Winter Meals: Cutting the Cost

It feels like our family is continuously in a process of change -- the most recent was the step-parent adoption of my husband to my elder 2 children.  This, on top of a new baby, on top of the winter months that result in a heating expense, meant I had to cut the cost of some things.  Last month I was so shocked at how much we were able to cut our food bill down, without cutting down our standards.  Our family was fed for $500 in groceries.  The month prior we were pushing $700.  The savings came by simple switches and willingness to labor over meals -- no more Trader Joe's frozen meals.  I didn't use coupons.  Though as much as I would like to coupon-cut, I don't see myself having the time or memory over what coupons I have vs. what to buy.  I also found that when I did briefly attempt to use coupons, I would purchase things that I wouldn't otherwise buy just because of the deal that came with the coupon.  It didn't work in my favor.  Here are some of the simple ways you can save on your grocery bill without coupons, while still purchasing real food.

Organic produce -- Does it matter?  Yes!  Then again I weighed out what could be purchased conventional or even frozen organic rather than fresh organic before just going all organic.  If it grows within the ground, is porous, is leafy, or the outside gets consumed, I purchase it organic.  If it has a peel that is not eaten, I will go non-organic only if the price is a major difference.  In some cases, I switched to frozen organic fruits and vegetables to save on costs on the items out of season -- this beats paying $6 a pint of blueberries.  I also switched what we were buying.  For instance, bell peppers are expensive, carrots are cheap.  I go with recipes that use carrots more than bell peppers.  

Bread.  Between challah, bowls, and rolls, I did a lot of making my own breads.  Unfortunately, the cost and handling of gluten-free meant that I had to switch to an all-purpose flour; however, you can choose an unbromated/non-brominated all-purpose flour, which is still lower in cost and better for you.  I still must purchase loaves of bread to make Brant's sandwiches for work.  You can get plenty of day (or so) old loaves from the local grocer's bakery at a huge discount.  I check the ingredients, because bakery fresh does not equal higher quality most of the time.  I actually go for the Country Oven loaves from Fred Meyer when they are 3 or so days away from expiration.  They sell for $.79/loaf near expiration, and are really decent ingredients. I'll get multiple loaves and freeze them.

Protein.  It's a must, but know that a proper balanced diet is not a high-protein diet.  That being said, I'll add a protein to each meal, but greatly saved on grocery costs by having that predominately be a plant protein.  I don't mean soy neither -- I can't have soy because of my daughter's allergies to it.  For instance, we used to purchase Greek yogurt for our morning smoothies, but have now taken out the yogurt ($5 a large container that serves 4) and replaced it with hemp protein ($11 a tub with significantly more servings).  Beans were a major part of our diet already, and average $1 a can of organic stuff.  I went a step further in savings by buying dry beans from the bulk section (quite a bit are organic) and throwing them into the crock pot instead.  Canned salmon (as opposed to canned tuna) is also budget-friendly, without the added unnecessary ingredients nor higher mercury.  You'd be surprised at how many canned fish recipes you can find.

Snacks.  I have kids, a laboring husband, and I'm a nursing mother.  Our family needs snacks.  I already knew it is more cost efficient to mix your own trail mix -- trail mix being a healthy balanced snack of carbs, fats, and proteins.  Yet, I don't mix my own anymore, because Trader Joe's has trail mixes for as low as $3.99 a bag that will generously give Brant a snack for 4 days.  Other snack switches we made:  baking our own cookies (and other baked goods) from scratch, Costco's organic animal crackers, sunflower seeds, frozen fruit smoothies, tortilla chips with homemade hummus (garbanzo beans were bought dry and home cooked for cost, of course), old fashioned popcorn popped in a pot.

Carbs.  I switched from yellow and red potatoes to russet and sweet -- still organic, since they are ground vegetables.  They are cheaper for the amount you get.  These winter months mean that I can make plenty of soups and chowders with the potatoes.  Then you have mashed potatoes, scalloped potatoes, roasted potatoes, baked potatoes, etc.  It doesn't have to be boring.  Rice remained the same at a brown organic rice.  I get mine from Costco, or even the grocer's bulk section would have better prices with the option for organic.  Rice is not bad for you.  You just have to know what you are getting.  White calrose rice, or glutinous rice (the bulk bags in Asian writing) are bad for you.  Risottos make a budget-friendly lunch and/or dinner.

Dairy.  You should already know that the block is cheaper than a bag.  Most of your popular block cheeses are the same cost, but the softer cheeses spread more when melted (like in quesadillas or grilled cheese).  This means you can use less.  So we go with a softer cheese, like mozarella or monterey jack.  

Pastas.  Most people throw extra spices into their spaghetti sauce anyway, so you might as well try to save on the sauce cost by watering down tomato paste instead, and season from there.  For other non-spaghetti pastas, vinegar and oil go a long way. 

The biggest savings came when we switched the type of meals we ate.  If you make separate courses in one meal it will be more expensive.  If you look for ways to combine the courses into one dish, you will save.  Our dinners were in the form of a baked casserole, a stovetop risotto or pasta, or a crockpot soup or chowder.  Try it!  It's the perfect time of the year for these types of meals and the massive savings.