WAYS TO SAVE ON FOOD
It’s no secret, I love to save money on food. I’m going to share some of the ways to save and stock up for the winter when meat is on special and fresh vegetables aren’t in season.
The past two weeks I got awesome deals on meats at Fresh Market. This past weekend they had USDA Prime Whole or Half New York Strip and I purchased a half piece. Since they cut it to the customer’s desired specifications, I had them cut it into 6 steaks and the rest was left for a roast. The almost 6 pound piece cost $45.82 and I packaged three steaks per freezer bag and put flat in the freezer so the steaks would freeze individually and I can take out one steak per meal for hubby and I. The seven meals for two cost less than $6.50 each.
On Tuesdays, they have weekly specials and today it was ground chuck for $2.99 per pound. I got ten pounds in two five-pound packages and had my meals already planned. The first thing I did was put the ground chuck in my hamburg maker that makes six huge burgers and put in the freezer. The rest of this five-pound package I made three more burgers and the extra 2 or so pounds will be for meatloaf which will probably last for two meals.
Now I still have a five-pound package left and that’s for hubby to make his delicious meatballs. He will use about four pounds for those and we will eat them for a few days plus should have enough to freeze three packages to have when I need a quick meal. The other pound will go for a big pot of chili that will last for three meals. So the ten pounds of ground chuck cost $29.99 and I figure I’ll get at least 15 meals from that. That’s less than $2.00 per meal for two people, so it’s $1.00 per person! Okay so am I cheap, frugal or a smart shopper?
Now for vegetables, we had a small garden this year and every time I think I’m picking the last of the peppers, I go out a few days later and the plants are loaded again!
I love fried peppers but when they aren’t in season, they can get pricey. So every time I would have a few peppers that were ready to pick, I would cut them up, put in a freezer bag and load of the freezer. While the peppers are freezing, I shake the bag a few times to keep them individually frozen and I take out what I need for a meal.
I also did that with all our summer squash. I cut them in slices, put them on a cookie sheet to freeze, then put in a freezer bag. I ended up with about a dozen bags of frozen squash to last the winter.
I love eggplant and we had a great crop of them in our garden also. For the eggplant I cut in think slices, dip in egg then flour and fry them up in oil. After they cool, I freeze them on a cookie sheet like the squash, then put in a freezer bag. I do have a problem with the eggplant though. I love to eat it like cookies right after I fry it up so I have to hurry up and bag it up so i don’t eat it up first! LOL
If you don’t have garden you can still save on vegetables by getting them at a Farmer’s Market or on sale at the grocery store when in season. If the price is right, you can then prepare them for your freezer for the winter.
Besides doing these things to save money, it also saves time when preparing a meal. I like to have my meals planned the night before so when we get home from work I don’t have to waste time wondering what to have. Hope this helped you on saving money and time!
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Wow! You really inspire, Martha.. there are a few times when I have worked on prepping for meals over the weekend for the week but somehow just couldn’t keep that up…but like the ideas.. 🙂
I’m know as the “Frugal Queen” LadyInRead. LOL My hubby tells people not to get behind me at the checkout with all my coupons. Our work schedule is so full, I find it’s so much easy to spend an afternoon or a Saturday freezing everything and then just pull out what I need for a meal! Thanks for visiting.
One thing I learn (recently, I should say), is to freeze larger quantities in smaller batches and in separate bags. This way you don’t have to grab EVERYTHING if you only want part of it. For example, if I had a bulk pack of say 12 chicken breasts, then I now pack them in 3 bags of 4 pieces each.
This is probably what most people do… but it took me a LONG time to learn it – LOL.
Thanks for sharing!
That’s how I do it too Paul except on steaks, I usually freeze 2 or 3 in a bag. It’s easy to take one out and still have the other 2 frozen, it saves on bags! I do the same with veges, bulk freeze them put can pour out how ever much I need. Chicken is hard to freeze multiply pieces together for separate meals because of the size. I always have bags with 3 -4 pieces ready to pull out for dinner! You’re doing good on being a savvy saver!
Definitely smart shopper :-). I freeze steaks, chilli and Bolognese too. Saves a lot of time after a hard day at work. It means we can have things we wouldn’t be able to afford if we bought ready from the supermarket too.
It sure does save time Janice! Hubby is making 5 pounds of meatballs right now! That will make a few delicious meals 🙂 I love making a big pot of chili then dividing it into meal sized portions. I’ve been doing portion control before it was even thought of. LOL Thanks for stopping by.
Don’t know how I missed this one during the challenge, but it’s full of good advice. I’ve used a lot of these tips in the past. I would buy lots of ground beef on sale and cook and freeze the patties my husband likes for lunch in one-week batches. I sometimes fry up half-pound portions of ground beef with onions and garlic to freeze in case I need to use it in soups and sauces.
Good idea to cook it up in half-pound portions Barbara! That’s one thing I never thought of! Thanks for the tip.