Here are some tips that I see very effective to money save cooking.
- Make a shopping list before you head to the supermarket. That way you are less likely to add things to your trolley that you do not need.
- Buy in bulk. So if you are going to make a fish pie, then buy larger packs of fish and make fishcakes, fish curry etc with the extra. It is usually much more cost effective to buy the larger packs.
- Be savvy with your food that is past its best days. So stale bread can be turned into delicious croutons or bread and butter pudding, stale croissants can be sliced in half and topped with a fruit crumble mixture and either baked immediately or frozen for another day, use a batch of vegetables to make a big stir fry, fruit that is not attractive towards the end of its shelf live can be made into smoothies, left overs from a roast chicken dinner can be made into a yummy chicken pie
- Try cheaper brands – very often the product is exactly the same with a different label on
- Make the most of supermarket offers especially long life products – stock up cupboards when items are on 3 for the price of 2 offers etc – pasta, beans, rice, pulses etc are the base of many wonderful meals so will always be used up – plus they have a wonderfully long shelf life
- The freezer is your friend and not just for ice cream. Many food items can be frozen and will last for several months. Even fresh herbs can be frozen (see the video below) as very rarely do we use all the herbs we buy in one meal.
- Go to your local butcher and fishmonger as I have found that they always have items they are selling at a discounted price plus they often offer a discount or throw something extra in when asked – the personal touch goes a long way when feeding a family on a budget.
- Don’t throw food away when past its “Best Before” date as they are completely fine to eat after this date but they will start to diminish in flavour and quality. However, you must eat foods by their “Use By”date.
