It’s OK, I’m not going to go on about meal planning again although that’s clearly my first way to save money in the kitchen – if you don’t already meal plan, you should. If you do, you’ll be nodding your head right now agreeing that this is by far the easiest way to save money in the kitchen. But even aside from meal planning, the kitchen is one area where you can save money easily without really changing much at all. Here’s my favourite kitchen moneysaving tips….
Cook and serve the right portion sizes – Pasta and rice are the main foods that I regularly over estimate the amount I need to cook but lately I’ve been working on around 75g of uncooked weight per person unless we’re really hungry!
Use your slow cooker more often – it costs less to power, you can use cheaper cuts of meat and if that wasn’t enough, it’s so much easier to cook delicious food in a slow cooker as the flavours have longer to develop and it’s practically impossible to overcook food.
Use up your leftovers – don’t throw leftovers away just look for a different way to use them to make another meal even if it’s only a lunch time snack.
Don’t throw out what’s left in your fridge at the end of the week – use it up in a recipe like fridge bottom frittata, whizz any veg up into soup or even make it all into a stir fry!
It also helps to have a look at what’s left in your fridge mid way through the week and freeze anything you know you’re not going to use.
Bulk out your food to make it go further – grated veg, lentils and even quorn mince can be used to bulk out lots of meals to stretch them further.
Serve meals with rice, pasta or potatoes to make you feel fuller quicker as will handfuls of veg!
Cook extra and freeze portions for another time.
Garlic, ginger, chilli and spices can be bought in bulk cheaply at ethic supermarkets and even in the ethnic food aisle in your local supermarket you’ll often find the same things cheaper!
Use up any stale bread to make breadcrumbs – pop them in your freezer for when you need to make fishcakes or some other yummy bake.
Buy reduced bargains at the Supermarkets and freeze them – I have grated cheese (good to cook with but not for sandwiches once it’s been frozen), chillis and all sorts of other food in there readyfor when I need them. The key is only to buy what you really will use though.
Don’t feel you have to follow recipes to the letter – replace or leave out expensive ingredients. Jamabalaya is one of our favourite meals but often make it without prawns to cut down on the cost per serving.
Use turkey instead of chicken – it’s a great alternative.
Have I missed anything?
