Frugal Meal Planning 101

[Cynthia Mosher]

We'd like to pull together some ideas for a Frugal Meal Planning 101 article and thought who best to get the best tips from but the Mothering Nutrition and Good Eating community! 

If I were a mom suddenly faced with a big household budget cut I'd likely look closely at my food bill, what I'm buying and what I could do better meals-wise and in shopping. What ideas do you have to help such a mom? What works best for your family? What favorites are always on your menu that are easy to make and inexpensive but also whole, healthy meals? 

Please share your ideas and tips. We'll pull together the article to feature on Mothering.com and credit everyone.  

[mrsmischief]

Subbing. 

[Catholic Mama]

I am pretty bad at not spending much at the grocery store, so take what I say with a grain of salt. I would still try to buy more fresh fruits and vegetables than canned to keep us healthy, and I would make meatloaf, a whole chicken with vegetables (onion inside the chicken, carrots and potatoes outside), chicken soup with the leftovers, shepherd's pie, and a store bought pizza every now and then.

[Cynthia Mosher]

For me, buying in bulk cuts costs. But you really need to have the storage space to make that work well and for fresh foods you have to be really prepared with menus planned so that the bulk food is utilized before it goes bad. 

[Catholic Mama]

Originally Posted by Cynthia Mosher 

For me, buying in bulk cuts costs. But you really need to have the storage space to make that work well and for fresh foods you have to be really prepared with menus planned so that the bulk food is utilized before it goes bad. 

We have two fridges (one came with our rented house and we bought the other one used) so that helps with storing the fresh food. Also I usually plan meals for a week or two weeks in advance so that helps with using up what I buy as long as I don't forget what I bought something for, which does occasionally happen.

[rainbownurse]

As a kid, we didn't have much money, so I have a whole host of cheap meals that I pull out. Quick tips:

-Make a menu and stick to it! don't go grocery shopping when hungry
-The Kraft Canada website has some great, cheap meals. I find I usually have to double the spices though

-Buy bulk meat if possible

-buy cheaper cuts of meats (flank steak, chicken thighs instead of breasts, cottage roll)

-or don't buy meat at all. Meat is the big expense on most grocery bills. Try to make two nights/days vegetarian. 

-slow cookers are great for the cheaper cuts of meat that take a little longer to cook

-make as much as you can from scratch. While it's not as convienent, it can be a great family activity. This will also have more "up front" cost, but over the long run it will be cheaper

-but whatever fruits/veggies are in season at the time, they are always cheaper

-Go comparison shopping and see if you can find a cheaper grocery store. IE-No Frills instead of Superstore of Loblaws (Canadian)

budgetbytes.com is a GREAT Website!

[jgallagher66]

I buy in bulk and also belong to a produce coop. CSA or buying coops are both great ways to save on fresh produce. I pick up my produce once a week and then plan all of our meals around what we have. We are plant based so we have no meat expense. I buy most of our grains in bulk. I don't go to the grocery store often. We go to Costco once a month and Sprouts every few weeks to fill in if I need something for a recipe but mostly we make do with what we have. I make a lot of stuff from scratch which is relaxing for me and my kids like to help. We use lots of dried beans and lentils with our fresh vegetables.

[Turquesa]

Keep a price book. You'll make surprising discoveries. A grocery store you considered more expensive will sell certain products for a lower price. The unit price of brown sugar at one store might actually be more expensive in bulk than pre-packaged. Certain patterns will show up in your records that tell you when different items are likely to go on sale.

Here's one template: http://organizedhome.com/printable/household-notebook/price-book

Also, one caveat for menu planning is that you get to the store and find that an ingredient that you need is expensive. That's why I sometimes go grocery shopping and menu plan on the fly. This only works if you're used to cooking and not too recipe-dependent. So if beans are marked down, I get a bunch and jot down that we're having black bean soup Thursday night.

[Catholic Mama]

Originally Posted by jgallagher66 

I buy in bulk and also belong to a produce coop. CSA or buying coops are both great ways to save on fresh produce. I pick up my produce once a week and then plan all of our meals around what we have. We are plant based so we have no meat expense. I buy most of our grains in bulk. I don't go to the grocery store often. We go to Costco once a month and Sprouts every few weeks to fill in if I need something for a recipe but mostly we make do with what we have. I make a lot of stuff from scratch which is relaxing for me and my kids like to help. We use lots of dried beans and lentils with our fresh vegetables.

What does CSA stand for? Do you know if there are any Sprouts in Florida? Is that expensive?

[MarineGurl020412]

Bone in cuts of meat/chicken are almost always cheaper than boneless. Plus you can save the bones to make rich broths. Also I found adding beans to most meat helps to stretch the meat and meal overall. I add a handful lentils to pretty much every casserole or soup I make.

