A Bit of Planning in the Kitchen Will Save You Money

Posted on Thursday, September 10th, 2009 at 5:24 pm in Financial Planning

“What’s for dinner?” Don’t you wish you had a dollar for every time you’ve heard that question? In this day and age, with everyone on such a busy schedule, you need to plan ahead in order to produce a tasty and nutritious meal every evening. By thinking ahead you can save not just time in the kitchen, but also a significant amount of cash on your grocery shopping. If your meal options are already set, you’ll resist the temptation to spend money on takeout. And your family will thank you for all the delicious food you’ll be able to enjoy.

Plan weekly menus: Now you’ll be able to direct anyone who asks that dreaded question to the kitchen notice board or refrigerator where you’ve posted the menu. Ask everyone for their input, and make sure you list all the side dishes and desserts as well as the main course. Once your menu is done, making a grocery list will be simple.

Keep it simple: You can serve complicated meals at dinner parties and other special occasions. For every day, think of easy dishes you can cook with just a few ingredients. You can also vary the spicing and ingredients in your family favorites for a bit of fun. For instance, instead of making lasagna in the traditional way with ground beef, try using chicken or sausage instead. You can also save money and create a new flavor experience by adding in some diced vegetables such as onions, zucchini or eggplant. How about burgers made with ground chicken rather than beef, or a delicious curry with potato, peas and cauliflower instead of meat?

Make sure the pantry is stocked: Keep basic food ingredients that you use frequently such as ketchup, barbecue sauce, pasta, rice, bread crumbs or olive oil in your pantry at all times. Buy several packs when they’re on special at the supermarket to save extra money.

Cook from scratch: Everyone can learn to cook using whole foods, if they only try. It’s so much cheaper and more nutritious than buying microwaveable meals, and it can actually save you time too as long as you’re organized! And you’ll know exactly what you’re eating, rather than exposing your family to a whole lot of fat, sugar and weird additives. If you buy a large pack of ground beef, you can use it for burgers, meatloaf and meat sauce for pasta. That’s three completely different simple meals from one package of meat.

Cook as much as possible in advance: Make a huge pot of stew or pasta sauce at the weekend and freeze it in suitable portion sizes. The following weekend, cook a different dish in bulk and freeze. Then you can just thaw and microwave what you need for a quick meal with a salad or vegetable as a side dish. Roast several pieces of chicken at once and eat half of them hot that day, and use the other half in a different dish the next day.

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