One of the biggest issues people have with eating "real food", is how expensive it is. Lately I've been thinking that some of the foods we eat are actually pretty inexpensive.
sprouts - A bag of alfalfa seeds only costs a couple dollars and lasts a long time. Sprouting is an easy frugal way to boost your nutrition.
kefir - Making your own kefir is inexpensive as well. We use kefir in smoothies or in baking instead of yogurt or buttermilk. Kefir = milk + kefir grains. A gallon of milk is much cheaper than a gallon of yogurt or a gallon of buttermilk.
granola bars - This recipe makes 18 granola bars, waaaay cheaper than buying boxes of them at the store!
tortillas - Just 2 cups of flour and a little bit of oil makes delicious homemade tortillas. Whipping these up and using my tortilla press takes no time at all.
beans - Rehydrating dry beans is actually pretty easy and quite cheap. We enjoy beans and rice, pinto beans in tortillas, or even black bean brownies. Black bean burgers are on my list to try next.
I've found that "making my own" granola, granola bars, tortillas, etc is often cheaper. I simply plan for a bit more time in the kitchen and regularly make these things instead of buying them. Now that I have the recipes down, it doesn't take long to do. This also allows me to buy the ingredients in bulk at cheaper prices and streamlines my grocery list. (Instead of buying cereal, granola bars, tortillas, etc, I buy a huge box of oats and other staples.)
Have you found other good ways to cut your "real food" budget?
You know, I've never been able to get in on that couponing-as-a-sport thing, mainly because it is all rubbish that my family doesn't eat... Who cares if you can get 100 PopTarts for a dollar? They're still PopTarts! :P
ReplyDeleteI keep my food budget low by gardening and canning my own produce, and by keeping chickens for REAL eggs, raising my own organic pork, and rabbits for meat. Not everyone can, but we are blessed to live in that kind of neighborhood. I also live in an area where I'm able to get grain (barley, wheat) directly from the farmer's fields and so I get it for sooo much cheaper.
The number one thing though is knowing how to cook. I never buy premade anything, and my food budget is ridiculously low, for a family of 4 1/2.
Cool AmberLou! I'd love to have chickens or a goat or something. :) I don't think we're allowed to in the city though.
ReplyDeleteChristy, where did you find your tortilla press? I'd love to have one. Rolling them all out takes FOREVER.
ReplyDeleteCourtney, its this one on Amazon, but it was only $19. There's also a slightly bigger one that is in stock (wasn't when I bought mine). Super easy to use!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Imusa-Victoria-Tortilla-Press-2-Inch/dp/B00164VNYQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1309146337&sr=8-2