Food for Thought

Because our grocery budget is pretty darn low ($20/week), I have been looking for ways to 'stretch my buck' making 2 -3 meals a day for my family of four. I have been finding the best luck with the following tips:

• Use 1/2 - 3/4 the regular amount of meat per dish and in its place using rice, pasta, potatoes or oatmeal as fillers.

• Homemade bread! I have been baking fresh bread every other day! So far, it has been 2 weeks since I have purchased store bread. This is working out great because I am really forcing myself to get creative with my day old bread...reminds me of the 'olden days.'

• Smaller portions! Instead of using an entire box of pasta I am halving my recipes and adding fresh fruits and veggies to everyone's plates. This is working out nicely because it is also much healthier and no one seems to miss the huge portions...so far...

• Everything I can make from scratch I do! With flour, sugar, baking powder/soda and most baking items on sale right now due to the holidays I am trying to make as many things from scratch as I can! Today I am going to try to conquer homemade tortillas...we shall see.

Whew! With this new plan of attack I am finding that I am using what I already have and spending MUCH less on groceries. The down side is that it is taking me about 1 hour prior to the meal in order to prepare it. I am hoping that in time I will become faster in my food preparation and I think I am going to try to prepare at least 3 meals on Sundays to help out during the week. It is much quicker to re-heat than to try to wrestle my kids in and out of the kitchen while I roll out my biscuits!

**The search online continues for great discounts and freebies. My survey work has shown me that my three favorites with the highest rewards for the 'least' amount of time are:

http://www.erewards.com/

http://www.mypoints.com/

http://www.swagbucks.com/

More to come!