I've been meaning to start this thread for awhile. Wondering if we could share cheap cooking strategies - ways to get deals, recipes, whatever. And I'm hoping to keep stuff healthy and easy as much as possible.
OK, so let's see what I can think of.
-Buy produce in season, at a farmer's market if you can get to one. (Some cities have markets within the city limits to make them more accessible. If not maybe carpool with another mama.)
-While you're at it, if you can, buy extra produce in season and freeze it for when it's out of season and expensive.
-Make up a meal plan. This way you know what to buy when you're at the store so you don't forget anything, buy things you don't need, or you don't buy anything and then forget about it and have it go bad on you.
-Check the flyers for coupons and sales. If you live near somewhere that does price-matching, often you can get the stuff on sale at different stores all over the city all at the same place, so you don't have to pay for transportation all over the place to get the deals. (Where I live I know people who do this at Wal-Mart - I know WM is not exactly reining queen of ethical shopping, so probably not ideal, but.)
-Grow your own veggies and herbs. If you don't have room indoors check out if there are any community gardens locally you can get involved in.
-If you eat meat, eat less of it and go for alternatives. Meat is expensive. Beans, lentils, eggs, tofu, and peanut butter are much cheaper.
That's all I can think of right now! Whaddya got?
I like this thread!
Definitely on the buying locally thing, though farmer's markets can be expensive depending on which farms you buy from. I've found that CSA shares are usually a good deal. Also, some farms/farmers will let you do a work exchange for produce. http://www.localharvest.org can help you locate a farmer's market if you're not sure if there's one near you.
Also:
Buy your beans and lentils dry, so that you're not paying for the transportation of water.
Buy more ingredients and fewer ready-made things - there are a lot of things (like, for example, pizza dough) that are really easy and cheap to make, but that people often buy anyway b/c they don't realize it. Invest in a good cookbook, or check one out of your local library and copy down recipes.
Take advantage of WIC/foodstamps/whatever services are available to you.
I get food boxes whenever I can. I dont know if they do it anywhere else but I know here they have meat boxes. Meat is sooo expensive and at one of the churches here they fill up big boxes with all kinds of differant meat and its only 18$.
-Some cheap healthy and relatively easy meals to look up recipes for: vegetarian chilli, baked beans, oven-roasted chickpeas (super easy! and snackable!)
-If you can, make extra food and freeze leftovers. This is easy for us because we have such a small family and recipes always seem to be made for 4+ people. Then the times when you get behind and/or you're really stressed out and you're tempted to buy supper, instead of spending the extra money on something premade (usually expensive and unhealthy) you have something already there for ya that just needs to be defrosted.
I try to buy from the bulk bins as much as possible. It saves on money and packaging.
Plan your meals and dont buy too much fresh food. Our veggies literally always go bad before we get a chance to eat them. It is so frustrating.
I made these chickpea cutlets tonight, they were yummy!
frozen veggies stay good! i buy veggies frozen and only heat up enough for my son for that sitting. i buy a variety and the bags last me for months. i may be incorrect but i think frozen is better than canned? i also like to use leftovers when i can. if you make say chicken breasts one night you can eat it grilled, then you can use it again with rice then you can serve it with melted cheese or in a sandwich... the list goes on and on.
frozen is definitely better than canned!
phew! glad i have that one right
Oh yeah, my kid likes to eat frozen peas and/or corn, still frozen. They're pretty darn cheap, and for awhile it was the only way she'd eat veggies.
Devin will eat any veggie frozen-- includng okra! He likes most of them warm too. My kid eats more veggies than me that's for sure.
oh we absolutely love veggies but mostly cooked. or raw. ive never tried to give them to them frozen. not too sure why!
Food seems to have gotten so expensive in the last year or so!
When I was a starving college student, Kiddo and I ate a lot of rahmen noodles, frozen string beans and scrambled eggs. The main thing was to use basic ingredients- and make simple things, especially because I didn't have a whole lot of time to cook.
I don't know if it's just DC- but they've started an initiative where food stamps count double at farmer's markets: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2009/07/07/freshfarm-to-double-value-of-food-stamps-to-break-the-yuppie-stranglehold-on-farmers-markets/
Hopefully- this program will continue to expand.
I never had food stamps though- never could manage to make the system work (didn't have a car- had to miss class to apply- every time i'd apply- they'd tell me I had to come back for more documentation- which meant missing another day's classes- more hours on the bus- more hours in line with a screaming kid and ex-cons hitting on me... inevitably I'd be unable to keep an appointment and they'd deny my claim... finally I gave up)
I agree with the previous posters that frozen veggies are great- especially if you can't shop whenever you want... which was my situation due to budget and transportation constraints.
Cereal can be expensive- but fortunately, Kiddo has always loved oatmeal. "Quick Oats" or even "Old Fashioned Oats" in a big container is just as easy to prepare in a microwave as those little packets. The old fashioned oats are chewyer though. Add some honey or cinnamon and raisins... or nuts or apple slices and yum! If a co-op is nearby- their oatmeal can be even cheaper.
Carrots and peanut butter make a cheap and nutritious snack. My parents tell a story about when they moved to a new city and neither had jobs yet when I was two years old--- we lived on carrots, peanut butter, biscuits and bacon for a month!
Apples are pretty inexpensive year round and kids like them. There are lots of ways to make apples a fun snack or desert: sliced and pealed (kiddo's favorite) or with peanut butter spread on top, baked, or even microwaved with some butter, cinnamon and sugar.
