Thursday, February 26, 2009
Thrifty Thursday- A giveaway!
So, I know that the economy in general is a source of conversation and concern among many people. I know personally one of the things I have a hard time budgeting is my food allowance. It shouldn't be too difficult since Princess and I aren't much on breakfast. Some yogurt and we're good to go. On the flip side Princess is a little green eating machine- she loves her fresh fruits and veggies & those aren't cheap! So, I'm looking to y'all for tips on how to do better with menu planning. I also hate making regular recipes since its just the two of us and we wind up eating left overs all week! So, this week my wonderful readers I'm asking for your thrifty kitchen/ menu tips! Each tip you share will count as one entry. Just use a new comment for each one! Next we I will randomly pick a winner and that winner will receive a $20 Walmart card. How does that work for you? I'm looking forward to hearing some great ideas!
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16 comments:
I have a fabulous recipe for you.
Baked Potato Soup.
http://melaniescrafts.blogspot.com/2009/01/brrr.html
Hmm thrifty kitchen ideas? Well, Walmart definitely helps with cutting prices in the kitchen! I also tend to plan out what I'm eating for the week in advance, before I go shopping, so I know what to spend money on and can't get distracted with chips and snacks that I might want, but don't really need.
KikiZoe86(at)yahoo(dot)com
I would make the regular recipes and freeze what you think you won't eat. I do that with my family so we get two meals out of it. You may get three meals, but then you don't have to have the same thing all week. Also I plan my meals for the week on Sunday and shop on Moday....it's much easier to stay on budget if you know exactlly what you need. www.allrecipes.com is also a wonderful source for recipes. You can change the servings and you can have the recipe for 2, 4, 6 or more!!!
Thanks for the giveaway!
mhode79 at gmail dot com
I make a quick menu plan when I make my grocery list, based on the sale items for the week. After matching with coupons, I'm able to keep our food budget really low!
give_me_a_latte at yahoo
I recommend Rachel Ray's recipes. She has a whole set of "double" recipes, where the leftovers from the first meal go into a totally different, and still delicious, second meal. It cuts down on prep time and will keep you from eating all leftovers, all the time!
urchiken at gmail dot com
Okay so here are two of my tips:
I buy concentrated cleaners and dilute them for my "allinone" cleaner that i use everywhere-I really like Mr. Clean citrus scent.-It saves us money doing this. Tip Number Two: Buy hamburger in bulk and brown it with onions and then freeze in 1/2-1 lb amounts-so all you have to do is grab it out of the freezer and warm it up for tacos, casseroles, etc. Reallly saves time. You can do this with chicken too.
We watch Rachel Ray a lot and I did a search for leftovers for you and found these! I'll keep thinking on some other things for you! :)http://www.rachaelray.com/food_results.php?query=leftovers & http://www.rachaelray.com/food_results.php?query=leftovers%20for%20two
When it's just the two of you, it can be hard to eat up all that food. Try making batches of food and freezing it - then you can defrost small portions whenever you want them. It's like making your own healthy microwave dinners! Here's some recipe links:
http://www.ellenskitchen.com/bigpots/oamc/vegweek.html
http://busycooks.about.com/od/makeaheadrecipes/a/cookOAMC.htm
Thank you for the giveaway!
-Beeb
supercoupongirl AT gmail.com
You mentioned that you eat lots of fruit and veg, and want tips on how to save on that. I wrote an article about saving money on produce that can be found here:
http://www.moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom/2008/10/guest-post-how.html
I figured it would be easier to give you the link than cut and past the whole thing here....LOL!
-Beeb
supercoupongirl AT gmail.com
For menu planning itself, the method that's worked well for me in the past is to print out this list:
http://www.menus4moms.com/pdf/MenuPln.pdf
I write down my menu ideas for the week, and then go to the store. For me personally, I find it's best to leave some flexibility in the menu, so that I can adapt it during the week as necessary to use ingredients up before they go bad.
-Beeb
supercoupongirl AT gmail.com
Another big way to save money is to use up everything - when you're a small family, it can be hard to use all your perishable ingredients up in time. I plan my menu based on what I have, and if I have an ingredient that needs to be used, I will do a google search for recipies that call for it, or go here:
http://www.recipematcher.com/
You can type in what ingredients you have in your pantry, and this website will tell you what you can make with them!
-Beeb
supercoupongirl AT gmail.com
Check what you have for leftovers. If you have one main dish like a rotisserie chicken, you can make that your main ingredient. If you have multiple items like a variety of vegetables, you can incorporate a meal that involves most of them.
I love Walmart!! *sighs* :)
Oh you can check your pantries! Cream of Mushroom soup is great to use in casseroles. Use garlic with leftover chicken and pasta to make a yummy garlic chicken Alfredo dish. I also love Tuna Casserole with the Cream of Mushroom! purposedrivenlife4you (at) gmail (dot) com
If I have Asian noodles leftover from dinner, I can put them in a nice cold salad for lunch the following day. :)
We often have gravy leftover from let's say Mashed Potatos and I will put it in a bowl and refrigerate it. I can use it for hot turkey sandwiches the next day! :)
If you have a small amount of cereal left over in the bottom of a cereal bag, you can crush it into small pieces using a mallot or rolling pin. You can use Corn Flakes, Bran Flakes or Wheaties. They work well for coating fried chicken and you can even combine that with bread crumbs. Also, you could use the crumbs for yogurt toppings! Yummy!! :)
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