Cutting Costs In The Kitchen (Guest Post)

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So, you love coupons? Me too. I consider myself a strategic-shopping-coupon-binder-carrying couponista.

But I realized awhile ago that using coupons wasn’t going to be enough to drive down my monthly grocery budget to a “lean and mean” level. If I wanted it to go really low, I was going to have to get in the trenches and develop some stealth-like tactics to cut costs in the kitchen.

Tactic #1: Know Thy Family Meal Plan

My husband loves things from a cow. My son’s favorite meal is a peanut butter and honey sandwich. And we don’t like very many casseroles. The good news, I “know" that. The bad news, learning to "own" that.

So instead of hitting my head against the wall and having dinner time looking like a battle from World War III – I’ve learned to "own" our family’s style and buy and cook food that they will eat.

• If your family doesn’t do leftovers, then make two casseroles in 8×8 pans and freeze one. Benefits – no waste, no complaints, and you have an extra one in the freezer to pull if it is a rushed week. This also works great for soups, meats, sauces, etc.
• Have one night a week be a kiddos night. They’ll clean their plates (without a thousand reminders) and your husband and you will have a nice dining experience.
• If your husband likes things cow (or chicken or pig), make sure to have standard rotation of meat/potato/veggies/dinner roll in the meal plan. He’s happy (cause we all know one of the ways to a man’s heart is through his stomach) and he’s willing to put up with Lentil Soup once in awhile.

Once you learn to "own" your family’s eating preferences, you can start to make a meal plan for your family that means less waste, happier campers, more variety and believe it or not – greater savings.

Tactic #2: Embrace the “Weird” Ethnic & Vegetable Aisles

The ethnic aisle is like Disneyland’s "It’s A Small World". All cultural foods you’ve heard of before but have no idea how to make claim residency here. It’s where couscous, dried beans, and tahini hang out with tamales, dried shitake mushrooms, and par-boiled rice. Things are cheap, better quality than canned or instant, and can really spice up your meals.

The “weird” vegetable aisle is usually hidden in the produce section and contains 10 different kinds of squash, jalapeño peppers, rutabagas, spinach, sweet potatoes, cabbage, cilantro, Italian parsley, and leeks. (Who knew there was more than carrots and onions?) When these weird vegetables are in season, they are also really cheap. You might be surprised that rutabagas make amazing stove fries or cilantro can change any Mexican dish for the better. So grab some and start exploring, consider it your around-the-world adventure.

Tactic #3: Know Some Tricks of the Trade

My husband is a contractor and he owns a dozen different saws. The reason? They make him more efficient and less frustrated. Think of your kitchen the same way. Sure, you could probably do the same job with a paring knife from the Dollar Store (and you were on Survivor) – but you will be inefficient and frustrated. And those two qualities make cooking NOT FUN.

Here is a list of my MOST loved gadgets (meaning, if they broke, I’d buy a new one tomorrow): Cuisinart 11-Cup Food Processor, Kitchen Aid Stand-Up Professional Mixer, Crock-pot, Top Quality Chef Knife, Paring Knife, Bread Knife, and Boning Knife with sharpener, 8-cup, 2-cup, and 1-cup Liquid Measuring Cups and 3-inch deep Frying Pan

Tactic #4: Get some Inspiration

I love allrecipes.com, but the site only works if I know what I want to cook (i.e. French Onion Soup) or have a hodge-podge of ingredients that I want to MacGyver together. To find inspiration, I look in my set of pretty-picture-gonna-taste-good cookbooks. My favorites are ANY Junior League cookbooks, Paula Deen, or Pioneer Woman. I’ve never made anything out any of these cookbooks that I didn’t enjoy.

Tactic #5: Save Scratch, Make From Scratch

Let me say – there is a time and place for store-bought mixes – especially if they are almost free or you forgot you are in charge of your son’s Cub Scout treats. But, if you think about it, the cost of flour, sugar, and baking soda is a fraction compared store-bought mixes or pre-made items. And 9 times out of 10, scratch items taste better too.

Sometimes our time (or skill level) is an issue. I’ll admit – I’m not a bread maker. The whole kneading thing annoys me. But I have a bread machine. And it is like manna from heaven since it does all the kneading for me. All I have to do is pull out the dough when it beeps. How easy is that? Embrace your inner baker and you’ll be shocked and amazed at the level of compliments that comes from a homemade loaf of bread.

Kelly Snyder is a wife and stay-at-home momma to a seven-year old son and four-year old daughter, as well as the author of Kansas City Mamas, a frugal blog that focuses not only on deals, but to live well within your means. She also is a self-described foodie who believes life is too short for bad food, coffee, or wine.

What other tips do you have for cutting costs in the kitchen?

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Tagged as: Frugal