How to Prepare Food on the Cheap - Recession Special

Eating is an addiction that every living thing on Earth shares. We wake up in the morning needing our fix, leave work in the middle of the day to keep the hunger at bay and spend enormous amounts of money on high-quality premo dinners. And while we can’t quit our addictions (withdrawal leads to death), we can still cut back on the amount of money we spend pursuing our food fix while still staying satisfied and healthy, especially during these tough economic times.

So to help you weather the storm, we’ve made a guide that’ll get you the most bang for your buck when it comes to preparing food.

The Basics

When cutting back on food costs, one of the biggest mistakes people make is replacing 3-course dinners with a bowl of Ramen noodles. This is not only unhealthy, but it is ultimately going to cost you in the long run. That’s because unless you properly balance your diet, you will feel hungry more frequently and are more likely to binge on whatever food is available.

The key to avoiding this problem is to make sure you’re getting the right amount of protein, vitamins, carbohydrates, fats and vegetables - and getting them cheap. So keep the 3-course dinner, but downsize the costs.

Go Green

Vegetables should be an important part of every meal and just because you’re cutting back costs doesn’t require that you cut back on greens. Instead, save money by buying frozen vegetables. Frozen vegetables are great cost-savers for a few reasons.

One reason is that you can buy them in bulk and bulk is always cheaper. The second is that even if you’re buying large quantities, because they’re frozen you don’t need to worry about them going bad right away. Most fresh vegetables have a pretty short lifespan and people are constantly wasting food by disposing of moldy greens. Frozen vegetables can be used as needed and as an added benefit, they’re easier to prepare.

The Bulker the Better

Thanks to our wonderful consumer society, magical places like Costco and Sams Club have opened up around the country allowing people to buy any grocery item by the thousands. And though buying bulk is a must for caterers and restaurants, it can also help save money for the individual.

However, there’s a danger to buying bulk that many don’t realize as if it’s not done properly, it can result in losses rather than gains. That’s because people often stroll through the aisles of a Costco, stop and think “Hm… I love duck sauce, and a hundred bottles for $200 seems like a real bargain.” Stop. Backup. Start again.

Buying in bulk only saves you money if you buy responsibly. Staples such as chicken, beef, vegetables, tuna fish, tomato sauce and pasta are great items for bulk purchases because they can be fashioned in different ways to create a thousand different dishes. Just because you buy 100 frozen chicken breasts doesn’t mean you have to cook chicken and duck sauce every night - unless you buy a hundred bottles of duck sauce.

So consider the dishes your family loves best and pick out the common ingredients that tie those meals together and make a list. Then, when you head to Costco, keep your head down and pick up only what you have on the list.

BREAKFAST, Lunch and dinner

Even though from birth we have pounded into our brains the fact that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, many people (especially Americans) seem to reverse this knowledge and focus on dinner. This trend is bad news for both your waistline and your wallet.

The reason breakfast is so important is because it sets the stage for the rest of the day. If you start off hungry, you’ll get to work or school and fill up on a snack in order to hold you over until lunch. A healthy breakfast not only gets you through the morning, but it’s also one of the most cost-effective meals of the day. Eggs are still relatively cheap and a great source of protein. Mix that with some whole-wheat toast and a piece of fruit and you’ve just started off the day with a well-balanced, cost-effective breakfast.

Furthermore, as the day goes on the meals tend to become more expensive simply because Americans are accustomed to large dinners - something that has contributed to the nation’s obesity crisis since the later you eat, the more unhealthy it is. Try cooking simpler foods for dinner such as chicken and rice instead of three-cheese lasagna. Additionally, you can keep the food simple while still keeping it interesting by investing in some exotic spices, some sauces and using different cooking methods. For instance, grill your chicken one night and bake it the next. Same chicken, wildly varying tastes.

Poor foods, rich tastes

Finally, don’t forget that some of our old world foods that were once the staples of the poor are still cheap but can be prepared to be very tasty. Such examples include lentil soup, spaghetti and tomato sauce, rice and beans and beef stews. Thanks to our globalized grocery stores, interesting spices are as easy to come by as milk, and so with the proper ingredients, simple dishes become gourmet delights.

Take spaghetti and tomato sauce for example. By adding your own vegetables, spices and meat, you can turn a can of Hunts into a unique and flavorful sauce. Another cheap meal is the taco. Corn tortillas are one of the cheapest sources of carbohydrates available, so prepare a taco night with beans, rice, lettuce and a protein base such as beef or chicken for a great south-of-the-border dinner.

Also, when it comes to saving money, nothing is cheaper than replacing unhealthy sodas and sugary drinks with tap water. Most cities in the United States have very clean tap water that is entirely safe to drink. And while there might be some adjusting to the difference in taste, it has been proven that a preference in water is almost completely psychological and based on conditioning. So a good way around this is to buy a bottle of your favorite water and fill it up at the sink when it runs out. You still get the prestige of holding a Fiji bottle without having to waste plastic and money every time you run out.

One final tip is to keep in mind that the recession is being felt by everyone. So even if you’re catering for guests, don’t feel compelled to throw down hundreds of dollars on a fancy feast. Ask people to bring a dish of their own so that you can all trade recipes. Don’t feel embarrassed by taking your lunch to work - instead, find coworkers who will make the change with you. And don’t forget that the country is going through a change right now, and extravagant consumerism is now being frowned on. So feel good about yourself and confident about your savings by following these simple tips that will keep you and your savings account healthy.

If you enjoyed reading this, check out our companion article Business Lunch Box: A Guide to Bringing Lunch to Work!