THE THRIFTY COOK
40 ways to keep food costs under control
Posted on Thu, Jul. 24, 2008
By KAREN HARAM
San Antonio Express-News
BOB CHAMBERLIN / LOS ANGELES TIMES
Soups are a healthful and thrifty way to use leftover meat and vegetables.
With grocery prices rising more rapidly than at any time in the past 18 years, I'm, well, I'm doing exactly what I've been doing since I started cooking.
In my early days of marriage, I learned to be a careful shopper because I had to; today, I budget when I grocery-shop because I have other ways I prefer to spend my money.
Here are 40 tips for stretching a food budget. I know they work, because I've used them. I have to admit, though, that I don't remember a time that they're more valuable than today, thanks to a rise in food prices that shows no sign of abating.
1. Make a list and stick with it. I organize my list by the way the store is laid out, grouping produce, canned goods, dairy, meat and bakery together. I do my best to stick with the list, and try not to add other things to my cart, no matter how tempting the gum, lip gloss and magazines at the checkout counter.
2. Make a list and don't stick with it. Here's where I vary from the above.
If I'm planning on making flank steak with mashed potatoes and asparagus, and I find that asparagus is $3.99 a pound and carrots are 39 cents, I'll switch to carrots. Really, wouldn't steamed carrots, tossed with a little butter and dill weed, work just as well and at a tenth the price? Be flexible in your menus, keeping in mind that rice or pasta can substitute for potatoes, chicken thighs for breasts, etc., depending on what is priced best.
3. Remember that cute costs. These days, most ''baby'' carrots aren't baby carrots, but baby-cut carrots. The last week in May when I checked prices at a local supermarket, an ounce of regular carrots cost 3.5 cents and an ounce of baby-cut carrots cost 19.8 cents, making the regular carrots a fifth the cost of the baby-cut ones. To save money, peel your own carrots and cut your own sticks.
4. Substitute, substitute, substitute. Say you're going to make a vegetable soup and flavor it with basil like you normally do. If you don't have basil, don't buy it for just that one dish. Use something else in your pantry for seasoning, be it rosemary, seasoned salt, chili powder, oregano or whatever.
5. Think bulk. Instead of buying a whole jar of some obscure spice you'll never use again, buy just what you need in bulk at Whole Foods and the like.
6. Don't think in terms of what a package of meat costs, but how many meals you'll get from it. Flank steak may be more expensive than pork chops, for example, but you'll have no waste with the flank steak, where you'll lose fat and bone with pork chops.
7. Don't be forced into buying more of meat than you need. An example? Pork chops are often packaged in containers that hold five or six chops, but you're a two-person family. Ask the supermarket to cut the packaging down to the size that you need.
8. Conversely, don't be afraid to think beyond the first meal with meat. Take that same package of pork chops. If you buy the package of five, sauté two for meal No. 1, but throw an extra chop in the saute pan and save it for the next night to chop into fried rice. Take the other two chops, flatten them until they're about doubled their size (leaving the meat on the bone) and have milanesa with ranchero sauce for a third meal. You don't need huge servings of meat to satisfy; fill in with more healthful vegetables on the side.
9. Look for meats that are less in demand. Try pork shoulder instead of pork chops, chicken thighs instead of breasts, chuck instead of sirloin.
10. Decide what your time is worth. If you're making chicken salad, you can cook a whole chicken and de-bone and chop it, cook breasts or thighs and chop them, de-bone and chop a rotisserie chicken or buy cooked breast slices and chop them. The more work that's been done to the chicken, the more you'll pay.
If I'm going to be home anyway, I'll poach the whole chicken, which costs about an eighth of the price of the already cooked meat -- and tastes better, to boot. Remember that there's a difference between active and passive cooking. Don't get bogged down on the time spent on passive cooking (chicken boiling, pork tenderloin roasting in the oven). Yes, you have to be in the house, but you can be reading a book, helping with homework, playing a game or whatever you do with your free time.
11. Don't feel like you can't ever splurge. Among other items, I think top-quality chocolate, tea, extra-virgin olive oil and vinegar are worth their price, and I'm willing to pay for that.
But I don't think every can of tomatoes I buy has to be San Marzano. I use those in some dishes where I think their flavor is essential; otherwise, I go for a good but less-expensive can.
12. Take the time to compare prices for staples you buy weekly, like orange juice. You may be surprised where you get the best value. The day I checked, it cost virtually the same to buy frozen or refrigerated orange juice (about 2.7 cents per ounce). Both were cheaper than the cheapest canned orange juice (3.6 cents per ounce).
13. Don't waste food. Say you've boiled the chicken for the chicken salad.
Save the stock for another use, either for tortilla soup or reduced and added to flavor sauces.
14. Ditto with bread. Have some that's going stale? Process it and make bread crumbs to bread those pork chops. Or turn it into stuffing, and stuff pork chops or chicken with it.
