Kitchen Witchin’ on a Budget
Have you seen the prices in the grocery stores these
days? Holy cow! This post isn’t just for kitchen witches; it’s
for anyone who is astounded at the cost of food and wants to find a way of
eating well without breaking the bank.
I’ll throw in a few witchy things here and there, too, of course.
These days, our money does not go as far. I’m not even earning as much as I did at my
previous job, and neither is my boyfriend.
He was out of work for a while, meaning I had to visit the Bank of Mom
and Dad a couple of times – not one of my prouder moments as an almost
35-year-old woman.
While we haven’t gone without food entirely, we have eaten
some pretty craptacular meals during those times. There has been Spam. There has been instant ramen. Now, I like those things once in a while, but
by “every once in a while”, I mean a couple of times a year.
I hope this blog post will provide some practical tips for
all of us, myself included.
Number one may
seem like a no-brainer : Coupons.
However, I find that most of the things I buy don’t have coupons. I buy a lot of fresh produce when I got
shopping. I have a juicer that I like to use. I like salads in warmer
months. I adore asparagus in season, and
I enjoy cooking with fresh herbs whenever possible. Coupons are usually available for brand-name
products that are heavily processed “junk”.
Think Coca-Cola products, snacks, etc. Therefore, coupons really aren’t practical
for me, and they might not be practical for you, either. Instead, check out the grocery store circular
to see if the things you do buy regularly are on sale. Also, buy the generic stuff.
Number two: Buy things in season. Strawberries in January are not only a bad
idea, they are also more expensive as crap, not to mention tasteless and
nasty. Hit up a farmers’ market if you
have one. We have one, but of course the
only time it’s open is when I’m at work.
Who has a market on a Wednesday only?
And from 10-2? Come on!
Oh, and did you know that avocadoes freeze well? I use them in smoothies. Yum! Buy them when they are dirt-cheap, cut the
flesh into chunks, and freeze on a lined cookie sheet. Then just pop ‘em into
freezer bags. You can make guac, too.
Number three: Buy non-perishables at a cheaper store like
Aldi or Save a Lot. Even Big Lots has
things like canned beans, bags of rice, and other pantry staples at lower
prices.
That brings me to number
four: Have a well-stocked pantry so
you can whip up a meal on the fly and on the cheap.
Pantry staples:
·
Broth
·
Beans
·
Rice
·
Powdered or evaporated milk
·
Tomato products – diced, crushed, sauce, paste
·
Coconut milk
·
Bread crumbs
·
Pasta
·
Salsa
·
Peanut butter or another nut butter
·
Cocoa powder
·
Baking powder
·
Vinegars – your choice, but apple cider, red
wine, and Balsamic are what I normally keep
·
Oils – again, your choice, but I like olive and
grape seed (although it might not be the best choice)
·
Flour
·
Corn (I prefer canned corn to frozen, but that’s
up to you)
·
Tuna or salmon if you like it (bleah)
·
Oatmeal
·
Preserves/jam/jelly
·
Olives, artichoke hearts, capers
·
Brown and white sugar
·
Unflavored gelatin
Number five: Stock your freezer as well. Vegetables, fruit for smoothies, extra
butter, meat that you caught on sale.
Number six: Menu planning is your friend. I plan my menus before I shop, and then I
organize my grocery list by store section so I don’t forget anything. I try to cook several things on a Sunday for
the week ahead. Cooking on a weekend
saves time during the week so you aren’t tempted to hit a drive-thru on the way
home. That’s not tasty, healthy or
cheap in the long run. Of course, we
all do it from time to time. I’m
certainly guilty of ordering Chinese or Mexican takeaways when I am too tired
to cook at times. Still, I try to have
plenty of options in the fridge or freezer to reheat.
Number seven: Invest in a slow cooker. You can buy cheap, tough cuts of meat and
the slow cooker will turn them into velvety deliciousness while you’re at work
during the day. There are lots of free
slow cooker cookbooks and recipes online, for everything from Chinese dishes to
whole roasted chicken! It’s amazing what
you can do in those things. Even desserts. Plus, a slow cooker can be just $20 or $30,
depending on where you shop. (I love Big
Lots.)
Number eight: Get creative with leftovers. Leftover meatloaf? Toss it with some jarred marinara sauce and
serve with spaghetti. Leftover
beans? Refried beans for taco
night. Leftover roast chicken? Chicken salad, chicken soup, chicken pasta,
casseroles… The list can go on and on.
The point is not to waste the food if you can help it. Leftovers can get boring if it’s the same
thing all the time, so use your imagination and turn yesterday’s meal into
something different for the next night or the night after. I prefer to rotate my leftovers so we’re not
eating the same thing two nights in a row.