Casseroles, soups and stews really make the $$$ stretch since you can fill them with extra veggies (especially things like the stalks of broccoli) and rice or pasta.
 

[jgallagher66]

Originally Posted by Catholic Mama 

What does CSA stand for? Do you know if there are any Sprouts in Florida? Is that expensive?

Hi Catholic Mama

The quote feature may not work on my tablet. CSA stands for community supported agriculture. You can find put what's available close to you by going to www.localharvest.org/CSA

Sprouts may be more of a west coast thing. It's a natural food store with good prices on fresh produce and carries lots of items that are more natural food oriented that may be difficult to find in a regular grocery. I find them reasonable if I shop the specials only. I don't go there too often but they carry stuff like non-dairy yogurt that we eat but that not all grocery stores carry.

I try to stay out of the grocery as much as possible and just come up with recipes to use what I already have bought in bulk.

[colsxjack]

Ways we have cut down on our grocery bill:

*Survey our pantry and fridge/freezer and then meal plan for the week before writing out a grocery list. Then we buy only the ingredients we need for our meal plan.

*When making things like pasta sauce, we make a bunch and freeze some. This has cut down on spending on convenience foods or take out on those inevitable days that we are too tired after work to cook.

*Plan quick and easy meals into our meal plan to also accomodate those inevitable days that we do not feel like cooking much

*make muffins, quick breads, etc to save on snack foods such as granola bars

*make french toast and/or pancakes ahead of time and freeze them for quick cheap breakfasts

Some of the cheaper meals we love:

Veggie Tortilla Night. Basically mixed stir-fried veg, some baked beans, avocado, cheese, salsa and torillas

Lentil and Sausage with Spinach. A thick lentil stew with sausage cut up in it.

Bangers and Mash. Which is just fried sausages and mashed veg. We love mashed sweet potato or mashed squash

Spagetti

Black Bean Soup. Really good vegetarian. But if you love meat, it is great with a smoked turkey leg. Cook the leg in it for a couple hours (slow cookers are great) and then shread the meat into the soup. VERY hearty and tasty.

Add beans or lentils to almost anything.

Bean salads are great for lunches. A bean salad with a piece of crusty bread can be a satisfying meal.

Poach an egg in tomato sauce and put on toast open face. A few slices of avocado on the side, or sliced apples or pear. Very yummy and inexpensive meal.

I find it is almost always cheaper to make extra dinner and take left overs for lunch rather than buy lunch, or even cheaper than most other packed lunches.

ALWAYS take some snacks in your bag when you go out. Less tempted to buy a snack at a coffee shop or somewhere when your afternoon gets the better of you or errands take longer than you thought.

[gypsymama2008]

My most effective methods for eating frugally were to make everything from scratch.  You can easily make bread (Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day is my favorite book about bread baking if I (a kitchen dunce) can make bread following this method anyone can), granola (this is super cheap to make if you buy bulk ingredients, my favorite recipe is chai spice), oatmeal, muffins, energy bars, pancakes, crepes, waffles, hummus, even salad dressings.  This makes breakfast and snacking much cheaper and saves a ton of money. 

Eggs are a super cheap source of protein so have lots on hand.  You can easily make an omlette or fritatta out of a dozen eggs that will feed several people for 3 or 4 dollars total, depending on what kind of ingredients you use.  I try to always have a dozen hard boiled eggs on hand as a cheap, protein-y snack.

When buying produce focus on veggies rather than fruits they are much cheaper.  Good healthy snacks for kids are celery and peanut butter (you can add raisins for ants on a log), cucumbers and homemade ranch dressing, carrots and hummus, kale chips.  Bananas are a good cheap fruit to have on hand if you do want to have fruit.

Amazon has some decent deals if you watch and wait for things to go on sale, especially if you do subscribe and save.

Those are some thoughts off the top of my head.

[sk8boarder15]

Originally Posted by rainbownurse 

-buy cheaper cuts of meats (flank steak, chicken thighs instead of breasts, cottage roll)

-or don't buy meat at all. Meat is the big expense on most grocery bills. Try to make two nights/days vegetarian. 

-slow cookers are great for the cheaper cuts of meat that take a little longer to cook

YES YES YES! I've been trying to only buy cheaper cuts and sale meats, and we are eating vegetarian once every few nights. We did pesto with vegetables the other night and the whole family loved it despite being vegetarian. We also do vegetarian currys they are very flavorful and can be as spicy as you want. 

We do stew meat and pork sholders in the crock pot and they come out amazing, and stretches across several meals for our small family. 

[Kamiro]

- Egg dishes. Omelets, farmers omelets,  fritters, casseroles, egg salad sandwiches, fried egg sands, poached eggs...You can make a lot of meals from a 5 dozen crate of eggs and almost always that is under $10 at the store.

