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How to Cook on a Budget

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When living on a budget, an existence substantiated by Ramen noodles and boxed mac and cheese may seem inevitable. However, the quality of your meals shouldn't suffer because money is tight. While it may seem like preparing nutritious, tasty food is impossible without spending a fortune, there are many ways you can keep costs low, buy high-quality ingredients and craft delicious meals for your and your family.

Plan your meals

Shopping without a plan will result in buying fresh produce and other perishable items without a prior idea of what to do with them. Writing out your meal schedule for the week is the best way to prevent purchasing unnecessary items at the grocery store that will wind up unused and spoiled. After planning your meals, construct a grocery list with the items needed for their preparation, and resist impulse buys while shopping. This way, you can make grocery trips just once week, and avoid wasting gas on repeat trips when you realize your last-minute dinner idea requires an ingredient you forgot to purchase.

Stock up on non-perishables

Buy cupboard essentials in bulk when they are on sale. Having a pantry full of everyday staples like canned soups and veggies, rice and pasta will make cooking a breeze. These items are the foundation of many recipes, and are put on sale often. Clip coupons and shop strategically to get the best deals when buying in bulk. If you have a smart phone, look into the various apps that notify you when your favorite stores have coupons and sales – some of these apps even let you download the coupons right to your phone, like Favado.

Buy versatile ingredients

Buy foods that can serve various purposes to use in multiple meals. For example, instead of buying regular lettuce for your salads, buy a bigger bag of spinach and use it for your salads, sauté as a side with dinner, etc. Buy versatile meat like chicken breasts that can be used to create endless meal options-add grilled chicken to salads, use on sandwiches and wraps, in pasta, or mix with veggies and rice. Try to avoid exotic fruits and veggies that you won't typically eat often-they could spoil before you have the chance to consume them.

Halve the recipe

Following a cookbook? If you live alone or have a small family, don't buy ingredient quantities as illustrated in the recipe if its meant to feed six. Cut the measurements in half to accommodate the number of people you are cooing for. On the other hand, you could also make extra and revamp your leftovers to spice things up a bit the next day. Steak and grilled veggies can become tacos the next night with a little salsa, cheese and tortillas, and some leftover soup can make a great lunch combo with a sandwich.

Go meatless

While meat is an everyday staple in most diets, cutting back on the amount you consume can save you a little money. Meat can be expensive-especially if you are dedicated to higher-quality, grass-fed, free-range, antibiotic free or organic varieties. Eating more lower-cost proteins-such as eggs, beans, and even tofu-can cut some costs in your shopping budget.

Buy cheaper cuts

If you must have your meat, try buying the cheaper cuts to save a bit of cash. Though trendy foods like short ribs may be featured on every hip new restaurants menu, the meat is actually quite cheap to purchase. Tough cuts like ribs, brisket or shoulder are always lower-cost than cuts like steak, because they take more time to prepare. Tougher cuts must be slow-cooked, roasted or braised to be enjoyed, but are delicious and affordable options.

Nicole La Capria  Posted by Nicole La Capria on April 15, 2014

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