifices you will or won't make in buying your food. If there are some foods you decide you just can't do without, then cut corners somewhere else. If you really need your skinless, boneless chicken breasts, then cut back on how much of them you serve at each meal. Stretch them further.

As I've said previously, it really does pay to spend the time going "window shopping" in our grocery store. Also visit discount stores and see what they carry for food items. Sometimes I find that my local dollar store has food items really cheap and they're worth it. Other times I find that they're not.

So often we go into a grocery store in a hurry and we quickly scoop off the shelves all the items we think we need and go through the checkout and that's it. In and out as quick as we can. While there is some wisdom in that process, we may not stop to think about what else is in there that we could buy instead of our favorites, that may save us a bundle.

Because I have a larger family, I love buying huge bulk amounts of food. For instance, I used to think that the 1 lb bag of barley that I would buy for $.69 was a real deal, and I could make several meals out of it. But one day in a bulk store I saw a 10 lb bag of barley for $4.99!
Obviously, the bigger bag at $.49 per pound is the real price winner.
I am a great lover of cooking and eating barley and spreading the word on how nutritious and delicious it really is. And what a meal-stretcher!

Lentils and rice are very filling and great meal-stretchers also. I use only brown rice and sometimes converted rice. Converted rice retains a lot more nutrients than white rice.

The other night I made a Lebanese dish (can't remember the name now...). But here's how simple it is: Rinse and boil 1 cup green or brown lentils in water until soft, about 25-30 minutes. Meanwhile, cook 1 cup rice according to package directions, adding 1 tsp cumin to the water. I used brown minute rice, because it was on such a good sale. While these two are cooking, put 1/4 cup olive oil in a skillet and add 1-2 large thinly sliced onions, and break up the slices into rings while stirring. Brown the onions on medium heat. To serve: drain lentils and mix with rice. Stir in onions and olive oil remaining in pan. My family ate this with sliced ripe tomatoes on the side. Or use cucumbers, whichever is cheaper. I fed 7 people for about $3.00

Try some of these tasty, filling whole grains. You'd be surprised just how much money-saving, tummy-filling capacity they have!