Summer is almost here! Can you feel the heat and the excitement?
This season is all about outings, get-togethers, swimming, and vacations! There are more opportunities to spend more time with your family and friends. Catch up, enjoy, and explore new locations!
Of course, any summer activity would not be complete without food!
If you want healthy and home cooked meals, you don’t need to spend a lot of time (Who has extra time in the summer anyway?) The secret is all about meal prepping. You can create different meals for different times of the day without the hassle and without overspending on take out.
If you want to create a meal plan this summer for your family, here are 10 quick and easy meal prep ideas that will help.
Create A Plan
Decide on the different kinds of food that you want to prepare ahead of time. Take note of all the recipes you want to prepare and cook for the whole week. Then write down all the ingredients you need on your shopping list.
Start Multitasking
Cook multiple recipes at the same time. You can roast summer vegetables while baking chicken. This will allow you to get things done faster.
Don’t Over Prep
Don’t prepare meals for five days or more at one time. Some foods, such as fresh summer produce, may not last for more than three days in the fridge and you might end up with a lot of spoiled, wasted food.
Use Your Grill
Summer is often too hot to turn on the oven because it heats up the house. Instead, prepare meats and vegetables to cook outdoors on the grill, after all summer is time to grill! Schedule some barbecue nights and grill fresh summer vegetables. They not only taste great, you can relax on a warm summer evening with your family while grilling outside.
Be sure to cook up plenty of meats so you have leftovers for other nights!
Prepare Raw Food
Vegetables like zucchini and cucumber can not only be paired with different fruits and veggies, it can make you feel cooler, especially during the hot summer months.
Spiral some zucchini and cucumber then blend them with basil pesto for a vegan pasta recipe. You can also schedule some no-cook options like canned corn, beans, and green salads to spice up your weekly schedule.
Utilize Your Slow Cooker
You might think that your slow cooker is only for winter, but this multipurpose appliance is also ideal for summer cooking!
You don’t need to heat up your whole house while waiting for your lunch or dinner to be cooked. Start making large batches of shredded meat or beans then freeze them in smaller portions. You can also cook potatoes, corn, and carrots in your slow cooker.
Plastics can be cheaper but using glass containers are better. Here are just a few of the many reasons why you should choose glass over plastic containers:
The contents are easier to see.
You can microwave them.
The taste of the food will not be altered, even if you leave them in the container for several days.
Glass doesn’t release any chemicals when exposed to heat, thus making it safer for your family’s health.
Reuse Leftovers
Make extra servings of your meals for dinner then eat the leftovers for breakfast or lunch. My husband loves taking leftovers to work!
Reusing leftovers makes it easier to plan your meals because you don’t need to think about the food you’ll eat for lunch every day. It also eliminates wasted food and cleaning out the fridge.
Buy The Best Bread You Can Get Your Hands On
Did you know that all the outdoor activities of summer can cause you to feel more hungry and more often?
Opt to get whole grain breads, especially if you’ll be having sandwiches for any of your meals. Look for a bread that is made with 100 percent whole grain. Bread with lots of texture makes you feel like you are eating an actual meal, which can make you feel fuller, faster, rather than just eating a sandwich.
Cook Once A Day
Prepare all your food in one go then store them in your glass containers so you can just heat them up once your mealtime comes.
Check your schedule then look for a block time when you can cook and prep your meals on a daily basis.
Stop spending a lot of time thinking and prepping your meals for the whole week. With enough preparation, you can feed yourself and your family with healthy and delicious meals without spending much time or money.
What are your summer meal prep tips? Let us know in the comments below!
Here is what I would like to know: a friend of mine is trying to start a pantry or a stockpile so that she is not constantly out of everything and so that she can maybe save a bit of money.
What would you consider your must-haves in your pantry? What staples do you always have on hand?
Food is expensive. When it comes to making a budget for your family, you’ll notice that one of the highest costs you have is food. While it’s not possible to eliminate food from your budget, you can decrease the costs by growing your own food.
On that note, did you know that many of the scraps from foods you purchase on a regular basis from the grocery store can be regrown in your very own kitchen? Instead of throwing away food scraps, you can start thinking differently about them!
Below, I’ve listed 7 foods from the grocery store that you can regrow in the comfort of your home. If you already grow your own food right in your garden, you’ll have no problem growing your own produce from scraps.
Celery
One of the simplest foods from the grocery store you can grow from scraps, is celery.
Planting celery is very simple: Cut off the base or the bottom part of the vegetable and place it in a bowl with warm water. Place the container in a spot that has direct sunlight most of the day.
After a week, you’ll notice that there are leaves growing at the base of the celery. Once you see these leaves, it is now ready to be transplanted in the soil.
