Leveraging leftovers cuts the grocery bill.
When some of Chicago’s top chefs got together to judge Regal Springs’ Tilapia recipe contest, they provided more than culinary expertise. They also served up tips and ideas for making quality budget meals that the whole family will enjoy.
Tony Priolo of Piccolo Sogno, Roger Herring of Socca, Chris Macchia of Coco Pazzo, and Dirk Flanigan of The Gage judged the recipes of over 300 contestants who each created a tilapia meal for a family of four. The recipe, including side and salad, had to cost less than $15. At the same time they judged the finalists’ recipes, the chefs discussed ways for families to cut costs during these hard economic times.
Tilapia is a wonderful, frugal-friendly fish to serve your family, as evidenced by the 300+ contestants who made delicious meals for under $15. In addition to economical tilapia, the chefs recommendations for cutting the family food budget include the following tips. The comments are mine, and yours are welcome too!
1. Try going meatless a few days a week and eat more salads and soups instead.
If your family is of the ‘meat and potatoes’ variety, you might want to start by cutting meat out of the menu just one day a week. Replace it with beans, tofu, or eggs. Once they’re used to this, increase the non-meat offering to two days a week and see if anyone notices. Another way to get even more out of a dollar: cook dried beans in your crock pot instead of buying canned. It saves you from excess sodium too!
2. Start your own garden to grow your own vegetables and herbs.
This takes a little more effort, but if you can manage it, gardening can save quite a lot of money. I have a friend with more cantaloupes than she knows what to do with. Personally, I have had more luck with herbs than actual fruits and vegetables, but that’s resulted in savings too. Herbs are expensive at the store. Having them fresh in my backyard means I’m making more of those recipes I used to skip over because of the pricey ingredients.
3. Make your own snacks with goodies like fruits, nuts, and pretzels.
To take this a step further, when fruits and veggies are in season or on sale - buy them. Buy lots of them and tell your family that’s the Snack of the Week. For those salty snacks, buy in bulk and package in plastic baggies for the lunches. That will save you bundles!
4. Utilize leftovers to the fullest … don’t let anything become unnecessary waste.
I work at home, and I LOOOOOVE me some leftovers (<- that’s me trying to be Southern) so this one’s easy for me. Think twice before you toss anything out. Veggies can always be used in a salad. Almost any kind of meats can be mixed into a chimichanga. And leftover scrambled eggs are great in fried rice or in a flour tortilla.
5. Cook in large batches to increase efficiency and prepare all meals weeks in advance.
If it can be doubled, double it. Then freeze it. If it’s good enough for [insert favorite purveyor of frozen food here], it’s good enough for you.
6. Maximize the use of a freezer to save food for as long as possible.
See #5 above, but also buy meat on sale. I cannot tell you how much money I’ve saved doing this one simple thing. Find out when the meat gets marked down at your grocery store and then buy it! You can easily save 20%-30% - and sometimes more - this way. Take the meat home and put it immediately into the freezer. You don’t have to have one of those super duty models. Most standard freezers hold plenty. The trick is to plan your weekly menus based on what you have in the freezer, and always be on the lookout for new discounted meat to replace it.
I’m always interested in new *easy* ways to save money on groceries. Please add your tips in the comments below!