15. Forget expensive, sugary beverages and drink water. Squeeze in a wedge of fresh lemon or lime (whichever is cheaper).
16. Have more lemons or limes than you can use? Don't pitch them or let them decay; slice them and put the wedges in the compartments of an ice cube tray, add water and freeze.
17. You can do the same thing with other foods. When you're chopping vegetables and end up with more than you need, throw them in the bag, adding to it as you have other veggie leftovers. Cooked vegetables can be added as well.
When you get enough in the bag, you have the basics for a pot of vegetable soup.
Have too many mashed potatoes? Stir in an egg, a shake of garlic powder and some biscuit mix; form them into patties and sauté in a little butter. Or cook some ground beef with onions, green pepper and tomatoes, put in a casserole dish and top with the leftover mashed potatoes for a quick shepherd's pie.
18. Have some bits and pieces of cheese left over? Throw them in a zip-top bag and freeze. When ready to make a quiche, potatoes au gratin or cheese omelet, grate the bits of cheese in the food processor. Or, grate them in the food processor, add some minced onion and mayonnaise and bake in a small ramekin until bubbly. You have a great appetizer spread for bread.
19. Make your own frozen foods. I make up chocolate chip cookie dough, form it into rolls and put in the freezer, triple wrapped to stay fresh. It's much cheaper than the refrigerated stuff and tastes better, too.
20. Make food ahead and freeze it for your own quick lunches. I make vast pots of soup, then put the soup in individual containers. Pull it from the freezer and heat in the microwave as needed.
21. I do the same thing for ``TV dinners.'' When I have some lasagna left over, I portion it out into microwaveable divided plates, and freeze them. It makes a great, easy-to-grab lunch the next week.
22. Don't buy individual bags of potato chips or cookies for school lunches. Buy the giant economy size and portion them into 1-ounce sizes that you put in baggies. When I checked, the 1-ounce individual bags of chips cost 38 cents an ounce. It costs 16.5 cents for 1 ounce of the same chips when you bag them yourself.
23. Remember the most expensive food is the food you throw away. Keep your pantry well stocked, so you have options for quick, no-brainer meals, but don't overbuy on meat, fresh produce and bakery items that have a short shelf life.
24. Don't rely on warehouse stores for all your grocery needs. You probably don't need 3 pounds of chocolate chips, even for a few months of cookie baking.
25. Don't assume things situated at the end of the aisle are cheapest.
Generally, those inviting little displays are pricey.
26. Compare apples to apples, checking prices by the ounce or the pound to see which is the better buy.
27. When buying produce, check if you're paying for food by the item or by the pound. If it's per item, select the larger avocado. If it's per pound, go for the green pepper that's lighter.
28. Watch when the clerk rings up your groceries to make sure there are no errors and sale prices are used.
29. Don't shop when you're hungry, tired, with kids or on busy Saturdays and Sundays, if avoidable.
30. Shop less often; you'll have fewer chances to spend money.
31. Check prices for fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables to see which is a better buy. The day I checked, frozen strawberries and fresh (on sale) were both $1.99 a pound. At that point, I'd opt for fresh. But if the fresh berries are more expensive, and I was making a strawberry rhubarb pie where frozen would work just as well, I'd opt for the less-expensive frozen ones.
32. Compare prices of meats that are already packaged versus those at the deli.
Mesquite-smoked ham at the deli was $6.99 a pound. The same brand, already packaged for easy grabbing, was $7.98 a pound or almost $1 more.
33. Think beyond the grocery store. Some ethnic markets or international markets have much better prices on seafood. Don't forget farmers' markets, dollar stores and drug stores.
34. Consider products on the clearance shelf or cart. You can save a lot of money, but be sure to check expiration dates and dents in canned goods.
35. Think portion control. Do you really need a 10-ounce steak, when that's enough for two?
36. Keep inexpensive snack foods on hand so your family has something available to munch on without putting you in the poor house. Pop up a big pan of popcorn (yes, there is popcorn beyond the microwaveable kind) and put in a big plastic container. Buy a big watermelon on sale and keep it sliced in the fridge. Wash grapes and keep them in the freezer for a snack.
37. If you find products on sale that your family consistently uses, buy them, making sure they have an expiration date that gives you enough time to use them. Use coupons if they're for foods you normally buy anyway.
38. Set limits for certain foods and don't go over them. An example: avocados. If they're more than $1, I generally pass on them unless I need them for a special meal. Buy foods in season when they taste the best and are most reasonably priced.
39. Don't be shy about asking for bargains. Ask if there are end trays in the deli. You might just get a fun, new assortment to try.
40. Take advantage of holiday specials. If your family insists on having an occasional treat, stock up after the holidays when candy is marked half price or less.
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