Slicing your food budget
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Save at the grocery store.
ALEXA WELCH EDLUND/TIMES-DISPATCH
Sarah Morris of Quinton slices a loaf of homemade bread for sandwiches as daughter Helen, 12, and son Eddie, 15, watch.
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Stretching your household budget
Plan: Be a smart shopper, and decide in advance what foods to serve for meals and snacks.
Make a list: Make a list of items to shop for and then stick to it.
Restrain yourself: No impulse buys.
Check ads for sales: Plan meals around specials and seasonal foods.
Know the prices: Be aware of the prices of items you regularly purchase. That will help you know if a “special” price is really a bargain.
Rain checks: If an advertised special item is not in stock, request a rain check so you can get the item at sale price at a later date.
Clip coupons: You can save money if the item is one you would normally buy and if the item is less expensive than similar brands. However, many cents-off coupons are for more expensive, highly processed foods.
Limit sodas: Drink water instead.
Shop alone: When family members are along, you tend to buy more. Also, don’t shop when you’re hungry; you’re more likely to buy items you don’t need.
Limit purchase of lunch meat: Cook a turkey or chicken instead and slice the meat for sandwiches.
Eat vegetarian: At least once a week, don’t eat meat. A combination of beans, pasta and vegetables can make for a creative, nutritious and economical change of pace.
Bake your bread: Or buy bread on sale and freeze it.
Save on paper products: For example, instead of using a roll of paper towels to drain fried foods, place a cake-cooling rack on a cookie sheet and let the food drain.
Cleaning supplies: Make your own. Use vinegar, baking soda and other basic ingredients to prepare your own cleaners. Find recipes here:
www.thegreenguide.com/doc/120/diy.
SOURCES: Kimberly Edmonds, Karla Jones Seidita, Sarah Morris
Easy Chocolate in the Pan Cake
Makes 12 servings.
Preheat oven to 350°. Position oven rack so cake will bake in center.
In a large bowl, sift together cocoa, flour and baking soda. Set aside.
In a medium pot, melt butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly. When the chocolate is just melted, remove from heat. Whisk in sugar and milk.
In a large bowl, whisk eggs. Add chocolate mixture to eggs, whisking in a tablespoon or two at a time. (Don’t whisk in all at once, or you’ll wind up with scrambled eggs.)
Add the flour mixture to the egg and chocolate mixture and whisk the batter until smooth, about 1 minute. Working quickly, pour batter into a greased jellyroll pan (11 x 15 x 1) and spread evenly. Bake 35 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven. Cool 5 minutes in the pan and then cover lightly with foil or plastic wrap. The cake will stay moist in the pan until you’re ready to frost or serve it. Chocolate frosting or whipped cream make good toppings, or even just a sprinkle of powdered sugar.
—Karla Jones Seidita, www.cheesecakefarms.com
Split Pea Soup
Makes 4-6 servings.Wash peas by putting them into a deep bowl and covering them with tepid tap water. Swish peas around and drain into a colander. Repeat twice more. Remove and discard any badly shriveled or discolored peas. Put washed peas into a large pot. Add water and bay leaf (optional). Partially cover pot and bring to a boil on high. Reduce heat and simmer about an hour or until peas have disintegrated and soup is desired thickness. (If the soup is thicker than you’d like, stir in some water.) Add salt and pepper to taste.
If you’d like to season the soup with a ham hock, eliminate the bay leaf and add one or two ham hocks at the beginning of cooking. When soup is done, remove ham hocks and cool until easy to handle. Shred meat and return to soup. Discard bones and rind.
—Karla Jones Seidita, www.cheesecakefarms.com
At the Morris house, turkey isn't just for Thanksgiving.
Sarah Morris regularly buys a turkey or turkey breast on sale. She roasts the birds not only for dinners, but for sandwich meat, turkey salad and soups. She freezes what she can't use right away, so she has meals stashed away for days or weeks ahead.
When turkey is priced as low as 38 cents a pound, as it was recently when she bought one, "you cannot beat it," Morris said.
That's one way Morris saves money on her grocery bill. In a struggling economy fraught with layoffs and uncertainty, we should all tap into a little thriftiness.
Food prices continue to rise. While overall consumer prices dropped in the most recent monthly Consumer Price Index in October, food prices kept going up, and the U.S. Agriculture Department predicts food prices will increase 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent in 2009, compared to an estimated 5 to 6 percent for 2008.
Despite higher prices, shaving costs from your food bill is not impossible. In some ways, it's not even difficult.
But it takes some planning.
Morris, who lives in New Kent County, said she plans menus two weeks in advance and tries to limit her trips to the grocery store. By planning, she's able to know exactly what she wants and look for sales at specific stores or use coupons.
Another key: shopping discipline.
"Only buy what's on your list!" she said.
Home economist Karla Jones Seidita also suggests shopping smartly and being an educated consumer. Avoid trendy foods -- whether that be expensive processed foods or out-of-season produce with a lofty price tag -- and stick to the basics.
"A great rule of thumb when you go into a grocery store is look at what they're stocking their shelves with," said Seidita, who lives in Fauquier County and publishes an online magazine, "Karla's Cooking Made Easy" (www.cheesecakefarms.com).
"That's the stuff they're making the most money on: canned foods, cake mixes, frozen dinners, cereal. So if you can make some of those things yourself, you're going to save a bundle."
When it comes to canned soups, you can save money and eat healthier, she said.
A pot of split pea soup, made from a bag of dried peas, costs little and is simple to make, and soups are a great way to utilize leftovers.
"We have a soup at our house that we call 'Cream of Refrigerator' soup," Seidita said. "We look and see what's in the refrigerator, pull it out, and then add a can of tomatoes. Everything works together and tastes good."
The planned use of leftovers in soups, casseroles and lunch boxes is a resourceful way to save money, said Kimberly Edmonds, family and consumer sciences extension agent with the Virginia Cooperative Extension-Henrico County.
"If there is food waste in your household, ask yourself why," Edmonds said. "Are you buying food in the right quantities? Is food refused or left on the plate? Are servings too large? Is the food cooked properly?"
Contact Bill Lohmann at (804) 649-6639 or
.
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