Number nine: Herbs are very important to the kitchen
witch. Either buy them in bulk, or, if
you have space, buy some potted herbs.
You can dry your own, too. You
can buy lots of different seasonings in bulk from health food stores and
online. I like
www.spicesinc.com . Their prices are decent and the quality is
good.
Number ten: If you eat meat, don’t focus so much on
animal protein at every meal. A few
vegetarian meals a week will save you money and improve your health. Grab some frozen vegetables, canned coconut
milk, and some spices and whip up some delicious curry or korma one night. Add some rice to complete the meal. One of my favorite Indian dishes is aloo
gobi, which is a potato-cauliflower curry.
I wrote a post a while ago about a way of using up those leftovers by
making them into something like a frittata.
Delicious!
Number eleven: Save room in the freezer for those
leftovers that you don’t use right away.
Lasagna freezes beautifully.
Chili and other soups and stews also freeze well. Just make sure you have good containers and
some heavy-duty foil to avoid freezer burn.
Try to use the leftovers within a couple of weeks just to be sure.
Number twelve: Why buy what you can make? Salad dressing is easy to whip up using
pantry staples. If you have some free
time on the weekend, make and freeze your own marinara sauce. I haven’t used a cake mix in I don’t know how
many years. Flour is cheap, and so are
eggs and sugar. Plus, if you make it at
home, you’re not going to be ingesting weird preservatives and chemical flavor
enhancers. I make my own marinades, dry
rubs, salad dressings, etc.
Number thirteen:
Think internationally but eat locally.
There are so many cuisines that use flavorful spices and little to no
meat. My favorite is Indian.
Number fourteen: SET A BUDGET!
Use a calculator to help you keep on track. Check out those store circulars before you go
so you have a rough idea of what you’re going to need and how much it’s going
to cost. See menu planning.
Some of my favorite cheap meals are:
·
Vegetable curry (or chicken if I have some in the
freezer) with rice
·
Refried bean tacos
·
Not Quite Falafel – I pulverize chickpeas,
cumin, and sauteed garlic and onion in the food processor and serve it in pita.
·
Chili – you can use meat, beans, meat
substitute, or some combination. Chili
recipes usually make a ton. It gets
better over the next day or two, and you can freeze it. It can be eaten with corn bread, turned into
taco salad, or made into nachos.
·
Beans and cornbread – I make some black or pinto
beans in the slow cooker.
·
Pizza – yes, pizza! I make my own crust. Again, flour is cheap, and so is yeast. I make it on a weekend and top it with
whatever sounds good at the time.
·
Fried rice – This is one way that I use leftover
chicken or pork, plus stuff like frozen peas and carrots.
·
Frittata – Eggs and whatever you have. You can do omelets or quiche as well. I use frozen broccoli and/or spinach, cheese,
mushrooms, bacon, onions…They’re good for any meal, really.
Chicken thighs are under-utilized
by many people, eschewed for the breast meat.
Thighs are cheap, flavorful, and you can do anything with them that you
would with chicken breast. I make things
like chicken paprikash to serve over egg noodles. I make spicy drumsticks instead of wings,
too.
Flank steak and skirt steak are
usually decently-priced. If you marinate
and use your slow cooker, you can take those tough cuts and make great
things. Crock pot fajitas or tacos are
one good example.
Bone-in cuts are usually cheaper.
They also taste better.
Ground beef and pork make great
meatloaf, meatballs, chili, Bolognese sauce...
Use those cheap cuts, people! Cook ‘em nice and slow. Marinate them
first. You’ll be rewarded with a
lower-priced meal than if you’d used a fancier cut. Once in a while I will splurge on a nice
steak that my boyfriend and I will split over salad, but I tend to gravitate
toward the tougher, less expensive bits and pieces when I’m shopping.
In summary, although food prices
may be going up and we’re still making the same amount of money (or less), you
can still eat well without giving your hard-earned money to Taco Hell or
McDooDoo’s. This is something that I
have to remember as well. My money will
go a lot further at the grocery store than at a restaurant, plus there will be
leftovers for future meals.
A lot of these tips are common
sense things that you’ve probably read a thousand times before, yet I think they bear repeating. I just spent entirely too much money at
Kroger, but I have pantry staples, frozen staples and quick meals for work, and
enough cooked meals for the week when I’m tired after work and don’t feel like
cooking.
Helpful Links:
There are also a bunch of websites that have recipes for
budget meals. Many of these are for four
people. I don’t know about you, but I’m
only cooking for two, but that means I can eat at least twice if I cook
something once.
Keep it simple. Keep it versatile. Use your imagination and make some magic, and
maybe you’ll magically see your dollars stretch!
