You all have submitted a lot of good questions and we are about halfway through.
I hope everyone is reading the comments because a lot of excellent info is being shared.
Thanks to those who are sharing in the comments, it's what's making this series a success!
Here's this week's question and it's one that hits home to most of all of
us …
My
biggest struggle is adding more convenience type foods alongside my home canned
vegetables and healthier foods. We are trying to eat cleaner, and money has
been, and continues to be, extra tight. I simply don’t have much wiggle room in
my budget for extras.
We garden and can and freeze a lot but there are times when I am too tired to
cook from scratch. I take a few dollars each week and buy things to make it a
little easier on myself but oftentimes my husband or daughter eats it and there
goes my stash.
I hear you on this one! I’ll share some of our convenience foods at
the same time I’ll look forward to what others share!
For convenience
foods we’ve canned:
chili
soup base which means you can
just open jars or bags of veggies, add them and create a quick soup
stew meat which means you can
add it to soup, thicken its broth to make a gravy and serve over rice or
noodles
apple pie filling, cherry pie
filling, etc for making quick deserts
spaghetti sauce
vegetable soup, just add some
home-canned stew meat and you’ve got a meal in a pot
Frozen convenience
foods include:
Cooked rice which means you are
ready to make a toping to serve over it and you’ve got a meal
Meat pies/pot pies
Home-made cookie dough
Meatloaf
Meatballs
Brown ground beef
Freezer burritos
Freezer homemade breakfast
sandwiches
Homemade freezer muffins
For grab and go
foods …
Homemade cookies (make a double or triple batch and store them
in the fridge for the week so they’ll stay fresh. Don’t forget to use the cookie dough you made
at another time and froze.)
Breakfast cookies (store in fridge)
Brownies (store in fridge)
Homemade granola
Those freezer burritos, breakfast sandwiches and muffins also make good grab and go foods!
I'm looking forward to reading what everyone shares!
patsi
Sharing 42 years' experience of frugal living and pantry building (if you include my frugal childhood, well that would add a few more years to my experience!)
A Working Pantry
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All really good ideas. This week I am working my way through 40lbs beans, 25lbs beets, 10lbs zucchini, 10 lbs peas. I have the peas done. Next will be beans. I have both green and yellow wax. 1/4 will be used in pickles. 1/2 will be used in frozen mixed vegetable, a mix of green and yellow beans and packages of each colour individually. The other quarter will go into soup that I will freeze. The beets will be 1/4 pickles, 1/2 for soups and 1/4 to freeze. The zucchini will be shredded up and frozen for zucchini bread, and to use I. Pasta dishes.
ReplyDeleteGlorious Needlework and life, I love how you have it all planned out what you're going to do with everything. That's a smart idea and way to approach food preservation!!!
DeleteI find that if I have frozen soup/ stew
ReplyDeleteThat it only takes about 45-60 minutes in a 350 oven to thaw.
I did one of Budget Bytes lentil stews last winter and if frequently was my go to with frozen leftovers in the oven
TG, Now, why have I never thought to do that!!! What a great idea, thanks for sharing!
DeleteI just make large quantities of certain foods and freeze them. I do this with sauce with meatballs and sausage, chili, soups, lasagna, taco meat and pot pies. Near the holidays I make double batches of cookie dough and pull them out of the freezer when people are coming for fresh cookies.
ReplyDeleteMaking Cents of It All, Those are some good ideas, I like all of them!!!
DeleteThat is a great list, Patsy. I am not as ambitious when it comes to convenience. I always keep a frozen pizza in the freezer for a 'we are too exhausted to even think' meal. I always keep cans of Luck's black eyed peas on the shelf and restock when they are on sale. A can of beans and a cup of rice into the rice cooker and we have a main dish. I always keep a couple of cans of no beans chili on the shelf for really quick nachos. They are delicious! We have Lidl in our town and they put frozen foods on sale so cheap and that is when I pick up their chicken breast bites that are nearly as good as Chick fil A and frozen FF are often really inexpensive on sale. I like to keep turkey burgers in the freezer that can be cooked from frozen. We love them on buttered toast. Lidl puts them on sale for as low as 1.99 for 3 pounds and that is when I buy. I have containers of meat sauce for pasta, bags of chopped cooked chicken breast, soups, leftover containers of gravy and baked goods in my freezer. We nearly always have biscuits that reheat easily in the microwave. I try to keep some muffins in the freezer for quick snacks that have some nutritional value. I don't know what the answer is to keep your family from eating your stash except tough love as in if they eat your quick meal they are on their own for dinner or they have to pay for take out pizza, etc. Hope it helps!
ReplyDeleteLana, those all sound like pretty good ideas to me!
DeleteToday I read a blog post about the pantry/stockpile that had different ideas and thoughts on the stockpile than I have have ever seen before and maybe some of you would like to read it at http://www.therenaissancehousewife.com/ Reed the Frugal Accomplishments post for 7/29/19.
