Save Money on Food!
- Hadley Grooms
- Jun 26, 2023
- 4 min read
We've all seen the prices going up at the grocery stores. Here are some of my favorite tips on how to save a few extra dollars on ingredients using my amazon associate links!
My big tips are going to involve freezer space so if you don't think that you have enough room in your freezer, here are a few links!
Freezer bags are going to be your best friend! I promise, once you start freezing, you won't go back. You can freeze almost anything and I'll give lots of examples! The link below has two different sizes of freezer bags and I would recommend both because you never know what size you'll need.
Remember to always label your bags with the date and what is inside!
When chopping vegetables, there are normally parts that you throw out such as the peels of carrots, ends of onions, tops of leeks, and more. DO NOT throw these out! Instead, collect them in your new freezer bags so you can make your own vegetable stock!
I also linked this super highly rated vegetable chopper because this past weekend I spent over an hour just hand chopping vegetables for this soup that I was making, and I really wished I had one!
Speaking of broth, have you guys seen the price for bone broths recently? I love using bone broth in my cooking for the flavor and the health benefits but it can be so expensive.
What I would recommend is asking at the butcher section of your local grocery store (or butcher shop if you have one) and ask if they have any bones available. I have seen some stores sell bones in packages along with the meat so check there too. Now you can make your own bone broth! There are lots of easy directions on Pinterest.
I will link these washable cheese cloths. Perfect for staining out fine things and they are machine washable so you don't have to buy more! And remember, all of these broths are freezable!
Another great tip is to buy things when they're on sale, prepare them, and the freeze them. So next time you see a big bag of potatoes on sale, this is what you'll do:
Peel them and boil them like you would if you were making mashed potatoes. Mash them up but don't add any milk or butter. Separate and store in your gallon freezer bags based on how much potato you would want at a time (you don't want to freeze and thaw and freeze and thaw multiple times so I try to estimate if I am making mashed potatoes for my family, how much would we eat at one time- that is one bag). When you feel like mashed potatoes, or using potatoes in a recipe, just pull a bag out, thaw, and add what you normally would to your mashed potatoes.
If you're feeling fancy, I attached a link for an electric potato peeler. If you have a big family and you are going to buy these potatoes in bulk, this might be a life saver!
With all of those potatoes, I thought I would find a link to a good masher, but then I realized- what else can we mash? Another good example is bananas! See bananas going bad or they are on sale? Get them, mash them, freeze them! Great for baby food, smoothies, banana bread, and more.
You can also freeze the bananas whole with the peel still on, but if you are planning on using them where they will already be mashed, it will be easier if you mash them before freezing.
So many fruits and veggies can be bought when they're on sale, processed, and frozen. This is a great way to save money but please remember to pay attention to the shelf life items have in the freezer!
If you and your family start this journey, you will fall into a good rhythm. When fall comes and there are lots of pumpkins- freeze them and you'll have pumpkin bread, pumpkin, soup, and more when you feel like it throughout the year. Old avocados or sweet potatoes on sale? Get them, process them, freeze them. Fruits on sale? Make them into syrups. Below is a great link I found from the University of Missouri about freezing and storing every kind of fruit!
Don't have a lot of freezer space but lots of pantry space? Canning might be for you! Now I am not a canner personally, but I know of a lot of people who love it! I'll link a starter kit and this link has three different options for how much you might need!
If you are not planning on needing to store food for as long as freezing or canning would allow, a vacuum sealer is a great option!
The one that I am linking is highly rated but much cheaper than some of the other vacuum sealers!
Overall, it seems like our best option to save money on food during these times is to buy on sale and buy in bulk. It may seem overwhelming but think of your families favorite meals, what the common ingredients are, and go from there. What I do for my family is the broth tips and freezing everything to be honest. In my broth bag I have leek tops and the leafy part of celery. As we move into fall, that will be when I start my bone search for broth. Potatoes are huge in my family so I am waiting for those big bags to go on sale! Last week, I made a garlic soup and chicken noodle soup and froze the extras. If you guys need any ideas for recipes using common freezing items, let me know!
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