Feed Your Family Without Breaking the Bank

By: Mary Carver, P.H.Ec.

Source: Mary Carver, P.H.Ec.

It's important to understand how you can plan your meals to help make the most of your budget. Here are some helpful tips from a Professional Home Economist (P.H.Ec.) to help feed your family without breaking the bank: 

• Take 10 minutes to plan meals for the entire week. Include variety – one of the best ways to ensure healthful eating.
• Make a shopping list. Stick to it to resist impulse purchases. Buy specials whenever possible. Remember - it is not a bargain if you don’t need the item. 

• Meat and fish are often the most expensive items in your shopping cart. Choose recipes to extend the protein in pasta dishes, risottos, soups, and stews.
• Add whole wheat bread crumbs or oatmeal to ground meat. Place root vegetables around a pot roast, to extend the number of servings.
• Be aware of the cost per serving, not just the total package price. Depending on the price per kilogram, lean boneless meat can less expensive due to less waste than ‘bone in’ meat. One serving of meat, fish, or poultry is about the size of a deck of cards. Making at least half your plate veggies is healthful motto to live by.
• Slow cooking tenderizes less-tender cuts of meat such as beef brisket, stewing beef, and pork shoulder roasts. The lengthy cooking time in a slow cooker (which uses less electricity than an oven) tenderizes meat and provides an infusion of flavours.
• Buy meat in ‘family packs’, which are often priced less per kilogram. Separate, wrap well in freezer paper or heavy plastic bags, and freeze in quantities that suit your family’s needs.
• Vegetarian meals can be budget-wise. Choose recipes that include plant-based proteins (kidney beans, lentils, chick peas, quinoa) to provide healthful meals at a fraction of the cost of meat.

• Stock a budget-smart pantry and freezer. Whole-wheat pasta, canned fish, and a variety of frozen vegetables are essential staples.
• Buy the ‘Large’ size of foods that keep well, such as rice, but only if you have a safe, dry place to store them. 
• Fruits and vegetables are usually more affordable ‘in season’. But not always! Check weekly specials. Ontario-grown carrots, cabbage, onions, beets, parsnips, and apples from storage are usually affordable year-round. Ontario greenhouses provide tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers of excellent quality all winter. Check grocery flyer prices to compare.
• Buy a large can of tomato paste and spoon out what you aren’t using immediately into ice cube trays. When frozen, unmold and store in a plastic bag. Each cube holds approximately 1 tablespoon (15 mL) for adding to soups, stews, and other recipes.  Avoiding food waste saves money.
• Don’t let fresh herbs wilt in your refrigerator. While fresh, wash, dry, and chop herbs before packing lightly into small plastic storage containers. Store in freezer until needed to add to various dishes where herbs are used.

• Buy cherry or grape tomatoes as smart choices over a large tomato that you will not use all at one time. There is less waste with small tomatoes and they store on the counter well.
• Take fridge inventory often. Keep a note on the fridge door to remind you to use leftovers in soups or stews. 
• Stock up on high-fibre plant proteins such as chick peas to affordably ‘boost up’ salads, pasta dishes, soups, and stews, or to make your own hummus.
• To save time, double-up when making your favourite pasta sauce, chicken stew, or chili, and repurpose for a second meal, such as pizza, chicken pot pie with a biscuit crust, or Sloppy Joes.
• Make soup. Start with leftovers and toss in your favourite veggies, pasta, and legumes and serve with whole grain rolls or toast for a healthy, hearty meal.
• By-pass the baked goods department.  Freshly-baked aromas are tempting but you can bake at home for less money and create more nutritious options - even if short on time.
• Always cover foods while they are cooking in the microwave. This reduces both cooking time and nutrient loss, which makes the final product a better value.
• Quench your thirst with water instead of juice or pop.

Be aware of how much you spend on ‘actual’ food for your family by keeping track of all purchases for a week or two. Remember not to confuse the cost of pet food, diapers, and sundries as part of the ‘food’ total.  

Your family food bill may be less than you think and it’s not necessary to break the bank.
 
Mary Carver, P.H.Ec is an Ottawa-based Professional Home Economist and a member of the OHEA Board of Directors.