Fifteen Money-Saving Tips

By Hklbrries

"In these economic times, people are looking at stretching their dollars everywhere, and that includes their food budget. I have good news: it's not that hard to do! I firmly believe that you can save a little money here and there in your kitchen - and that when it all adds up, it means extra money for other needs in your life.

This chapter of 'Home Cooking the Costco Way' provides a variety of smart tips to help stretch your food dollar, from making meals in bulk in advance to smart storage ideas. I especially like the clever tidbits provided by Costco members. I'll start things off with my Top 15 money-saving tips. Remember, eating together at home is a beautiful way of sharing. And it makes sense in terms of the budget, too."

Sandra Lee

(Costco member Sandra Lee is editor-in-chief of 'Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade' magazine, the host of two highly rated Food Network television shows (the multi-Emmy-nominated 'Semi-Homemade Cooking' and 'Sandra's Money Saving Meals'), and a New York Times bestselling author. For more about Sandra, see her web site, www.sandralee.com)


Don't go with your gut. Plan, make a list and stick to it: Plan your meals out for the week and make a list that you stick to. This prevents impulse purchases.

Measure ingredients accurately: Be careful when measuring ingredients. For example, Pumpkin Pie Spice is one of my pantry items because it brings so much flavor to a dish. One teaspoon of an average brand costs about 71 cents. If you make that a heaping teaspoon, you are at a dollar.

Buy staples in bulk: Buying items in bulk, such as a 5-pound bag of onions, will save you money. Buying a whole chicken and cutting it yourself will save more than 50 percent. You can also save money with family packs of chicken and 3-pound bags of ground meat.

Think about sensible substitutes: Can you substitute a less-expensive ingredient? For example, for my Slow Cooker Cheesecake (recipe in collection) I used ricotta, costing me $1.67, compared to cream cheese at $3.75. I save $2.08, or 55 percent.

Eat your veggies: Feel-good meals with healthy bases, such as black bean burgers, cost about 67 cents per person to make.

Stock your pantry well: Keeping a few key items on hand, such as seasonings, baking mix, condiments and lean protein, will ensure that a tasty meal is just a mixing spoon away.

Invest in a slow cooker: Slow cookers use just 100 watts of electricity, which means that if you use it once a week for eight hours at a time, it'll only cost you about 20 cents a month in electricity!

Be clever with cookware: Some products do double-duty as cooking and serving pieces, and more. For example, a three-in-one cake server can serve as a cake stand, chip and dip platter, and punch bowl.

If it's out of season, go frozen: The frozen section is where you can get an item that is out of season at a reasonable price. In season, four ears of corn will run you $1; out of season, one ear will cost you $1. You can get a bag of corn, frozen at the peak of freshness, for around $1.99, equaling about four ears.

Do the prep work yourself: One medium onion that you chop yourself will cost you 28 cents; the same amount of frozen prechopped onion will cost you double that, 56 cents. At the salad bar, it would cost $4.99 per pound. I now chop my own garlic, a bulb at a time. I pay 75 cents for the bulb; pre-chopped, it would be about $1.99.

Be creative: Inexpensive condiments such as mustard, hot sauce or soy sauce can make a meal sing.

Encore, encore: Still have meat on a main dish such as ham? It only takes 2 cups of ham to star in Ham and Potato Casserole, Ham and Rice Casserole or Ham and Spinach Bake (recipes NOT in this collection).

Bottle it up: A teaspoon of lemon juice from the bottle costs 15 cents versus fresh lemons at 25 cents - that's a 40 percent savings.

Waste not, want not: Freeze food in individual or meal-size portions.

Eat, drink light, and be merry: A cup of milk costs 24 cents, compared to 96 cents for a cup of light cream. And heavy cream costs $1.52 per cup.

Ingredients

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Preparation

Step 1

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