7 Tips to Having Quick Meals on a Budget
It seems that even with all our modern-day timesaving gadgets, we are busier than ever! It’s hard to find the time to cook inexpensive meals from scratch. Quick meals often mean a hurried trip through the local drive-thru or buying a meal-in-a-box to pop into the oven or microwave. This can shrink the pocketbook, but unfortunately, not the waistline!
You don’t have to slave away for hours in the kitchen in order to save money on the meal budget. All it takes is a little planning and advance preparation. Here are seven tips:
1- Plan the weekly menu. I find that if I take a little bit of time to plan my menu in advance, I avoid the 5:00 panic of “I don’t know what were going to have for dinner and the kids are starving!” Try and include some of the staple items mentioned below when planning your meals.
2- Have cooked rice on hand. Buy rice in bulk to save money. I really like the taste of brown rice, buy it doesn’t store as well as white rice. Basmati rice has a good glavor and smells like popcorn when it’s cooking. I cook up a lot of rice at once. After the rice is cooled, I divide it into several one-quart freezer bags and store them in the freezer. Whenever I need rice for a meal, I grab the amount of freezer bags that I need and defrost them.
3- Buy dried beans and cook them in advance. I like to buy a variety of dried beans, such as black, red, kidney, and pinto beans. Every so often, I cook up a large batch of beans. I soak them over night before cooking them. (Make sure you pour off the soaking water before adding fresh water.) When the beans are cooled, store in containers and freeze them. You can add beans to soups, stews, casseroles, or burritos. I like to make a mixture of rice and beans, flavor them with taco seasoning, and put them into tacos.
4- Have a variety of chopped vegetables. If you are going to use fresh vegetables, chop them up in advance for your weekly meals. It’s a lot quicker to pull out a baggie or container of chopped veggies for a soup or dish you are going to make, rather than chop the vegetables every single time you need them. It’s also a good idea to have plenty of frozen vegetables on hand. Many times, they are cheaper than the fresh vegetables. Grab a bag of rice, some frozen vegetables, and soy sauce for a quick stir fry meal.
5- Make a weekly salad. I get a large bowl and make enough green salad to last a week. That way, I have one less thing to worry about when I plan my meals. For a dinner idea, make a taco salad. Put tortilla chips on a plate and top with some salad, a seasoned bean and rice mixture, guacamole, and sour cream. It’s quick, easy, and cheap!
6- Cook up lots of hot cereal. Make a big pot of oatmeal or multi-grain cereal. Buying dried cereal grain in bulk is much cheaper and better for you than buying it in the individual packets. When you’re in a mad dash to get out the door in the morning, put some mush (as my kids would call it) in a bowl, pop it in the microwave and enjoy!
7- Cook our meats in advance. To keep the meal inexpensive, use the meat sparingly instead of as the main course. A sirloin steak costs more for a meal than making spaghetti and meatballs. That being said, cook up all the meat you will need for your weekly meals in advance. Brown hamburger and store it in containers or freezer bags. Instead of buying expensive boneless chicken, buy a roasting chicken, cook it up, and take the meat off the bones. Store it in the fridge or freezer until you are ready for it. For quick meal ideas, toss some cooked hamburger into a pot of spaghetti or use it in a beef stroganoff dish. Use your cooked chicken in soups, stir frys, or make it into a casserole.
You can have quick meals that are inexpensive. It just takes a little planning and prep time; and it sure beats wasting money at the local fast food joint!
What are some ways that you save money on the food budget?
Popularity: 13% [?]
Related Posts:
Trackback URL for this post:
http://masteryourcard.com/blog/2008/05/19/7-tips-to-having-quick-meals-on-a-budget/trackback/
May 22nd, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Believe it or not, a light bulb went on for me here — I buy meat and freeze it, but I should prepare it in advance before freezing. Too many of those nights after work, it just takes too long to cook dinner — this will speed things up. Thanks for the tip!