How I Save $400 a Month on Groceries
This is the first in a series of posts about how I recently cut my monthly grocery bill by over $400. This is NOT about clipping coupons or buying cheap ground beef. I have not sacrificed the quality of the foods my family eats, if anything I have improved it dramatically. I still buy almost exclusively organic and local ingredients whenever possible, and I never compromise on the quality of meat & fish. I save money through a combination of menu planning, buying certain high-quality ingredients in bulk, and mostly cooking from scratch.
I feel that as a culture we rely too heavily on overly-processed foods. Because of their abundance and low relative cost, many of us have adapted to using them almost exclusively. We have also forgotten (or never learned) how to cook many of the things we eat from scratch. Do not get me wrong, I am not a hard-core purist on this topic. There are always cans of (gasp) Spaghettios or Progresso soup in my pantry for nights when I just can't pull it together. However I have been taking baby steps toward making more and more of the things my family eats from scratch. This way you avoid a lot of the additives, chemicals, shelf stabilizers, etc and you know how much salt, sugar, and fat is actually in your food because you put it there. You also help the planet by minimizing all that packaging processed foods come in.
The first thing I did was to stop buying store-bought cookies. Most of them really don't taste good anyway. If you are going to treat yourself to a cookie, make it worth your while! Now whenever I make cookies, I double or triple the batch. I bake off 8-12 cookies immediately, then shape the rest of the dough into balls. Freeze the dough balls in a single layer on a sheet tray for at least 3-4 hours or overnight. Then dump in a Ziploc or Tupperware and store for up to 3 months. This will work for almost any chocolate, chocolate chip, sugar, or drop cookie recipe. This way any time I have guests or a playdate, all I have to do is preheat the oven to have fresh, homemade cookies.
Then I moved on to frozen breakfast pastries. Yes, frozen waffles, pancakes, & toaster strudels are super convenient and yummy, but have you looked at the ingredients? I'm pretty sure none of it will kill you, but waffles with more than 7 ingredients make me nervous. Actually that's true for almost anything. Do you ever make a big batch of pancakes or waffles on the weekend and have leftover batter that you just throw away? If not, double your recipe so that you will have extra. This works with any pancake or waffle recipe, and even those instant mixes. After your family has had their fill of breakfast, keep making those pancakes or waffles. Make your extra pancakes or waffles no bigger than four inches, cook to a light golden brown (you don’t want them too dark because they will be cooked again), spread out in a single layer on a cookie sheet, and freeze. Once frozen (at least 1-2 hours or overnight), throw them in a Ziploc bag and store in the freezer. Any time you want a quick delicious breakfast, throw a few in your toaster. They are much tastier and cheaper than the frozen store-bought ones, and they don’t have any nasty additives or preservatives.
Next article in the series: How to Use a Whole Chicken
I feel that as a culture we rely too heavily on overly-processed foods. Because of their abundance and low relative cost, many of us have adapted to using them almost exclusively. We have also forgotten (or never learned) how to cook many of the things we eat from scratch. Do not get me wrong, I am not a hard-core purist on this topic. There are always cans of (gasp) Spaghettios or Progresso soup in my pantry for nights when I just can't pull it together. However I have been taking baby steps toward making more and more of the things my family eats from scratch. This way you avoid a lot of the additives, chemicals, shelf stabilizers, etc and you know how much salt, sugar, and fat is actually in your food because you put it there. You also help the planet by minimizing all that packaging processed foods come in.
The first thing I did was to stop buying store-bought cookies. Most of them really don't taste good anyway. If you are going to treat yourself to a cookie, make it worth your while! Now whenever I make cookies, I double or triple the batch. I bake off 8-12 cookies immediately, then shape the rest of the dough into balls. Freeze the dough balls in a single layer on a sheet tray for at least 3-4 hours or overnight. Then dump in a Ziploc or Tupperware and store for up to 3 months. This will work for almost any chocolate, chocolate chip, sugar, or drop cookie recipe. This way any time I have guests or a playdate, all I have to do is preheat the oven to have fresh, homemade cookies.
Then I moved on to frozen breakfast pastries. Yes, frozen waffles, pancakes, & toaster strudels are super convenient and yummy, but have you looked at the ingredients? I'm pretty sure none of it will kill you, but waffles with more than 7 ingredients make me nervous. Actually that's true for almost anything. Do you ever make a big batch of pancakes or waffles on the weekend and have leftover batter that you just throw away? If not, double your recipe so that you will have extra. This works with any pancake or waffle recipe, and even those instant mixes. After your family has had their fill of breakfast, keep making those pancakes or waffles. Make your extra pancakes or waffles no bigger than four inches, cook to a light golden brown (you don’t want them too dark because they will be cooked again), spread out in a single layer on a cookie sheet, and freeze. Once frozen (at least 1-2 hours or overnight), throw them in a Ziploc bag and store in the freezer. Any time you want a quick delicious breakfast, throw a few in your toaster. They are much tastier and cheaper than the frozen store-bought ones, and they don’t have any nasty additives or preservatives.
Next article in the series: How to Use a Whole Chicken
Been doing this pancake thing for years. Love that I don't buy the frozen ones anymore and I can make a decent breakfast before school in short time.
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