By Guest Blogger on October 7, 2010
In this current economic climate, almost everyone I know is tightening their budgets. Some are cutting out their daily lattes or personal trainers, some are on a total spending hiatus, and others are simply trying to decrease their grocery bills. The question is, how can you save money on groceries—particularly if you, like my family, eat healthy, organic and local foods? Here’s how: meal planning. We are a family of four, and I spend $150/week on healthy, organic, unprocessed food.
There are loads of great resources on the Internet about how to save money on groceries. You can become a coupon queen (I don’t have the time for this), you can go store to store in search of sale items (I don’t have the patience for this), you can grow and preserve some of your own food (I’m working on this), or you can use a meal plan. With meal planning, you take inventory of what you already have on hand (in the pantry, fridge and freezer). Based on the items that you’d like to use and your schedule for the week ahead, you plan daily meals. Additionally, meal planning helps me save time by just going to the grocery store one time per week. No running to the store every afternoon for something for dinner that night and no resorting to takeout on the way home from work.
Every Sunday evening, I take a look at what I have on hand and what we have going on that week, and I develop a meal plan. For example, if we have a lot going on one day, I will stick to something relatively easy and quick for dinner that night. The next step is to consider your grocery budget for the month. Split the monthly total into weekly increments and budget your meal plan around this amount. The best way to stick to a grocery budget is to go to the store with just enough cash; leave the debit and credit cards at home. This will prevent impulse buying that does not fit into your meal plan.
The other challenge: family members with different diets or preferences. For example, my husband likes to have meat or fish at least once a week, my kids love pasta (and could eat it every night if I let them), and I could live on green juices and smoothies (with the occasional bowl of popcorn). I try to incorporate a variety of things each week so there is always something that we will all eat and love. And yes, my kids (ages 2 and 6) love green juices and smoothies. (Our favorite juice combines apple, cucumber, spinach, lemon, parsley and ginger; our favorite smoothie is a blend of blueberries, spinach, banana, almond milk, and ice).
Take a few minutes this weekend to create a meal plan for the week ahead. The payoff? Calmer, more focused meal preparation, healthier meals, less money spent on last-minute, last-ditch takeout, and more time to actually enjoy meals with your family.
Here’s a sample of a weekly vegan dinner meal plan that is simple and affordable: Pasta salad with grilled vegetables
Tuesday: Veggie & bean fajitas with homemade salsa and guacamole
Wednesday: Spinach quesadillas with avocado & tomato salsa, fresh cilantro from garden, and black beans
Thursday: Whole-wheat angel hair pasta with fresh tomatoes, spinach and basil and a big green salad (from the garden)
Friday: Quinoa veggie salad
Saturday: Avocado, lettuce, spinach & tomato sandwiches on sprouted bread and leftover quinoa salad.
Sunday: Tofu & veggie stir fry with brown rice
Monday:
Breakfasts—green juices and smoothies, homemade granola, zucchini bran or blackberry vegan muffins, Kashi cereal w/ almond milk
Lunches—leftovers from dinner the night before, salads, green smoothies, almond butter & banana sandwiches on sprouted bread
Snacks—fresh fruit, carrots and hummus, non-dairy yogurt, almonds, green juices and smoothies, dehydrated fruit, Kookie Karma cookies
Treats—raw coconut cacao shakes and homemade popsicles
Drinks—water with lemon, tea, sparkling water with lemon & lime, organic red wines
My weekly shopping generally includes the following:
Apples
Bananas
Lemons
Peaches
Asparagus
Avocados
Bok choy
Celery
Cucumbers
Ginger
Parsley
Kale
Mixed greens
Onion
Red pepper
Snap peas
Spinach
Zucchini
Tofu
Tortillas
Yogurt
Items I generally keep stocked in my freezer or pantry:
Frozen fruit
Sprouted bread
Oat bran, oats, flaxseed, whole-wheat flour, coconut oil, agave, etc. for baking
Whole-wheat pasta, quinoa pasta, quinoa, brown rice, beans, canned tomatoes
Almond butter, homemade jam, almonds, nuts, almond milk, etc.
Entrepreneur Jenny Newcomer, owner of LobotoME.com, uses her weekly Feed ME meal planner to plan meals for her family each week. The Feed ME notepad is available at http://www.LobotoME.com or at The Container Stores nationwide.
Photo Credit: Akash k
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By Guest Blogger on April 9, 2009
Hello everyone! I’m so honored to do a guest post on CSL. My name is Melody Polakow and due to being laid off from my job as a vegan and raw foods chef in December, I am living on a very strict budget of $3.33 a day or around $100 a month for myself and two teen sons who live with me part time. I have always been a frugal cook by nature and grew up eating a vegetarian diet based on whole foods, fruits and vegetables. (Thanks mom!)
