The Frugal Kitchen

[JenniferGreen]

Okay, so there are a lot of new members (the January joiners) who are checking out this board. I thought we needed to post a reference with all our cost saving, step saving ideas. That way we all can easily find these great ideas and implement them ourselves.

What do you do that saves money or saves steps????

[Richt]

To save money I always buy my meat in bulk when my local supermarket has a "special offer" on. And then freeze it all.

[JenniferGreen]

I am going to start:

1. Shop only the outer edges of the grocery store UNLESS on my list I need something from the interior. Hit the PRODUCE, DAIRY, MEAT first and fill up that cart!
2. If you can, shop first thing in the morning (even on the weekends) to find marked down meats, dairy, produce. If it expires that day, they will be drastically marked down. If you buy something new, search on ADBB, the recipe board or even the Internet to find recipes ... trust me, you will find more than enough ideas!!
3. I love to BATCH COOK (making more than one meal at once, freezing the leftovers). I have a freezer full of frozen homemade meals both for the family and for the individual. I control the ingredients, so I know they are good ... and they are so much cheaper to make!
4. I plan out a month's worth of meals, including days and recipes of the batch cooking I will do, ahead of time. I make sure there is a lot of variety and then I shop for ingredients I need a week ahead of time, if not longer. I give myself the flexibility to change the menus around, but I never see 5pm and not have something in mind (or on hand) to cook.
5. I use BAKING SODA to release baked on or fried on foods on my fry pans. Man, I use my fry pans every day (scrambled eggs are the worse enemy of my pans). I sprinkle baking soda in the pan when finished, fill up less than half way with water and put back on the hot burner. The baking soda lifts it right out, is cheaper than the "power releaser" that is now sold. I filled up an old 'diner-style' sugar dispenser with baking soda (labelled it) and have it right by my stove top ready to go.
6. I bought address labels from the office supply store (they were on clearance, as they were made for a dot matrix printer) and I use them in the kitchen all the time to label EVERYTHING. Love them! So cheap!
7. I buy ground beef in bulk, go home and fry it up a pound at a time. Throw a pound (drained) in a sandwich sized zip lock, label it with the date, and toss the little baggies into a gallon baggie. Into the freezer they go! Recipes are so much faster to do when the meat is already browned. Sometimes I brown a batch in minced garlic (label it appropriately) or onion and green pepper, etc. Anyone wanna come over for lunch unexpectedly? It just might be a quick taco salad served!

[MotherOfGizmo]

We had a similar discussion a little while back on doing Atkins on a budget, here's the link if you're interested...

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/viewtopic.php?t=59980

[JenniferGreen]

Hey, Karen...yes I read your posts on the budget chat. Just wanted to streamline some ideas here for reference.

[MotherOfGizmo]

Hey, Karen...yes I read your posts on the budget chat. Just wanted to streamline some ideas here for reference.

OK, just making sure you didn't miss it, there were some great ideas in that thread!

[nomorekugel]

Hi Jennifer! Thanks for the informative post...... I will be copying your idea about browning 1lb of ground beef at a time and freezing. Genius Idea! Thank you!