Best Frugal Food Ingredients 2by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 03 Feb 2009 06:12 AM
In yesterday's post, I shared some of frugal food ingredients that I use when preparing meals for my family. If you missed that post, you can click here to catch up. Now, I'll keep going with my list. Use most of these ingredients in your food preparations. Canned Tuna While you do have to be concerned about mercury contamination, especially if you are pregnant, canned tuna can be a very cheap form of protein. You can make it into tuna salad of course, or combine one or two cans into a casserole that can feed up to six people. Canned tuna generally lasts for up to three years at a time, making it idea for stocking up when prices are low. Chicken Chicken encompasses 99 percent of our meals that are made with meat. Find whole birds on sale and roast or divide the birds for different meals. You can boil the chicken bones to make chicken stock and soup. Leftover chicken freezes well and can be turned into everything from tacos to casseroles. Pasta After the low-carb craze pasta makers suffered low demand. Now in the economy it seems as though everyone is discovering pasta. be sure to have several different varieties on hand. I use egg noodles for homemade chicken noodle soup for example. Pasta can be enjoyed with a little sauce, thrown into casseroles or baked or turned into salad. it has a long shelf life and freezes well, so stock up on pasta when you find it on sale. Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, creating a home in the Home Blog, caring for little ones in the Baby Blog and now relationships in the Marriage Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here or subscribe to the blog using the subscription box on the right. Favorite Deal Websites: Related Articles: Five Little Grocery Shopping Tricks: Shelf Placement How to Turn Leftovers into New Meals Frugal Homemade Seasoning Recipes Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevantfrugal tags User Comments Heidi (5259) 03 Feb 2009 01:38 PMWhole chickens are by far my #1 frugal food tip! I tell anyone who asks to start there because every few months I can find them on sale for $.57/lb. Around Thanksgiving I buy turkeys and cook them, and freeze the meat because they're about $.47/lb. I substitute turkey for chicken in a variety of recipes! drpr (20) 03 Feb 2009 06:12 PMI had to laugh at your comment about pasta becoming popular again in this economy. I think Americans forget what a luxury it is to be able to decide what we will and will not eat based on religion, personal tastes, desired weight, and other things. When we don't have much money, we are suddenly not so picky! After losing my job I find myself eating disgusting meals like rehydrated ramen noodle soup because each serving is 25 cents! Hey, it's food.  Mary Ann Romans (26791) 04 Feb 2009 07:05 AMdrpr you are so right. Coming up in a few minutes will be a post on Depression Era cooking. Back then, you ate whatever you had on hand rather than deciding what to prepare. Good point. By the way, you might want to consider making your own noodle soup. You can make a large vat of it for very little, if you have the time. It also freezes well and has no MSG. Mary Ann Romans (26791) 04 Feb 2009 07:07 AMHeidi, those are great prices! At the moment, I have four chickens and two turkeys in my freezer! Be sure to check out my leftover recipes--over on the right are the Food categories (not the Food Blog) for this Frugal Blog. Click there and see what you can find! Community Tags frugal food, frugal recipes, frugal living Discuss this article
|
Frugal categories |
