Cheap Healthy Recipes Food Cooking International Guide
Cheap Healthy Recipes With Cheaper Alternative Ingredients
By Patrick D Kelly
Cheap healthy recipes can be made with cheaper alternative ingredients.
In these days of people losing their jobs in their millions, many
people are looking for better ways to stretch the dollar further
and still eat healthy and delicious food. This is still possible,
when switching expensive food ingredients with cheaper alternatives
and buying food in bulk.
You can buy food like staples in bulk, much cheaper than when
buying individual items. For example when buying rice, wholemeal
pasta and other staples, always buy in large quantities to last
a long time. You can use these staples, as a basis for many healthy
and nutritious recipes.
Switching With Cheaper Ingredients
You can also look for alternative and cheaper food items than
your favourite more expensive choices. For example, when buying
your favourite choice of steak, you may notice the price has increased
over the last year. A good idea, is to look for cheaper meat in
the meat section of the food store, to use as an alternative to
the more expensive meat.
Controlling your expenses, will help you make better choice of
alternative ingredients when cooking with cheap healthy recipes.
Tempting Cheap Food Ideas
There’s no question that the cost of food takes a larger bite
out of your budget than just a couple of years ago. When the economy
is stable, food prices don’t fluctuate too much, from month to
month. So we get used to living on the same food budget.
These days, it’s hard to know what to expect in food costs from
week to week. Now, you might run through your allocated monthly
food budget within 3 weeks. It’s clear that a new strategy and
better organization is called for, if you hope to make the food
money last. Here we’ve got several ideas for cheap, healthy recipes
that are also tempting to your family.
Love A Good Rib Eye Steak
Every cook has a repertoire of favorite recipes. During flusher
times, you may not have been so concerned about the cost of serving
a good rib-eye a couple of times a month. Just a few years ago,
you could get a nice, good-sized juicy rib-eye for about $6-7.
A nice treat that didn’t break the budget.
On a recent shopping trip, I checked out the steaks and was absolutely
shocked to see that a decent sized rib-eye steak will now set
me back $13-16! This set me thinking about how I could serve tasty,
cheap, healthy recipes more often than not, so I wouldn’t run
out of food money!
Chuck Roast Has More Flavor When Prepared Correctly
Broiling up a nice steak makes you feel that you’re enjoying
a well-deserved treat that everyone loves. However, it’s harder
to justify the price. One beef cut that is still relatively cheap
is the good old chuck roast. Prepared correctly, that chuck roast
is fork tender and actually has more flavor than the steak.
You may think this is the glass-half-full mentality. You’re right!
Why not? Chop up a couple of onions, a few carrots, some beef
broth, season with thyme and toss this hefty wonder in the slow
cooker. Bake some potato wedges in the oven, seasoned with fresh
rosemary.
Swapping Pricey Ingredients For Cheaper Alternatives
Warm some bread and you’ve got a cheap, healthy recipe for half
the price, with leftovers! Add some gravy made with the broth
and everyone’s in heaven.
The point here is to look over your current stock of recipes
and look for ways you can substitute some less pricey ingredients
for spendy ones, without sacrificing taste.
Stock Your Pantry With Staples
Another strategy for devising cheap, healthy recipes that please
the taste buds is to stock your pantry with staples, such as rice
and whole-grain pastas which can serve as a delicious base for
an array of one-dish meals that offer variety, nutrition and good
taste. Stock up on sale items and freeze, as your freezer space
allows.
For example, it’s far cheaper to buy one of those ten-pound bags
of chicken hindquarters and freeze in dinner sized portions, than
it is to buy the smaller packs of legs or thighs. The same goes
for beef. Buy in quantity, when the item is on sale.
Simple Ingredients With Small Amounts Of Produce And Seasonings
All cheap, healthy recipes have a few basic components in common:
simple ingredients, combined with small amounts of a colorful
variety of produce, bits of meat – or tofu – and the right seasonings.
If you haven’t got a handle on seasonings, go online, or to the
library and get up to speed. You’ll be amazed at the magic a good
seasoning mix can confer on the most ordinary of ingredients.
Produce has become quite expensive too, but you can still serve
produce, economically, in adequate quantities. Always watch the
sales! Mushrooms, bell peppers, zucchini, broccoli and carrots
all freeze well.
Flash Freezing And Freezer Bags
Stock up when they’re in season and spend a couple of hours slicing
and dicing. Flash freeze the mushrooms on a baking sheet. For
the rest, fill meal-sized freezer bags about one third full of
water with a dash of lemon juice, then pile in the veggies.
Serving tasty, cheap, healthy recipes is easy, with the right
shopping and storing methods. You’ll soon have that food budget
tamed!
Grocery Shopping On A Budget
Another way you can save more money, is to buy your food in bulk,
especially when you buy food staples. You can buy 10kg of rice
that will last a long time and is far cheaper than 10 bags of
1 kg rice. Look out for bulk savings. Many stores these days sell
bulk items at a reduced price. Being smart with your buying ideas
where you can take advantage of available discounts.
Another way to save on your shopping budget, is to go to the
food store less often. Write a list of the food you need, before
you leave home and buy only those items. Do not buy food you will
not eat and watch it rot away, just because it was available on
a discount price. Quite often, the reason an item is on a discount
price, is because no one is buying it, the warehouse is full and
the stock needs to be sold.
Buying food only once or twice a month, and buying in bulk will
save you plenty of money in these tough economic times. You can
still buy quality food with the best nutrition, you just need
to find cheaper alternatives to use with your cheap healthy recipes.
About the Author:
Patrick D Kelly has written a number of articles on food and cooking
including Groceries
Online, Irish
Recipes, Crock
Pot Soup,
Vegetarian Crock Pot,
Wood Bread Box,
Bread Baskets,
Can Opener,
Black and Decker Coffee,
Fruit Juice,
Sabatier Knives,
Kitchen Equipment.
Keep a lookout for more articles on this website.
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