I recently shared a very popular $250 sample grocery budget, and mentioned that one of the ways that I would stretch things out was with the use of vegetarian meals, most of which feature beans and legumes. Katie has written an incredible recipe ebook called The Everything Beans Book (keep reading for a coupon code!), which is chock full of recipes to help even bean-loathing families learn to happily eat more beans, up their nutrition, and keep costs down. And now, I'll pass it over to Katie to share some of her tips with you...

Guest Post by Katie Kimball of Kitchen Stewardship

Can you live a life with beans on more than just rice and beans?

I believe you can, and although I have beans and rice recipes to share for Mexican and Cuban style, plus a homemade twist on rice-a-roni, imagine 27 more ways to cook with beans. Definitely one way to cut your budget while using whole foods!

Keeping the Food Budget in Check

I dearly miss my coupons now that I make almost everything from scratch. Avoiding processed foods sometimes means forfeiting couponing, which takes away that receipt-loving triumph of, “I saved more than I spent at the grocery store!!!”

I've had to find other ways to trim the food budget, and cooking with beans is surely one of them, even though canned beans have doubled in price in a decade – doesn't that make you want to cry?

Certainly a can of beans is still more frugal than a pound of meat, and you can cut the cost even more by using dry beans.

If you don't know how to cook with dry beans, my frugal friends, now is the time more than ever as grocery prices continue to rise.

Why Beans?

I choose beans for equal parts nutrition and frugality, which isn't something you can say often.

My frugal eBook, The Everything Beans Book, not only has 30 beans and legumes recipes but also 20 pages of information.

I'll teach you:

• How to cook with dry beans to maximize BOTH cost savings and your family's health
• Tips for bulk cooking beans to cut your time in the kitchen
• How to pair beans with other simple foods to best utilize the protein (including some you may never have heard of even if you're well-versed in complementary proteins)
• Why you want to embrace beans in your meal plan
• Ideas for picky eaters who hate beans (I was one of them not long ago!)
• Frugal tips with every recipe to cut costs on all the other ingredients
• And even a few tips on the whole flatulence issue

Lesson One: Three Ways to Sneak in the Beans

1. Use Lentils to Stretch the Meat

My husband hates when I reduce the meat or add fillers, especially in his favorite meals. He has stamped the seal of approval on tacos with lentils, however, so you can believe that they're top notch. It's simple: cook up some lentils (I do a huge batch and freeze them) and add them in a 1:1 ratio with a pound of ground beef for tacos. Use seasoning equivalent to two pounds, and I promise, no one will be any the wiser.

You've slashed your cost for a rather meat-based meal without compromising nutrition, and you might even have leftovers (which makes my husband very happy). This trick works just as well with really, really well-cooked white beans. They turn into mush and your taco meat looks surprisingly like a certain Mexican fast food chain that my husband may just be in love with.

2. Puree Beans in Spaghetti Sauce

Start with about a half can or one cup kidney or pinto beans and puree before adding to any spaghetti sauce. Protein boost!

3. Make a Sauce Out of Beans

This recipe is the free download from The Everything Beans Book, and it's perfect for the bean haters:

Recipe: Pasta with White (Bean) Sauce

If you don't tell your dinner guests you're serving beans, they'll be hard-pressed to figure out the difference between this protein-packed white sauce and a standard Alfredo. You can choose to leave the beans whole for a lovely texture, too.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• ½ c. chopped onion
• 1 4-oz. can diced green chili peppers, drained, or 1 chopped jalapeno or
• Anaheim pepper
• 2 Tbs butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbs whole wheat flour or arrowroot starch
• 1/8-1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1 ½ c. whole milk
• 1 ½ c. shredded cheese (any kind works, but Swiss or Monterey Jack is great)
• 1 15-oz. can white beans, drained and rinsed, or 2 cups cooked dry beans*
• salt to taste, likely about a ½ tsp.
• ½ lb. Linguine or favorite pasta, cooked according to package directions
• *If soaking dry beans, start with 1 cup before soaking.

Method:

In a medium-sized, heavy bottomed pot, cook onion and peppers (if using fresh) in melted butter until tender, adding garlic at the last minute. Stir in flour and pepper and cook two minutes. Add the milk all at once. Cook and stir over medium heat until bubbly and thickened, taking care not to scorch the bottom.

Cook one more minute, then add cheese and stir to melt. Add the beans and canned chiles (if using canned) and stir to heat through. Feel free to add extra milk at any point if the sauce is too thick for your tastes. Serve over linguine or your favorite pasta. You might include steamed veggies right in the sauce for an all-in-one meal.

For the bean haters of the world: If you use an immersion blender and whiz the sauce, the beans (and their taste) disappear. You might want to add a bit of extra milk to thin it out, up to 1/4-1/2 cup.

For a printable version with all the frugal tips and ingredient variations, check out the free download of the beans recipe.

If I had time for a fourth, I'd share the amazing Black Bean Fudgy Brownies with you – guaranteed that no one without prior knowledge would guess that the main ingredient is beans, and there is zero flour involved! (Stephanie's note: These brownies are SO good!)

Get a taste of what's in the eBook with these other frugal bean recipes:

Meatless Chickpea Wraps

Veggie Bean Burritos

Tuscan Bean Soup

Katie's Simple Cabbage Soup with Secret Super Food 

Take $4 off The Everything Beans Book!

Katie has generously offered a coupon code for Keeper of the Home readers to save on The Everything Beans Book. Regular price is $9.95, but you'll get 40% off with code FRUGALBEANS, making it just $5.95!

How do you use beans in your meals to save money?

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This post includes affiliate links.

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If you haven't yet read my initial post, What I Would Feed my Family on a Monthly Budget of $250, I would suggest going there first, and then coming back to this post.

