Hi my friends:
How much food money can you save in one year? Hundreds with just a few minor changes in how you cook and shop.
I've figured out my actual savings for various things and thought I would share.
1. Making stock from kitchen discards saves me $96 a year - I use approximately 2 quarts of stock per month and what I make costs nothing versus $1.79 per quart store bought. The extra bonus - having some control over sodium and fat content.
2. Using dried beans saves me around $16 a year. I use an average of one pound of dried beans a month (89 cents a lb) which cooks up to approximately 4 cans of ready to use at 89 cents per can. The extra bonus - no preservatives or color enhancers.
3. Making my own marinara sauce from canned tomatoes saves me around $104 a year. Next year I'm going to start making my marinara from home-grown tomatoes and will save double or triple that.
My other 2 tips for today are about how we stock our fridge/freezer/pantry and what happens to leftovers.
Never, ever stock your fridge, freezer, or pantry so much that you really have no idea what is in there. On grocery shopping day, I take an hour to take a look to see what I already have and try to build the week's dinner menu around the items that will be expiring soon. It also makes sense to see what herbs and spices you have on hand. You may decide that you are making something that requires dried savory - check to see if you already have it. I did not always do this and I wound up wasting money. It doesn't make sense to stock up on stuff that will expire before you use it. You will probably save $200 a year by being more aware of what you have on hand and when it expires.
Leftovers - lots of people don't like having a "repeat". If you wind up with leftovers you have some options. Freeze them (if they lend themselves to that), pack them for lunch, or do what my family does - have leftover night once a week. Most nights we wind up with one or two extra servings of dinner. We save them up and Friday is "pot luck" night. We pull out all the leftovers and everyone picks what they want, makes a plate, and heats it in the microwave. We only throw away food when it becomes unsafe to eat; which is an extremely rare occasion. You will probably save around $300 a year with this tip.
These few easy to do things can save you around $700 a year.
Any questions - let me know.
Happy eating.
K
We used to have "Smorgasbord night" with the girls. It was like a happy buffet. That's what Alan & I are having tonight.
ReplyDeleteHappy tip. I cook up a bunch of dry beans at once and freeze portions. They are totally fine to toss into anything convenient just like canned, but cheaper.
My turn for a commercial: I did get a vacuum sealer thingy which I use w/ most everything I freeze. It keeps frozen meat from getting freezer burn, etc. So it totally has paid for itself already in throwing away gross meat savings.
We also used to sometimes do an "eat down week" - we don't buy new food but make ourselves cook from what we have. Need to do that again. Kept us from letting stuff accumulate and eventually go bad.
Yay for growing tomatoes. The vacuum sealer works here too. We took the ripe ones we weren't ready to use and stuck them in bags, stuck them in the freezer. Pull out a bag, thaw, chop and use like diced or canned. There's no difference in quality by freezing (and you know I'm a food snob).
:)
Here's where I need assistance. I am not a fan of freezing cooked things - because I'm never sure what will taste good once it's been frozen - so I don't do it. So, as far as the beans go - do you freeze them after rehydrating them or do you rehydrate, cook, and then freeze?
ReplyDeleteI rehydrate, cook, freeze. I also really never freeze things, but beans totally work. I discovered that cookies work too. I use the vac sealer. My friend Dianna told me you could freeze cookies and I thought she was crazy. But when I needed sweet things I made a batch of oatmeal choc chip cookies and realized I would eat all of them I thought I'd try freezing - take them out of the freezer, microwave briefly & tada!
ReplyDeleteAnd bread! I realized that buying a loaf of bread once the girls left was crazy stupid until I realized I could take out 1/2 and freeze 1/2 - it's totally not gross - it's just like you just bought it.
ReplyDeleteAlso, if you like fun yummy crusty bread from the store but don't want to pay 3-4 bucks for a loaf go here http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/Artisan-Bread-In-Five-Minutes-A-Day.aspx . This recipe is so easy & good that Kelli actually makes it in her dorm (kitchen). You don't have to knead the bread. You make a mediumish batch and you pull off how much you want to bake. The rest stays in the fridge in a baggie/tupperware until you want it. Leave room for expansion in your container - it will grow a bit and pop open if there's no room.
I do freeze bread. I buy extra when it's on sale and toss it in the freezer. I'll try the bread recipe - I think Kelli made it when I was there.
ReplyDelete