: Meal Planning Tips for Families on a Tight Budget
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(464 Words)
If you are on a tight budget, you are far from alone. Many need to watch their purse strings in this troubled economy, and one way to do so is to save money on food. Consider the following meal planning tips for families on a tight budget.
Plan meals with less expensive ingredients
Some meals such as those with red meat or expensive shell fish like lobster are often more than other meals with less expensive ingredients such as a vegetarian meal. You might want to plan meals that use ingredients that do not cost a lot. If you really like the taste of something that is expensive, then you can consider planning a meal that has it as an element but is not completely that. For instance, instead of having a meal in which everyone gets a big steak, perhaps you can make some sort of stir fry with vegetables, potatoes and other ingredients. You might also use a much smaller steak and add in a lot of less expensive but filling sides into the menu. Also, sometimes there are ingredients that taste similar but are much less such as imitation crab meat as compared to the real thing.
Plan to make larger meals on your menu and have the leftovers
When you make larger meals, it often costs less per serving. This is because many of the ingredients are cheaper to buy in bulk. For instance, at Costco you can purchase five pound bags of shredded mozzarella cheese for a very reasonable price, and you would pay far more per pound at most grocery stores. You can make some large baked ziti’s with it. You can use the leftovers in another meal. You might be able to make some lunch sandwiches from a leftover dinner, for instance.
You also do not want to waste food. If you think you are going to have too much, then you should freeze some. You can also make them into homemade television dinners, which are usually much cheaper than buying your own.
Try not to waste ingredients
Some recipes call for certain parts of a food product but then the rest might be wasted. For instance, if you are making a pumpkin pie, you do not need the seeds. To maximize your investment you can also cook the seeds and include that as part of your meal. Many times you can also take leftover ingredients and use them in a soup or casserole. If a meal calls for half of a vegetable perhaps you can put the other half into the salad or a breakfast omelet for the next day.
Even on a tight budget, you can still have great meals. The above ideas can help you feed your family in style without spending a lot.
Updated On: 09/19/2010 Published On: 09/19/2010 Article ViewerClose
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