Saving Money on Meals

My Frugal Life: Saving Made Easy

Since being a mother, I have found that there are so many ways to save. One of my favorite is by never wasting food. I love to reuse my left overs but in different ways. Even though we are having the same food it is different. Here are a couple examples:

Make a roast one night. The next you could either make pulled pork out of the left overs or even lasagna. You save by not having to spend so much in meats and you always make sure that your left overs are used.

By Teresa L S. from Campbellsville, KY

Circle Your Shopping Wagons First

Have you noticed that all the fresh, least processed items are on the walls of the grocery store? Meats, dairy, produce, baked goods? This is where the majority of your healthy shopping is, along with the freshest seasonal items.

Try to buy things with the least amount of ingredients in them. If you want chocolate milk, buy plain milk and cocoa powder. The same goes for "helper" and frozen pre-made meals. Buy the separate ingredients, i.e. herbs, spices, pasta/rice, etc. You have more versatility and healthier items. If you have a hard time pronouncing what the chemicals in the package are, do you really want to eat it?

And don't pay for the fancy packaging. Buy your own block of cheese, box of crackers, and bologna and you will be able to make your own lunch. What's more fun, buying a package or making fresh cookies with the kids. I never got that wonderful aroma of fresh baking cookies or cakes from a package. Once you get used to your pantry being stocked with basics, you will find you have more selection in your meal planning, and a much healthier choice, too!

By Maile from Onalaska

Three Meals in One

I have purchased chicken at the deli, it is usually a whole one roasted on the spit. Our first meal is to eat the roasted meat. Then I cut the meat from the bone, and use it in two other meals: one is a chicken pot pie and another is a stir fry. I feel that I get my money's worth and there is nothing, but bone left to go into the garbage.

By Denise from Tuscola, IL

Saving Money on Meals

The best way to save money on meals is to plant a garden (even a small one). You control how it is grown, so you also can have higher quality ingredients. Plus, fresh ingredients taste better, look better, and are nutritionally superior to store bought produce! If you use heritage varieties, you can save seed from year to year, so you only have to pay for the seed once!

Better yet, we raise our own chickens and turkeys as well. We pasture our birds so they live happier, healthier lives and we end up with healthier, leaner meat with more flavor and nicer texture (unlike mushy, confinement-raised chicken and turkey)!

By zoelle from MA

Combine Coupons with Ad Pricing

When planning your grocery shopping trip, use coupons, but also read the ads carefully. General Mills will put on a special with their cereal and cereal bars. It is also spelled out in the store ad which came in the newspaper and was also available in the store as you went in.

They had the box of 8 bars 2/$5. If you bought 4 boxes, $10 total, you got $4 back at the register. Then, we had $.50 coupons on 2 boxes, which the stores in my area double, so worth $1 each. The coupons were worth $2.

So, this is how it played out:

• 4 boxes of cereal bars (8 bars in a box) - $10
• minus General Mills promotion - $ 4
• sub total - $ 6
• 2 $.50 coupons doubled - $ 2
• paid $1 a box for 4 boxes (32 bars) - $ 4

This promotion was great for the snack packs we make for the kids who go to Shriner's Hospital for treatment.

By Betty from Williamston, SC

Stock Up With Buy One Get One Free Meat Sales

I wait on our local Winn Dixie to have their "buy one get one free" sales on meat. This definitely saves our budget a lot of money. After watching the agriculture news, I am very concerned about upcoming beef prices. I will very definitely take advantage of the beef/pork sales.

And to take savings a step further, I will be using the canner to get a longer "shelf life" from my savings.

Source: I learned how to can from my grandmother.

By missysmom from Nokomis, AL

Turkey For Frugal Meals

It's coming up on Turkey season, and so I'm saving back whatever I can from the grocery budget to get ready. Turkey is great for Thanksgiving or Christmas, but we eat at our daughter's. A whole turkey is a very good way to get poultry into our diets for very little or for free. Lots of grocery stores will give you a free turkey if you buy a certain amount of groceries. Go for the heaviest turkey you can find, because the proportion of meat to bone is much better. Then thaw the bird out and start cutting.

Breast meat cut about 3/8 inch thick can be pounded between two sheets of wax paper with the flat side of a mallet. Then dip them in milk and flour and gently fry them. Use the pan juices to make gravy. Don't spend hard-earned money on jars of gravy. To the fat and pan juices, stir in 1 tablespoon of flour for each tablespoon of juices and fat. Stir it in well. Add a teaspoon of salt for each tablespoon of flour. Stir like crazy. Pour in three cups of milk and stir and let it bubble for 2-3 minutes. Taste for seasoning. You might like pepper in yours. You could also broil slices of breast. Dip it in a mixture of 6 Tsps. lemon juice, 1 Tsps. paprika and 1 tsp. fine herbs, if you have them. Baste once or twice during broiling.

The thighs are really nice for roasting. One thigh will make a turkey salad for two or more. Chop roasted meat into small pieces. Do the same with a couple of stalks of celery. You can add mustard, pickles of all kinds, or olives. Pineapple tidbits are nice. Then add mayonnaise or half mayo and half plain yogurt to taste. Serve on a lettuce leaf if you have one handy. The salad is good with cooked, cooled pasta too. Bone out some turkey for stir-fries. Use leftover cooked turkey to make jambalaya.

I can usually freeze about 20 packages for later meals. It doesn't have to be stuffed and roasted. It can be all kinds of different foods, especially if you freeze it raw instead of cooked. Use it like chicken. Barbecue it, or mix it into chili in place of beef. It cooks quickly and takes on the taste of whatever you fix it with. Now take the bones and bits of meat clinging to them. Put them in a big pan with enough water to cover, a peeled carrot, two stalks of celery and an onion. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and a tablespoon or two of vinegar. Simmer nice and slow for a few hours. When it's cooked down a bit, start tasting to see if it has the rich flavor you want. when it's right, strain out everything but broth. Cook veggies, turkey bits and some pasta or white beans in it for a wonderful, nourishing soup on a wintry day!

By Coreen from Rupert, ID