I was checking out the Whole Foods newsletter, which has great tips on saving money on meals, and came across these great money saving tips for groceries from a fellow Whole Foods shoppers.
1. Use fillers for meat dishes.
Viv from Rockville:
My husband and I made a tradeoff when we had our son – I would be a stay-at-home Mommy and our income would drop drastically. We don’t regret that decision for a moment. Unfortunately, meat is expensive, and vegetarianism just doesn’t appeal to us. In order to stretch our meat dollars, I have learned to stretch the meat itself by adding fillers to my recipes. Ground meat recipes can be stretched with beans and grains…I often use a 50/50 ratio to meat, which cuts the meat cost per meal by 50%! Casseroles are a good friend to our food budget, too. Pasta, rices and veggies stretch chicken breast, tuna, and cubed beef much farther. It is possible to trim your food budget while feeding your family healthy, organic foods…you just need to be creative!
2. Get your kids involved in your food budget.
Rebecca from Birmingham:
To save money on trips we give our boys their own food money. Before we leave, we work up a reasonable budget per meal and give them the money up front. Then at each stop they can decide how much money they would like to spend, understanding that they get to keep anything they do not spend on food. We also carry a cooler full of nutritional options like fruit and veggies that are “free.” Not only do they suddenly love the healthy foods, but we save a bundle of money and heartache at each stop. There is no more begging for large amounts of fast food they cannot eat. It is amazing how frugal this teaches them to be.
3. With a little creativity, soups can be great meals.
: For an easy take-to-work lunch, I divide a 32 oz. tetra pack of tomato soup into 1 3/4 cup or 14 oz. containers. Then I add frozen corn, edamame, spinach or whatever vegetable sounds good. I often have leftover rice or pasta, and that goes in, too.
Add a little salt to taste (the veggies will dilute the soup a bit.) I get about 4 containers that I can keep in either the fridge or freezer. They re-heat easily, and this method is cheaper than buying individual servings. The veggies don’t get mushy, as they do in canned soups, and I have the flexibility to use whichever ingredients I’m hungry for at the time.
I like to use Amy’s canned soups that I buy from Costco, which include 4 cans of lentil and 4 cans of minestrone soup. Each can of soup ends up costing only $1.50 each as opposed to $2.50 or more at the grocery store. And soups are easy and can be heated quickly. I then add some shredded cheese and eat with crackers or a salmon sandwich.
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Tags: Grocery Tips1 Comment
Great tips. I use a lot of beans as fillers (they are very healthy!) and a lot of shredded meat, that stretches our meat. Very nice blog