Romaine Lettuce
Romaine lettuce is easy to grow from leftover scraps. Instead of throwing the bottom of the full head of lettuce in the trash, place it in a bowl with a bit of water.
Keep this bowl in a place with direct sunlight. Mist the leaves with water consistently. After two to three days, you will see that there are shoots of new leaves appearing. Once you see them, your lettuce is now ready to be transplanted or simply harvested for salads.
Bean Sprouts
Growing bean sprouts is easy. Just soak a handful of dry beans in water then leave it overnight.
Drain the water and place the beans in a container. Cover it with a towel, leave it overnight, then rinse it again the next day.
Keep doing this until you see the sprouts growing, then you can transfer them to your garden.
Onion
Another easy vegetable to grow, whether it is indoors or outdoors, are onions.
Cut the root of the onions off and plant it in a garden plot or container. Cover the root with potting soil but leave at least half an inch of the onion exposed. In a few weeks, you will start to see leaves growing.
For Green Onions, use the top part of the onion and leave the bottom 2-3 inches with the roots attached. Place them in a container with water covering the roots. In no time you’ll see the tops of the green onions growing new green. You can keep them this way and just continue using the tops and allowing them to grow in the water. Just change the water periodically and rinse the roots.
Garlic
Garlic is an easy way to start growing scraps with fast results.
For garlic, choose a whole bulb or individual cloves that have started to send out green sprouts. Place the bulb or clove in a small amount of water and change the water daily.
Potato
Did you know that you can grow a potato out of potato peelings?
Check the peelings to see if there are eyes on them. Cut the peelings into two to three-inch pieces but make sure that there are at least three eyes on each peel.
Dry these peelings, then plant them in your soil, about three to four inches deep. In a few weeks, you will see a potato plant starting to grow.
Tomato
Don’t throw away the seeds from the tomatoes! Rinse them and allow them to dry.
Once dried, you can start planting the seeds in a rich potting soil. Once the seedlings are a few inches high, you can transplant them outdoors where there is plenty of sunlight.
Turn your food scraps into golden nuggets. Instead of throwing them away, use them as another source of food. You are not only saving money, you are also assured that your family gets better and healthier food.
One thing that will bring a family together are home cooked meals at the kitchen table. There is nothing better than gathering around yummy food, while conversing about life, with your family members. Unfortunately, feeding your family does not come cheap. Here are some great tips to help you feed your family on $50 this week, whether you are tight on cash, or just simply looking to be a little more frugal.
Take Inventory
Take inventory of what is already in your fridge, freezer, and pantry. You could make a simple list using a notebook, so that you have it as you sit down to make a shopping list and meal plan. No need to buy tomato sauce if you already have some in the pantry!
Use Store Rewards
I like to collect PC Optimum points because the points turn into cash that I can put towards my grocery bill. I just recently redeemed $30 so that was a nice chunk of change off that grocery bill! There are many other store reward programs out there that may be worth trying out if it means savings for you!
Use Grocery Rebate Sites
I like Checkout 51 and because I can just upload my receipt and go. I have 7 days from the time I shop to upload, and I can combine rebates from all 4 sites from 1 receipt to maximize savings! Ampli is also great if you don’t mind connecting your debit and credit cards to a secure app! Use the promo code AMPLI5 to get $5 for free!
Shop the Right Places
Being able to feed your family for less, means that you need to be willing to shop at different stores. If you are used to shopping at higher end grocery stores that generally charge more than say, Walmart or No Frills, consider stepping outside of your box, and head into a less costly store. Set aside your reasons and any ill feelings that you may have about those stores. You certainly will not regret it after leaving the store with a little extra change in your pocket!
Meal Plan Around Flyer Sales
Meal planning is a great way to make sure you know exactly what your family will be eating every day. Knowing which meals you will be enjoying also means that you know all of the ingredients needed, and this will allow you to better stick to your budget of $50. Just make sure that as you plan your meals, that you are scoping out the flyer sales and planning your meals around what is on sale and what you already have at home.
Use Cheap Fillers
When you have a tight food budget to stick to, you will find that rice and beans will become some of your favorite ingredients. Rice and beans generally do not have much flavor, so they can be added to almost any meal, even if it is just as a side that you season with salt and pepper. However, the other great thing about rice and beans is that they are cheap fillers in things like tacos, soup and chili! This means that you will feel fuller after eating them. Dry beans will be your best value, so don’t be afraid to use them!
Make a list of cheap meals
I’m in the thought camp that most meals can be frugal meals if you purchase the ingredients on sale. for example, meat. Don’t buy chicken breasts if the chicken thighs are on sale. Also, take a look at the 20 meal rotation I have been doing as our meal plan lately. I’d consider most meals on the list cheap and frugal!