Good source of protein, traditional food.

- Soup dishes A head of broccoli or cauliflower, a few carrots, a stick of celery, some parsley, and some bouillon (if no stock is on hand) can turn into Broccoli or Cauliflower soup. Simple, nutritious and pretty quick. Make a white sauce out of 1/2 cup milk and a few tablespoons of flour in a separate pan, whisking over medium heat until it thickens. Pour in to soup mix and you have a creamy, decadent tasting cream of _____ soup. Simple, and very cheap. I can make this recipe for my family for less than $3.50 and it feeds all of us well.

A quick, and cheaper restaurant style soup I make is chicken tortilla soup. Simple recipe is 2-3 cans of beans that are on sale that you like, taco seasoning, onion, (optional) ground turkey or chicken, cumin powder, and chicken stock/bouillon. 1 can of diced tomatoes, and last but not least strips of corn tortillas added.

If I am broke and this is all I have it is delicious and can be made with enough for left overs. Of course, I like to add a squirt of lime juice, fresh cilantro, cheese, grape tomatoes and sour cream on top. Rarely are avocados on sale, but those are yummy also.

Even with all the 'fixings' on top I can make enough for two meals for us for around $12. This can be made even cheaper if done vegetarian and if you plan meals around the left over tortillas, etc. - this is definitely a staple.

The above soups converted me to loving soup. Before eating these delicious soups, I hated soup. Now we eat soup at least 2 times a week, some times more.

-Carb Dishes

Simple dishes like biscuits and gravy, fried potatoes, pancakes, oatmeal --- all of these are heavy in carbs but are very cheap and can be made more nutritious with the addition of flax seed, or frying in olive oil. With the exception of oatmeal -We eat these with extreme moderation (1x a week). They are inexpensive and very filling.

-Snacks

It is very much worth it to get your hands on an air popper. Buy fresh popcorn kernels and then get busy experimenting! Our favorite topping for popcorn is coconut oil (melted), and then Cinnamon, sugar, and salt sprinkled on the popcorn. Wonderful and satisfies both sweet / salty cravings. Very inexpensive.

I have a lot more ideas but the real world chores are calling :)

[Mary Esther]

Soups are my answer. The problem is the boring factor... day after day the same soup. Complaints galore from my boys and my little girl just stops eating them. I've taking to freezing the soups after just one meal and making other soups over the course of a week... this allows me to then rotate soups over a period of a few weeks. The other day I experimented with a base soup of my own inventing that I then tweaked in a few directions over the following days. I sauteed garlic, onion, a tiny bit of jalapeno, carrots, and celery. I then added veggie broth, a can of garbanzo beans and a can of chopped tomatoes. Then the fun began. For a few nights, this morphed into mexican soup. I added lime, cilantro and avacadoes (my favorite version!). Another night I used the base and added tofu that had been sauteed in tamari and scallions for an asian-ish dish. My next plan is to go Thai with this. I'd love more thoughts on ways to tweak! Best, Mary Esther
 

[Cynthia Mosher]

Soups are great this time of year too! Thanks Mary Esther! 

[Cynthia Mosher]

Does anyone dehydrate foods? That's something else I'm thinking to do as part of my frugal food budget.

Love the popcorn snack suggestion.

[pohaha]

I think the bottom line on living frugally is to

1. not deprive yourself on stuff you enjoy, but cut out other things that are not essential or even good for you.

2. make food at home, from scratch when you can.  The internet is a vast and amazing resource for recipes.

But for more details :)  ...

My family gets weird about eating the same thing more than once in a week, so by having a Basic Meal (like a hot cereal, salad or pasta) we can change it up or personalize it with veggies, dressings, or sauces.  I like making beans from scratch and freezing in small batches (its so much cheaper), but lately we've been buying canned beans.  We used to have a CSA, but cancelled it because it was too expensive ($50 per month versus about $25 per month at the store - I'm just talking veggies here, our CSA did not include fruit).  We found that our local grocery (Sprouts) carried the same exact items from our CSA farm, and even tough there was a "big" mark-up (or so we're told) we still spend about half picking what we want each week.  And we could buy organic cilantro whenever we want, not just when the CSA puts in in our box (which I did not understand why they sold it to the store and not include it in our boxes).  We had to go to the store anyway to buy fruit and stuff, so this just made more sense for us.  We buy organic baby greens from Trader Joe's.  It doesn't last nearly as long as heads of lettuce from the CSA (because its not as freshly picked), so I buy just one bag each time we go to the store, so it doesn't go bad.  We visit our nearby Trader Joe's once per week, since we only have a regular side by side fridge and not a lot of pantry space, for things like milk, cheese, eggs, lettuce, and some fruit.

