Now that the holidays are over it’s time to get back into our regular routine which includes cooking for the family on a budget. As life gets busy with work, school and extracurricular activities, it becomes a bit tricky for a family to create healthy meals on a dime. Making the time to properly plan is essential.
To help you plan a healthy menu for your family on a regular basis we have prepared some tips to consider.
1. Plan ahead! Not every week is the same for your family so pick a day to spend an hour or so planning your menu for the week. Sunday is the day I usually choose to plan mine. Go to the shopping coupons for discounted products and choose a menu based on that. If you know you won’t have a lot of time between picking the kids up from school and going to a hockey practice, a crock pot would be a life saver. Practically anything you cook in a crock pot is delicious and leftovers can be used in lunches the next day. Talk about a time saver!
2. Go without meat one day of the week. The old spaghetti dinner is a favorite in my household and the cost of this dish is minimal per serving. You don’t need a meat dish every night. For extra nourishment add a nice salad and add left over vegetables and even fruit to spruce it up.
3. Shop without your kids. If it’s possible, go alone to the grocery store. You can do your shopping faster and avoid pleads from your children to pick up items that are not on your list. You’ll stick to your budget better and have some peace to yourself!
4. Shop according to the season. Its winter now so fruits like melons, berries are expensive. Instead, go for apples, bananas, oranges and squash.
5. Extend your food and save money with dehydration. Instead of buying packaged foods like fruit roll ups, dried fruits and granola bars, make your own! I made my own fruit roll up by dehydrating apple sauce and the kids loved it. You can avoid the preservatives in store bought products by making your own and you save a lot of money in the process. It’s worth it to invest in a dehydrator. Whether you want to dehydrate fruits like strawberries, mangos or bananas or make your own potato chips the cost savings are huge.
6. Don’t forget to get a rain check. If your favorite store runs out of a discounted item you want, ask the cashier or the manager for a rain check. Most grocers offer this. Save your rain check coupon for next week’s menu or when you return to the store.
Don’t forget that leftovers can be carried over to lunches the next day which can also save you time and money. Don’t waste and reuse whatever is in your fridge. Soups and stews are the perfect meal for emptying your fridge items. Happy cooking!.
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