Eating high quality, healthy vegan food on a budget is very do-able, but it might require a shift in thinking when it comes to how you plan menus, shop and prepare your meals. There are several important steps I recommend if you want lessen your grocery bill without sacrificing the quality, taste and variety at the dinner table.
The first step is taking an inventory of what you already have in your pantry, fridge and freezer. I wrote everything down and started to plan meals around what I had on hand. I was fortunate to have had an abundance to start and that enabled me to only spend $1.80 a day or $50.00 in February. You can check out my starting pantry list here.
Everyone’s tastes are different, but here are some staples that I have found to be very useful: (Obviously, this is a very large list and most people do not have all of these on hand. Pick and choose which ingredients you use the most and build from there!)
Dry and Canned Goods
Brown rice
Barley
Quinoa
Bulgur
Millet
Unsweetened coconut
Cornmeal
Whole grain pasta
Wheat berries (if you grind your own flour)
Popcorn
Nutritional yeast
Various dried spices
Vegetable broth cubes
White whole wheat flour
Baking soda
Baking powder
Sea salt
Pepper
Canned tomatoes
Roasted red peppers
Pickled jalapenos
Pickles
Ketchup
Sauerkraut
Canned pineapple
Unsweetened applesauce
Molasses
Raisins
Dates
Sunflower seeds (keep in freezer)
Raw cashews, almonds, walnuts (keep in freezer)
Sunflower, pumpkin, sesame seeds (keep in freezer)
Roasted peanuts
Chia seeds (keep in freezer)
Dijon mustard
Coconut milk
Vinegars
Olive oil
Canola oil
Coconut oil
Hot sauce
Soy sauce
Siracha
Toasted sesame oil
Concentrated lemon juice
Sugar/sucanat
Dried beans/legumes/lentils
Rolled oats
Steel cut oats
Golden flax seeds (keep in freezer and grind in coffee grinder) or
Golden flax meal (keep in freezer)
Active dry yeast (buy in bulk and keep in freezer)
Ok, so now that you have taken inventory you can start to plan your meals around what you have on hand or on several basic staples.
What has been working for me is to base the bulk of our meals on legumes and whole grains. I cook up a pound of dried beans and 2 cups of dried whole grain and use them in a variety of ways throughout the week.
For instance, a pound of lentils ($1.29) will yield around 6 cups of cooked. 2 cups will be turned into veggie burgers, 1 cup will be turned into meatballs, 2 cups will be used in our breakfast muffins and 1 cup will be turned into a soup.
I usually cook 2 lbs of different legumes each week. Chickpeas can be turned into hummus, pasta sauce, sandwich spreads, burgers, eaten in salads, in Indian food and in soups. I often freeze 2 1 cup portions of the beans right after cooking to ensure they will remain fresh later in the week.
The vegetables/fruits I have on hand most of time are kale, collards (I can get HUGE bunches for $1.29 at my local Market Basket in Portsmouth, NH), carrots, onions, garlic, celery, cabbage, cilantro, bananas, limes/lemons, frozen strawberries and sometimes apples. I look in our grocery circulars every week to see which fruits/veggies are on sale and plan my meals around them in addition to my staples. I was very excited to get a pineapple for $1.99 and find broccoli for $.99/lb today at a store I rarely shop at due to their high prices.
I have been baking all of my own bread. It is not as daunting as it sounds because I do an ever simpler version of No Knead Bread.
We enjoy pulling some out and making fresh English muffins (on the stove) to use as a buns for our veggie burger.
I hope that some of these tips have helped you! I am going to close with this easy recipe:
Raw Thai Noodle Bowl
Serves 2
-3 large collards, chopped finely OR 2 spiralized zucchini (enough to -produce 4 c of veggies)
-1 medium carrot, shaved into noodle shapes
-2 c mushrooms, sliced and marinated in Braggs hot pepper and black pepper
-1 clove garlic
-2 inches ginger
-4 T dried coconut
-1 t toasted sesame oil (optional)
-Siracha to taste (or cayenne)
-juice of 1 large lime
-Braggs to taste
-3-4 c water
-stevia or other sweetener to taste
-1 c cilantro
-fresh mint/basil (optional but VERY good)
-sesame seeds
-black pepper
1. Chop the collards. I like to chiffonade then so they will be somewhat “noodle like”. I used a julienne peeler to peel the carrots into noodles.
2. In a blender place the garlic, ginger, coconut, sesame oil, siracha, lime juice, Braggs and water. Blend for several minutes (to get it warm) Add stevia or sweetener to taste. Pour over veggies and top with chopped cilantro, mint, basil and sesame seeds. Taste and adjust seasonings. I like to warm mine gently on the stove and I added a lot of hot sauce, so it really warms me up.
Nutritional Info based on 2 servings
266 calories, 7 g protein, 21 g fat, 17 g carbohydrates
To see what else we eat on a daily basis, check out my blog and my website.
Thanks for reading,
Melody
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