Our biggest food expenses are eating out and alcohol.  We aren't big meat eaters (after spending a year as pescatarians we are much more aware of a reasonable amount of meat to eat).  But I would rather spend a just little more on food (good food & treats like scallops & artichokes, not processed packaged stuff) and not pay for things like cable, gym memberships (we walk/play outside), and haircuts - I cut my family's hair...it took some practice, but I'm a pro now ;).  These are recurring expenses that I just do not think is worth the money.

As far as how we eat...I grew up in and live in San Diego, so a family favorite is Mexican food.  We find it easy to make meals with staples like oatmeal, rice, beans, potatoes, eggs, tomatoes, onions, cilantro, and salsa.  Other items include milk, cheese, tortillas & bread (cheaper to make your own), and fresh & frozen veggies.  For me its often cheaper to buy frozen organic veggies.

Breakfast: Oatmeal (bulk from Costco) - we make it with water, then add whole flax seeds, frozen blueberries (the little wild ones, from Trader Joe's), milk, cinnamon and a bit of brown sugar to serve.

Or, egg in a nest with a chai latte.

Lunch: A hearty salad of organic baby greens & veggies & homemade dressing.  I started using my food processor to shred veggies quickly and make it easier to eat in a salad - carrots, jicama, persian cucumbers, mushrooms, whatever is on sale or in season.  I also hand chop things like a hard boiled egg, tomato.  Then I might make a homemade dressing in the food processor (no need to wash it before this step).  More often I just use some olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Then I add raisins or cranberries, and hummus, beans, or edamame. 

I usually make a pasta for my kids for lunch (or rice & beans).  I serve with veggies I'm having in my salad.  And pasta sauce, or olive oil and parmesian cheese.

Dinners: 

Huevos Rancheros - Over easy eggs served with enchilada sauce, tortillas, and pico (diced onion, tomato, and cilantro), and refried black beans.

Pasta - Sauce or Olive oil and veggies like broccoli or cauliflower, or edamame. Grilled Chicken.

Wild caught salmon once per week (from Costco in the freezer section) - served with potatoes (roasted, mashed, etc) & veggies.

Enchilada Casarole - Layer corn tortillas and enchilada sauce (or homemade mole), then refried beans, corn, sauted onions & bell peppers & mushrooms, black olives.  I just put whatever veggies we have in the fridge & freezer that would be good.  You can add shredded chicken if you like.  Top with cheese (shredded, or spaced out slices) and another layer of corn tortillas, and enchilada sauce.  Bake at 375 for 20 mins or until heated through.  Serve with rice.  I like making cilantro lime rice (like at Chipotle) by adding lime juice and fresh chopped cilantro at the end of cooking.

Shepard's Pie with whatever filling of meat and veggies we have (or in the mood for) and topping of mashed potatoes, or mashed yams with potatoes.

Special Treat is Homemade biscuits & sausage gravy.  There are good recipes online for southern sausage gravy and how to make your own biscuits.

My husband doesn't like heavy meals, so often we will have a dinner version of the lunch salad.  We add grilled chicken, some fresh baked bread, and maybe a cup of soup or stew.

[candiland]

I have been struggling a bit with this... my SO and I have three kids between the two of us, and my ten year old is quite possibly the pickiest eater ever, which makes healthy eating on a budget extremely difficult at times!

A great thing to keep on hand is dried black beans - cheap and plentiful.  I soak them overnight, then I saute peppers and onions while the beans are cooking (pressure cookers are GREAT!) and always keep things like wraps and big containers of salsa around.  If you, unlike me, can manage to follow the sales in your area, you can find relatively cheap but quality produce if you are willing to travel. Bags of onions are relatively cheap and green peppers are, as well.  I also keep bags of brown and jasmine rice on hand.

My S.O. makes wonderful whole wheat/grain bread, and one loaf usually lasts at least two or three days.  A nice hot slab of bread with butter or vegan spread and honey or jam can serve as breakfast, a snack, a treat, or a side to any dinner.  Even my picky one loves this bread. Seriously, it's nutritious, cheap to make, and fills our bellies quite nicely!

Stocking up on frozen veggies when they are on sale can always save the day.  I throw them into the burritos, or I make a stir fry and blend in whatever fresh veggies we have left before they spoil.  I've recently concocted a really delicious stir fry with ingredients at hand... I toss them in a wok with olive oil, sprinkle on a garlic/chili powder blend, spritz with soy sauce or Bragg's liquid aminos, and top it off with a drizzle of maple syrup.  I then add separately-saute'd tempeh or tofu, depending what's on sale that week, and make a batch of rice along with it.  I even add leftover black beans at times... it's amazing what you can come up with when you don't want to - or can't - go to the store!