Thursday, January 12, 2012

Saving money on food by preparing ahead

  I've never been good about planning menus or being prepared for dinner every night.  It's actually something I dread.  But, I know how expensive it is to eat out.  Last night I was caught with one hour until dinner and no meat thawed out and no plan.  I ended up making some brown rice, sauteeing some onion and using a can of cream of chicken soup to make chicken rice soup.  Not the healthiest or most appetizing meal but, it was something to eat with little preparation time.

  The funny thing is that I had spent all day preparing filler foods so everyone wouldn't be hungry.  We are a family of six with two preschoolers and two teenagers.  Everyone likes to grab convenience foods instead of taking the time to prepare things from scratch so yesterday and today I made fruited jello, rice krispie treats, carrot sticks, chocolate chip cookies and pumpkin pie.  

  I also thawed out some meats for meals the following days.  I put some round steak in the crockpot overnight and I will marinate some kabob meat and cook some ham which should cover us through the weekend.  Maybe one day I will be consistent with menu planning and then it won't be such a chore.  I keep wanting to try the once a month cooking or something similar but, I am afraid the quality won't be very good.  I'll have to share some recipes soon.  Stay tuned.

No comments:

Post a Comment