ReplyDeleteGreat site I just checked it out.
DeleteWhen I cook I usually make extras and freeze one or two meals for those days when I just can't be bothered cooking.
ReplyDeleteAs far as pantry items are concerned, I always keep cans of Spam and Corned Beef, Sardines & baked beans (to have on toast). I am also on the lookout for such things as Frey Bentos meat pies as they come in cans (British readers will know these items) - and in the fridge I always have eggs.
I don't eat these things on a regular basis - prefer to cook from scratch - but everyone needs a break now and again.
If there is a sale and you have freezer space then stock up on frozen meat pies, burritos, microwaveable meals when they are on sale. As long as you aren't living on these things on a daily basis I see no need to apologize about using them now and again. And if need be - hide them from the rest of the family! :-)
Margie, well said and I agree!
DeleteConvenience foods are always desirable, which is why it is hard to keep them stocked up in the pantry. With a strict budget, that can be hard. To off-set this, you may have to purposely make budget friendly, healthy convenience foods for everyone to enjoy, so they stay out of your pantry stash. Once a week (usually on Sunday), I put aside time to bake something healthy, like muffins, squares, tea biscuits, etc. for the family to use for lunches or snacking on during the week. If they are for school/work lunches, I take the time to individually wrap what I need for these lunches for the week, and everyone knows those are not to be touched! I like to boil a pot of eggs (usually around 7-8 eggs at a time), and keep them in the fridge for breakfasts in the morning. The eggs can also used to making egg salad sandwiches, deviled eggs or top a salad for lunches. Sometimes I make up BBQ chickpeas (literally a can of drained chickpeas cooked in BBQ sauce), black beans cooked in taco seasoning or a big batch of fried rice and keep that in the fridge for an easy lunch items. All of these options are super cheap and can even be used for dinner in a pinch. But by making them up and putting them in the fridge, they are now convenient options too!
ReplyDeleteFor quick dinner options, planning ahead can save lots of time. When I make a pan of lasagna, I often make 2 and put 1 in the freezer to use another night. It's not quick to make (takes an hour or more to cook), but it works well for nights when I don't have the energy to stand over the stove cooking. I have used this method with other casseroles as well. I often make extra large batches of pancakes, so I can freeze the uneaten portions. The pancakes can be popped in the toaster to cook for a very quick meal! Often I make a huge pot of white rice. Most of the time it gets eaten as is (DD LOVES rice). However, if there is enough left when I have the time (or I hide it when I have a craving), I make up a big batch of fried rice, which tastes amazing as leftovers! Sometimes I purposely make extra of our dinner, to use for lunches the next day. My daughter loves when I cook up a few extra chicken fingers with dinner, and specifically save them for her school lunch the next day! We make more hot dogs than necessary, to put in the fridge for lunches the next day. You can even cook extra meat, and put aside the extra to use in a different meal later in the week, cutting your prep time in half.
Finally, I highly suggest finding some recipes that take very little time to make, and keeping the ingredients for these in your pantry. Or, like in my case, I find easy recipes that use ingredients I always have on hand. For instance, I keep naan bread, mozzarella cheese and pepperoni in the freezer and canned pasta or pizza sauce in the pantry at all times, so we can do "make your own" pizzas on nights we need an easy meal. You can add whatever other toppings you happen to have on hand. I always have pasta and pasta sauce in my pantry for a quick pasta dinner. I have rice to whip up simple rice dishes. I buy canned soup when it is on sale, to use for emergencies as well as for quick meals when needed. I'm always well stocked on baking ingredients, and have a list of recipes I can make from those. I have recipes for savoury bread pudding or strata that are cheap and easy to make with basic ingredients. Having a list of recipes to choose from when you are tired will help keep the budget in check! Building your pantry with this in mind will definitely help.
Rhonda, I sure hope the person who submitted this question reads your comment, it is full of great tips and suggestions! Thank you for taking the time to type it all out!
DeleteDear Patsi,
ReplyDeleteWell I didn't submit the question but I am definitely taking notes here! Thank you and everyone else for all the suggestions. I think anyone who keeps constantly busy needs some convenience every once in a while. You have presented some healthier, cheaper ways to do that.
Love, Kelsey
Kelsey, I agree completely, convenience is very important!!!
DeleteOh I almost forgot! I do have something to add and that is popcorn. I buy the kernels and pop it myself. You can do this in advance and it will stay fresh for a few days if you keep it in an airtight container.
DeleteLove, Kelsey
Terri at Blue House Journal Blog had a great idea regarding convenience meals. She put together 'shoe box' meals that she placed in her pantry. All ingredients for a shelf stable convenience meal were placed in a box with a lid along with instructions for cooking and a list of fresh food required. Then when a day came along where she was short on energy and time, she could just pull a box of the shelf and get started. No decisions required. My experience has been if your family doesn't know that you've purchased those convenience foods because they can't see them by swinging open a door, then the foods are still available when you need them.
ReplyDelete