Mar 3 | Frugal Living, Grocery Saving Tips, Money Saving Tips
Last week I went over my favourite ways to save money eating out. This week I hope to show you how easy it is to make restaurant meals at home, for cheap! There’s something satisfying about creating a meal that tastes really similar to your favourite dish at a local restaurant. It costs way less, the quantity is much larger and well, it tastes great!
One of my favourite recipes that I make is a copy cat recipe for Panera Bread’s (an American chain) Broccoli & Cheddar soup.
- 5 cups broccoli florets
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1 1/2 cups milk or half & half
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 – 3 cups grated cheddar cheese
- bacon, cooked and chopped (optional)
Steam broccoli until tender, about six minutes. Chop finely. Set aside. In a large saucepan combine broth and milk. Slowly whisk in flour. Cook over medium to medium high heat stirring frequently. Cook until it starts to thicken but not too thick. I usually do it until it just starts to boil. Add chopped broccoli. Reduce heat to med low. Continue to cook about 5 minutes. Add cheese stir until cheese melts. Serve. If using bacon sprinkle each bowl with a little.
Another way I like to create restaurant meals is by making my own pizza! By the time you finish ordering your take out pizza, the cost can be pretty pricey. What I like to do is make up the dough, divide it into two, make one entire pizza then freeze the other half of the dough to have on hand for the next pizza.
You can also find many copy-cat restaurant recipes online. I recently searched for Olive Garden recipes, and I was amazed at how many recipes I found. I really like Top Secret Recipes (most of the recipes are free) and Food.com (all of the recipes are free) for finding all sorts of restaurant meals. On Food.com I found Red Lobster’s Cheese Biscuits, IHOP pancakes, and a Vancouver Greek Restaurant Tzatziki!
Are there any restaurant meals you make at home? Share your recipes and ideas!
Originally published in 2009
May 14 | Frugal Living, Grocery Saving Tips, Money Saving Tips, Recipes
Here we are at the final installment of Eating Healthy on a Budget! This week it’s all about Cooking it Slow. By that I mean, using your slow-cooker to make dinner! This is one of my all time favourite ways to cut costs on my grocery bill.
Not only does a slow-cooker use less electricity to heat than an oven, but since it cooks slowly using low heat, it’s perfect for tenderizing less expensive cuts of meat! Love that!
Another reason I love Cooking it Slow? It’s super easy (I can’t mess up!) and there’s no maintenance! Many times I make a recipe using some meat and a sauce. I put the meat in the bottom then cover it with an easy sauce that will make it taste delicious! Then I go about my business for the rest of the day knowing that dinner is basically making itself.
I’ve also noticed that I use less meat in a slow-cooker meal. The meat seems to go much farther then when I prepare it in the oven or stove top.
Below, you’ll find a bunch of our favourite slow-cooker recipes:
There’s a selection of our favourites!
Do you use a slow-cooker? What are your favourite recipes?
May 4 | Frugal Living, Grocery Saving Tips, Money Saving Tips
Part three in the Eating Healthy on a Budget series is all about buying items in bulk!
I find that buying items I use often end up being cheaper in the long run when I purchase them in large quantities. Most grocery stores sell large batches of certain items at discounted prices. For example, ground beef or those giant bags of flour. Another example would be a 10 pound bag of potatoes. But in our case, since it’s just my husband and I, I skip the big bag of potatoes and settle for a smaller one to avoid waste.
I figure I’ll buy everything I can in large quantities if we can finish it in a reasonable amount of time or I can freeze it. Here are some things that freeze well:
- Meat (either cooked or uncooked)
- Flour
- Fruit (strawberries, peaches, cherries)
- Vegetables (beans, corn, tomatoes…etc)
- Butter
- Breads, pastries and baked goods (cookies, muffins)
- Cooked rice
Anything I’m forgetting?
Since chicken goes on sale about every 6 weeks around here, I tend to stock up at this time then freeze it into packages of two. Works great! Also, we live in the land of orchards so whenever fruit is in season I go crazy and buy tons so I can freeze it for smoothies, desserts, or just to eat in the winter! We’re not jam eaters so I haven’t canned anything other then salsa and pickles. Canning is also a great way to preserve large quantities of items!
So tell me, do you buy in bulk?
Apr 20 | Frugal Living, Grocery Saving Tips, Money Saving Tips, Recipes
Last week I started the Eating Healthy on a Budget series with a post on Eating Seasonally. This week it’s all about making your own seasonings!
This is an easy way to eat more healthfully and cut down costs. Chances are, you have many of the spices or other items needed to make many of your own seasonings, on hand already! And since most of the recipes I’ve found make a large batch, it’ll only cost cents each time you use it! I bet many seasonings won’t even cost $1 to make a big batch. What I also love about making your own seasonings is that you can omit the msg and salt that is found in most store bought seasonings!
Here are some of my favourite homemade seasonings:
Do you make your own seasonings? I’d love to know what your favourite seasoning recipes are! Let me know in the comments!
Apr 16 | Frugal Living, Grocery Saving Tips, Money Saving Tips
Is it possible to eat healthfully on a budget? Yes, I believe it is! Over the next few weeks, I’ll be doing a four post series on ways you can eat healthfully on a budget. By no means have I perfected my eating habits, but I strive to make eating healthy a priority. With the tips I have learned over the years, I hope to inspire and help you to reduce your grocery bill!
First of all, one of my favourite ways to eat healthy on a budget is to
Eat Seasonally.
There are certain seasons when particular fruits and vegetables are at their prime. When they’re in season, not only do they taste great, they’re also cheaper! I won’t buy strawberries in the winter because they’re expensive and they sure aren’t very flavourful! Also, when fruits and vegetables are in season, they’re more likely to be grown closer in your area, cutting down on transportation and delivery costs!
Here’s a list of fruits and vegetables and when each one is in season:
(This list was compiled from the cookbook, Simply in Season
.)
Year-Round:
- Apples
- Carrots
- Onions
- Potatoes
- Herbs
Spring:
- Asparagus
- Broccoli
- Edible flowers
- Leeks
- Lettuce
- Mesclun (cool weather)
- Mushrooms
- Peas
- Rhubarb
- Spinach
- Strawberries
- Radishes
Summer:
- Beets
- Blueberries
- Broccoli
- Cabbage
- Cauliflower
- Celery
- Corn
- Cucumbers
- Edamame
- Edible Flowers
- Eggplant
- Fennel
- Green beans
- Kohlrabi
- Leeks
- Lettuce
- Melon
- Okra
- Peaches
- Peas
- Peppers
- Raspberries
- Rhubarb
- Spinach
- Strawberries
- Summer Squash
- Swiss Chard
- Tomatillos
- Tomatoes
Fall:
- Beets
- Broccoli
- Brussels sprouts
- Cabbage
- Cauliflower
- Celeriac
- Celery
- Collards
- Corn (early Fall)
- Cranberries
- Edible flowers
- Eggplant (early Fall)
- Fennel
- Grapes
- Kale
- Kohlrabi (early Fall)
- Leeks
- Lettuce
- Mushrooms
- Parsnips
- Pears
- Persimmons
- Pumpkins
- Raspberries
- Rutabagas
- Spinach
- Sweet potatoes
- Swiss chard
- Tomatillos (early Fall)
- Tomatoes (early Fall)
- Turnips
- Winter squash
Winter:
- Beets
- Brussels sprouts
- Cabbage
- Celeriac
- Kale
- Parsnips
- Pears
- Pumpkins
- Rutabagas
- Sweet potatoes
- Turnips
- Winter squash
Do you eat Seasonally? What’s your favourite fruit & vegetable eating season?
.)