Stick to the same things for Breakfast and Lunch
In our house, I have a rotation going of oatmeal, pancakes, French toast, scrambled eggs and cereal all served with fruit for breakfasts. Sounds time consuming, but it’s really not because once in a while we have breakfast for dinner (pancakes/French toast) and I freeze the leftovers. We can then pop them into the toaster for a super quick, filling breakfast! Same sort of idea for lunches. Sandwiches, grilled cheese, soup, leftovers… Dinner is where most of the variety comes from!
Eat Those Leftovers!
Who wants leftovers? Most people generally are not fond of reheated meals the following day. However, eating leftovers is a great way to help you stick to your weekly food budget. If your family cannot handle the same meal twice in one week consider turning your leftovers into a new meal by turning it into a soup or stew, or adding new flavors or vegetables to it. Taco Tuesday can become taco salad (or taco soup) Wednesday. I especially love to freeze leftovers like spaghetti sauce. Makes for a super easy meal on a rushed night.
Feeding your family on $50 this week really comes down to being creative as much as it does frugal. People do what they have to do to survive and you, my friend, can totally make this work for your family. What tips do you have to add?
I think it’s safe to say that the slow cooker is one of my favourite kitchen tools. After all, it cooks delicious meals with minimal effort! Not to mention it’s great to use in the summer when you don’t want to heat the house up.
Slow cookers are generally known for their skills at creating delicious stews and tender meats. But your slow cooker can do so much more! Read on to discover five unique ways to use your slow cooker.
Let the gift giving begin! You can easily make candles for gifts (or yourself) in your slow cooker! I think this is a great way to turn those candles that no longer burn because the wick is gone, into new candles. Learn how to make candles in your slow cooker over at A Year of Slow Cooking.
Make Baked Potatoes
I automatically assume that successful slow cooker recipes have to include some sort of liquid. But this slow cooker baked potato recipe proves me wrong!
Make Bread
I think this idea is genius. Make a loaf of bread in your slow cooker! This is great for the summer months when you don’t want to heat up the house! Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day shows you how to make a loaf of artisan bread in the slow cooker!
Make Brownies
As seen from the unique slow cooker ideas I posted above, you’re not limited to dinner-type meals in the least. So, of course dessert can be made in a slow cooker! Why not try these Triple Chocolate Brownies from Martha Stewart?
It is no secret that Ramen Noodles are a staple in every college student’s pantry. However, ramen noodles are not just for the college student, bachelor, or preschooler anymore. I have even found some organic brown rice ramen by Lotus Foods at Costco that we love, making it a healthy choice for our family! Even if you buy the budget friendly packs of ramen, there are quite a few healthy ways to spice up a package of the fried noodles.
How to Turn Ramen Noodles Into a Healthy Meal Idea
Ditch the Packet
Some people prefer ramen noodles simply because they are cheap, cheap, cheap. Others prefer them because of the beef, chicken, or oriental flavor that comes in the package. While that packet is full of flavor, it is also packed full of sodium and MSG. Make your meal a bit healthier, by ditching the packet, and adding your own herbs and flavoring. Boil the pasta in low sodium chicken or beef broth, and throw in some pepper and herbs, like thyme, or oregano.
Use Uncooked, as a Topping
That’s right. You can eat Ramen without cooking them first! Dig the recipe for your favorite Asian inspired salad out of your recipe box, and simply swap out the Asian noodles for Ramen Noodles. Just discard the seasoning packet and break the noodles up. Add them to your salad just before serving.
Stir Fry
Instead of opting for burgers and fries, pull out a package of ramen, and some fresh or frozen veggies. Cook up chicken or beef pieces, and throw some in some veggies, with a bit of low sodium soy sauce. Meanwhile, cook the Ramen in either plain water, or low sodium beef or chicken broth. Once it is all done, simply toss it all together, and grab a bowl and a seat.
Make a Hearty Soup
There is nothing like a hot bowl of hearty soup, on a chilly evening. Gather the ingredients for your favorite soup, and toss it all in the slow cooker. When there are just a few minutes left of cooking time, add a packet or two of Ramen, minus the flavor packets, and you have yourself an easy, healthy meal.
Limit the amount you eat
Even if you dish up Ramen Noodles to be healthier, you still need to limit the amount you eat. Many carbs come from ramen noodles, even if it doesn’t seem like it. Which is why adding them to a salad as a topping or using it as a filler, is an excellent idea.
The great thing about Ramen is that it’s so inexpensive. Once you get rid of the packet and figure out how to make it into the perfect healthy dish, you are good to go.
I’d love to hear how you use ramen noodles! Let me know in the comments below!
