Are High Food Prices Getting You Down? Let Me Help You Save Some Money
My mom taught me the importance of saving. I mean she saved EVERY. THING!!!! My husband calls her an organized “hoarder.” I remember being so frustrated by the amount of stuff that she held on to that I always said I would never be the same way. My grandfather use to say “better to have too much than not enough” which is a good indicator of our very humble beginnings. It drove me crazy, but low and behold, I am grateful for many of the lessons I learned. I am certainly not a hoarder by any means, but I try to have a use for everything I own and never buy anything that I know won’t get used.
And so, let me share how to save money on your groceries. Of course the main thing is to only buy what you really need or will use, hence the idea of Garden of Eat’n Meal Plans. When you plan what you will make for the entire week and base your grocery list on that, you only buy what you will use and prevent throwing away perfectly good (and these days, extremely expensive) food. The bonus is that you save time thinking about what to make each day, because everything is planned.
But let’s say, you end up with a little too much chicken from Wednesday night’s dinner or too many grapes that are starting to get soft? This is where my mom’s teachings come in. Take any extra food that you might have to throw out and either save it for leftovers or tomorrow’s lunch OR cut it up into pieces and put it into a ziplock bag and freeze it for future use. My mom froze everything!!!! The harvest from the garden, extra boiled potatoes, nuts, desserts… Except we never had ziplock bags, she stored the food in clean milk bags, sucked out the air and sealed them. Talk about sustainability! Just remember that any meat that has been frozen and thawed, cannot be re-frozen, unless you cook it first. Any fruit that looks like it’s getting a little too ripe, wash it, chop it, freeze it and use it later for smoothies or baking.
Re-creating a new meal with leftovers is also popular in my family. If I have steak left over, I’ll refry it and make fajitas. I’ve seen my aunt take leftover cod and add it to a bowl with chickpeas, onions, herbs, boiled eggs and a dressing to make a delicious salad. Bowls, from poke to burrito bowls and everything in between, are a great way to re-create a new meal. Frittatas filled with your leftovers, soups or stews to use up vegetables, meats, pasta, rice… The possibilities are endless. Of course you have to be creative, but you can always reference the internet.
Another tip which seems obvious but can be easily forgotten in our hectic world, is compare prices! I don’t mean to go to 4 different stores to get the best price, but if fresh green beans are $6, check how much the frozen beans are. When fruit or veg are flash frozen they still have most, if not all or more of the nutrients compared to fresh. Canned, on the other hand, I would try to avoid at all cost. When strawberries are at a high price point, I’ll see what othe fruit I can substitute with.
I follow Plantyou (By Carleigh Bodrug) on Instagram and she has a whole series called “Scrappy Cooking” that gives ideas to reduce food waste and save money. I noticed that she just came out with a book with the same name and I will definitely be reading it!