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Saving Money in the Kitchen
By Kelly | April 3, 2009
We’ve been "regrouping" our efforts in the kitchen to be more organized, make better use of our time and save more money. This is a real challenge when you are a "flitting visionary" like me. I have so many great intentions that don’t always get the follow-through to make them work!
One such intention is my meal menu. When we use it, it’s great! No more standing in front of the pantry at 5 p.m. chanting, "Lord, give me a miracle". The meal menu is a simple chart that tells us what kind of meal we’re having for each day–breakfast, lunch and supper.
Here is our menu, just to give you an example:
Monday:
Breakfast: cereal///Lunch: sandwiches///Supper: Soup/crockpot meal
Tuesday:
cinnamon rolls///fruit, cheese, crackers & nuts///pasta, bread & salad
Wednesday:
cereal///soup///sandwiches/baked potato
Thursday:
oatmeal casserole///sandwiches///mexican or crock pot
Friday:
fruit/toast///leftovers///homemade pizza (sometimes store-bought)
Saturday:
pancakes///leftovers or sandwiches///chicken, veg, salad, etc.
True, it’s not that exciting. And we are flexible; we may not always have the right ingredients on hand (although knowing ahead of time helps to keep them), or being pregnant, I may be craving something else 
Sometimes we just switch the meals around.
But as many of you know who implement a menu, it’s so helpful!
Getting Organized.
It’s easier to say than actually do (for us anyway), but my oldest daughter and I are working on preparing more things ahead of time. We have found that unless we set aside a certain time each week, this doesn’t get done. We are taking Mondays as a day we emphasize "home-ec" to do some preparing.
Things we are preparing?
Extra batch of dough to freeze or refrigerate for cinnamon rolls or dinner rolls.
Pancake mix to have ready for Saturdays.
Re-fried beans in the freezer for Mexican meals. (We just cook pinto beans, mash and season them.)
Extra batches of soup to freeze when we make soup.
There are lots more things we could prepare ahead, but we’ll be accomplishing something if we manage this list!
I encourage you to reevaluate your kitchen and menu; how you can save a few dollars a day? How can you make better use of your time to be able to spend it elsewhere? How can your organization include having meals on hand for emergency situations (a sick friend, a death, etc.)?
My new ebook has more money-saving ideas…
but it is for the beginner!
Here is my favorite economical meal:
Anything Mexican:
(These prices are from our bent & dent grocery store, so they could be a little higher if you don’t have one in your area.)
Organic chips…………….. .60 (half a bag)
Salsa………………………. .12 (a jar costs .25!)
Beans……………………… .30 (my best guess)
Corn……………………….. .40
Rice………………………… .20
Sour cream…………………..26
(The pic shows a can of mandarin oranges–.50)
Without meat, this meal, which would feed our family of 9, would cost $3.23
If we add ground turkey (which I buy a pack and divide in 3 parts), it would cost $4.89.
We eat it layered like a casserole, or separate like a taco without the taco. Of course you can eat it with tortillas, add olives, chilies, etc. or however your prefer–very versatile!
P.S. We would season the beans and/or meat with cumin, onion and garlic.
It helps me to fight the urge to want to go out to eat so often if I remember the savings–$4.00 for a meal at home vs. at least $40 out! (Unless we get the "largest seafood platter in the world) which feeds our whole family for $18. Still, the savings of eating at home are huge!!!
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