Friday, 16 May 2008

• Cook every day to save money!

  Most people I speak with these days are trying to cut back on their living expenses. I've been working at it  for the past 2 years. One area that I've worked hard to cut back on is our grocery bill. The past two years I've been able to cut my grocery bill in half.

  I believe there have been several keys that have helped with this cut back.

  

  1. Cook, cook, cook! (Fortunately, I enjoy cooking and baking!)

  a. Cook something daily.

  b. I set aside one morning a week where I make 3-4 meals. I divide the dishes and freeze what we won't eat for the week. It's just my husband and I at home these days so we can get 2-3 meals minimum from one recipe.

  c. Make as much from scratch as possible. I've learned to make my own tortillas, salsa, winter salsa (using canned tomatoes instead of fresh), barbecue sauce, lemonade, ice cream, laundry detergent, jams, skin lotion, salad dressing, tartar sauce, cocktail sauce, lemonade, etc. My next goal is to try my hands at making toothpaste. Anything that I can make from scratch will most likely save money compared to an already prepared item. I keep basic ingredients on hand that can be used in a variety of recipes.

  2. Shopping

  d. Purchase meats under $2.00 a pound. I watch for the sales and try to only purchase meats on sale. I push to get at least 2 meals from one package of meat.

  e. If I have to purchase eggs (I get most free from a friend) I will buy 'checks'  from a local egg company which costs around 1/2 the normal price.

  f. Our church is very good to it's members and blesses them with a wonderful food pantry.  Much of what is given are carbs that we try to cut back on but I am blessed by their canned goods. It takes some 'pride swallowing' to receive help from others but I see it as a great blessing from God for this season of our lives. (Most counties offer a free food pantry, also). I'm sure there will come a time, once our home sells, when we will no longer need help.

  3. Use it up or do without!

  I've had so many items that I have purchased over the years and then decided I didn't like the product. It was money wasted. So, I purposed to use those products up before I purchased new ones.

  Other times , I just went without. It's amazing what we can do without! I ask myself if I really need to purchase that item or can I use another recipe or just do without it. Many times I can do without!

  Currently, I am watching for recipes to use more of the canned vegetables and fruits we are given so that I can cut back on buying the fresh. I prefer fresh but since the canned are free I need to take advantage of finding ways to use what I have on hand. I'm hoping this will cut our food expense down even more. I recently made a pea salad from canned peas and it was very good. This week I'm going to do a search on Recipezaar to see if I can find salad and veggie recipes for corn and green beans.

  *~*~*

  A few weeks ago my in-loves and my husband's step-brother came for a week's visit. We were so happy to have them visit. I was a bit concerned,though, how I was going to feed them for 5 days and not go over our budget. I ended up spending less than $50.00 for extra's while they were here. PTL!

  So, I prayed my way through my cupboards, freezer and fridge asking  the Lord for creative ways to use the food that I had and as always He was more than faithful.

  I went through my vegetable fridge drawer, my pantry and freezer. I had fresh broccoli, tons of eggs, canned veggies and some boxes of instant potatoes.  I didn't have enough meat on hand so I bought a 10 pound bag of legs/thighs for under $7.00 and some powdered sugar to ice a cake. The 10 pound bag gave me enough chicken for two meals with a few pieces left over for my husband's lunches.  

  Here was the menu for one of our evening meals:

  Barbecued chicken (homemade barbecue sauce)

  Broccoli Salad (made with Splenda because Dad has diabetes)

  "Angel Eggs" (the Christian version of Deviled Eggs  *S*)

  Roasted Garlic Potatoes

  Pickled  beets

  Fried Okra

  I didn't have any barbecue sauce so I made some from a recipe I got from Paula's Down Home Cooking show. I baked the chicken ahead of time so all we had to do was throw it in the grill for a short time to barbecue it.

  I had a few cans of beets that were not pickled so my MIL taught me how to pickle them. They turned out great. She used two cans of beets, 1 1/2 tbsp. of pickling spice, 1 1/2 cups of vinegar and a cup of sugar. You could add or subtract according to your taste. We saved the juice and I soaked some hard boiled eggs and onions in it the following day.

  I've had two bags of whole okra in my freezer for a few months. I used Sister Ellis's recipe and fried up both bags.

  It felt so good to be able to present a 'down home' meal to my husband's family and all I had to spend out of my pocket for this meal was less than $5.00. I could have never pulled this off if I didn't have years of collecting recipes and experience in pulling meals together out of seemingly 'nothing' and we probably would have ended up taking them out to eat which would have cost us $7.00 A PERSON instead of spending $5.00 for the entire meal along with leftovers for one more meal.

  *~*~*

  I outgrew a 'recipe box' more than 25 years ago. My recipes have now found their home in 3 very large notebooks. Each recipe is placed inside sheet protectors. I believe the notebooks are considered 3 inches. I purchase the sheet protectors and notebooks from a local Staples store. I got this idea from my mother years ago.

  Notebook 1: meats, casseroles, salads, vegetables, sauces

  Notebook 2: Breads, tea breads, appetizers, beverages

  Notebook 3: Desserts

  

   

  I've tried to make it a habit to collect different versions of the same recipe. That way if I'm out of a particular ingredient I can look at another recipe and see if I can find a substitute. For instance, when I made Paula Deen's barbecue sauce for dinner I didn't have any orange juice but another recipe I had called for apple cider vinegar. I replaced the orange juice with the apple cider vinegar and it tasted just fine.

  I'm thankful that God has given me a love for cooking (although I don't always feel like I have the energy to do it). It brings my family pleasure not to mention the money it saves on our budget.

  
   I'd love to hear of ways you are cutting back in your home.

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