Rice Pudding is a pretty cheap and not all-together unhealthy desert: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/rice_pudding/
Kiddo would often ask for bread and butter for a before-bed snack. Cinnamon toast makes a sweet breakfast too.
then there's tunafish and canned salmon which are pretty cheap sources of protein- especially when on sale. Just watch the mercury contamination. According to this: http://www.nrdc.org/health/effects/mercury/tuna.asp I eat too much tunafish for my weight. But Salmon's a good alternative- especially if you like to munch the bones.
Gosh- looking back- Kiddo ate a whole lot of cinnamon! Lots of carbs too- but kids need calories. Other than at daycare, I think he ate a hamburger about once a week- when we'd eat at the dining hall or visit family. Looking back on it- I wish I could have provided more fruits and vegetables and more proteins- but he was always a good eater (though he refused beans or tofu) but at least he wasn't overweight and eating a junk food diet like so many American kids these days.
More info about tunafish and mercury- maybe you guys know this already but I didn't.
http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/fish/advice/
Apparently "light" tuna contains less mercury than "white" or "albacore." It's the Alabcore that's most often on sale in my grocery store- but canned salmon's much cheaper than fresh- and a good alternative.
Anyone have new ideas here? I stock up on cheap freezer pizza to curb my pizza ordering waste, which was near excessive. We rarely eat meat cause I hate to cook it and the kids rarely eat it. I'll try n think of more n post later...
I buy large chunks of meat and have my husband butcher them. ( it saves alot in comparison to buying them already cut). I buy alot of fruits and veggies from roadsidestands. They are way cheaper and they taste so much better. I also buy frozen veggies because with four kids it's to expensive to buy alot of fresh ones that may or may not go bad.
We eat alot of rice ( we make jumbylaya or yellow rice or we add beans to it) because it is cheap if you buy in bulk and it lasts forever.
Going in on meat CSAs with other families is very popular where I live. It's also quite affordable if you do it this way. Also, helping sponsor a hunter is popular as well.
We've been doing a lot of sprouting over the Summer and we will continue this through the Winter when green foods are more expensive. We sprout mung bean, lentils, flax, broccoli, sunflower seeds etc.
The kiddos love it! When they eat there sprouts they say, "It's a liiiiive!" and pretend like they're giants eating smallish things. They're a great alternative for lettuce. My fave way to eat them is on a toasted bagel with cream cheese.
The kiddos help with the sprouting process which gets them interested and teaches them some core values of preparing your own food.
Sprouting
What you'll need:
-Quart canning jar with metal ring. (I purchased mine at a thrift store for $1)
-Screen mesh cut to fit the metal ring of the canning jar. (I went to the dollar store and bought a splatter screen, using the metal ring as a stencil drew the shape I needed and cut into it. Be mindful of the metal bits that fall off when you cutting and keep away from young ones.)
-Seeds for sprouting. (We purchase ours in bulk at the co-op. Also, we went to our public library and checked out "Fresh food from small spaces" by R.J. Rupenthal for some help starting up. It's a great guide for sprouting and fermenting foods. It has other tips as well e.g. growing your own food with only an apartment terrace.)
-Filtered water. (If you can afford filtered water this will be the best way to sprout. When rinsing my sprouts I try and catch the water and use it in brewing my coffee and in smoothies and boiling pasta and veggies and etc.)
Process:
-2 T of the seeds you're going to use. Make sure they are organic! (If you choose not to, you should be warned most of the conventional seeds have been treated with pesticides and herbicides. We don't want to poison our families. This isn't just a hippie thing. You can make your family really sick! Since the seed hasn't been sitting in the soil which is a natural filtering process it has the pure toxin sitting on it.)
-1/4 C of filtered water for soaking the seeds over night. (At least 8 hours depending on the season. When it's hotter the sprouting process is shortened.)
-Rinse, swirl and shake with the mesh on top 2-3 times a day. The kiddos love this part. (Fill the quart jar so that you have an inch or two of water ABOVE the seeds. Swirl the water around a bit. Shake the water out. I leave my jar upside down in the dish rack out of the sun.)
You will start seeing leaves form on the sprouts within a couple of days. If it's extremely hot out store your sprouts in the fridge and once those 2-3 days of sprouting are done break them up a bit and store them in a more appropriately sized container in the fridge.
For a visual check out this vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSt0DmAPDm4&feature=related
She does it slightly different than I and you'll find a way that works best for you and your family too.
Also, I don't bother with the husks. That takes too much of my time. I want things to be a little more simplified so that I can spend more free time with my kiddos.
I've considered sprouting before but don't think I realised how easy it was- thanks for the video it really convinced me.
Could you use cheesecloth or does it not let in enough air?
It is oh so easy! And kids of all ages are able to help which makes it a nice family kitchen activity.
The tutorials I've read said that cheese cloth is fine. Where I live it's too wet so I would worry that it would start to mildew.
Have fun sprouting!
oh....and we also start a garden in the spring to grow our own peppers, tomatoes, and spices.
My LO loves sprouting. I use cheesecloth and don't think I could use anything more breathable or the seeds would fall out, but that depends on what seeds/beans you're sprouting. I only sprout during the winter because it gets really dry here so then I don't worry much about mold.
Sweet was just thinking about this post today. amazingly broke right now but might still stop at the co-op - or i think i have some lentils in the cupboard...
We use a screen mesh and sprout everything from tiny alfalfa and radish seeds to mung bean and lentil.
Right now I'm searching for a screen mesh that's not metal. It is rusting after a few of uses. It's wasteful and a little ironic that I'm trying to create something more sustainable for our family meals yet I am throwing away metal that can't be recycled after only a few uses.
Any suggestions?
I soooo wish I was in a dryer state right now however big rain=big trees, which I am thankful for.
Next Summer I'll try cheesecloth for sure.