First, Some Answers to Your Questions

1. No, this isn't how we regularly eat. I did mention that in the other post, but I want to say it again for clarity. This is make-believe. Our usual grocery budget (which includes about $30-40 of household and toiletries) is $450, NOT $250. The point of doing this was to see IF I could do it and to figure out HOW I would do it, to challenge myself and to encourage and help those who are at a point where they don't have the luxury of upping their budget. In the past, we did eat very similarly to this, but our budget has since been raised now that we are not as strapped as we were.

2. Does our family actually consume this little dairy? No. We would and could (and used to), but we don't anymore. We drink or eat more like the equivalent of 1 gallon of dairy per week (in the form of raw milk, yogurt or kefir), not 1/2 a gallon as outlined in my budget. This is an option that we now have due to a higher budget, and we thoroughly enjoy it, plus I think it's good for us. We also eat more cheese than the other budget contained (we eat 5-6 lbs per month, not 4), probably about the same amount of butter (4 lbs), and then also some extras like sour cream and cream.

3. What is flaxseed egg replacer and how do you use it? See this post for more details.

4. How would you do this when you have food allergies (like wheat or gluten), or when you're on a special diet, like GAPS?

Here are a few helpful posts for those trying to cut costs when eating grain-free:

• Frugal Living with Food Sensitivities
• Building a Grain Free Pantry
• Using Four Frugal Foods from the Produce Section Creatively 

Our family has eaten wheat free for many, many years and this is how I made it work on a tight budget-- we would still eat the other grains I mentioned (oats, brown rice, rice pasta, etc.) plus starches like potatoes and sweet potatoes and squash. For bread, I made mostly sourdough with a combination of rye and kamut, and then also some yeasted breads using only kamut or sometimes adding other inexpensive flours like barley. I bought all of my grains in bulk from the food co-op that we order from to keep it cost effective. Of course, this would cost a bit more than the wheat flour I used as an example in my last post (25 lbs kamut for me, for example, is $19.55 and 25 lbs of rye is $11.65), but I saved money in other areas of the budget to help make it work.

For those who are gluten free, I would give you the same advice. Use different flours (brown rice, sorghum, millet, tapioca starch, etc.) and buy them in bulk, as well as the necessary extras like xanthan gum for binding. Make your own GF mixes to store in your pantry(never buy them- that makes it so much more expensive). You will probably spend even a bit more than I spent doing wheat-free, but it's still do-able. I wish I had more and better suggestions for you, but we have rarely eaten gluten free, so I'm not particularly experienced in this issue. Perhaps you can help each other out in the comments?

Snacks

Several people asked me what we would eat for snacks on this budget. I'll be honest in saying that it would be a struggle to eat decent snacks. Here are a few things that I would make:

• Granola bars
• Extra muffins
• Bread/toast or tortillas with butter or peanut butter
• Possibly cheese slices, if there was enough
• Any extra raw veggies or fruit that weren't used in other meals (but I know there wouldn't be a lot of leftovers)

All the Other Things I Would Do to Save More Money

My initial budget was based primarily on frugal eating and careful planning, which anyone can do. Now I'm going to share with you some of the many other techniques that you can use to find more room in that lean budget, buy better quality foods, and more of them.

Shop my local produce market

I love my produce market. For those local to me, I shop at 2 EE's. They carry a mix of their own, locally-grown and either unsprayed or organic produce in season, and then they supplement this with other local produce, as well as plenty of imports for those who want them. My market in particular has great prices on most of their local and seasonal items, but I find that produce markets in general are MUCH cheaper than any conventional grocery store, and truthfully, I buy hardly any produce from regular stores.

Aside from their better prices on these local and seasonal items, I also purchase bulk cases at a discount. In my $250 scenario, I spent $4.98 on 5 lbs of apples. At my market, I could buy a 20 lb case for between $9-15 (between late summer and early spring, anyways), depending on the variety I chose. That's a huge difference. I can also buy things like potatoes, carrots, onions, as well as seasonal fruit (apples and pears in fall and winter, tree fruits like peaches and plums in summer, plus tomatoes and cucumbers and peppers and all sorts of foods for preserving in summer as well), all in cases of at least 10 lbs and up to 50 lbs.

On a regular basis, I spend about $35-40 every two weeks at this market, shopping mostly seasonal foods or sales, a few discount items, and then a few things we just enjoy, and I walk away with 3-4 shopping bags stuffed with produce. The produce in my initial post cost $36.60. I could have spent the same or slightly more at the produce store and walked away with more and a better selection, especially if I...

Image from raw+peace+love

Buy From the Discount Shelf

I can't tell you what a difference this makes. Did you know that most stores or markets have a cart or a section where they put fruits and vegetables that are very ripe or just starting to go bad, but still have plenty of life left?

We North Americans tend to have a fairly spoiled view of what "good" produce looks like. If a pepper starts to get a soft spot, we're more likely to throw the whole thing out than to cut around the bad spot. If the lettuce has some bad looking pieces on the outside, we might be tempted to compost the whole head, instead of peeling off the bad parts until we get further in. Honestly, I think we're way too picky and that's why we waste so much food.

When I buy bags off of the discount shelf, I expect that I will cut away and throw out some part of the bag, but it's usually minimal. I always look the bags over carefully before choosing which ones I want. There are a few things that I won't buy discounted, because I know they are routinely not worth it (like already soft avocados- in my experience, more bad than good).

Overall, though, I pay at least 50% less (and often much cheaper) for produce that will still go a long ways. I have a friend who consistently buys the bulk of her produce from the discount shelves at various stores, and I know that she spends much less on produce than even I do (since I only buy some of mine this way, not all). I think that our family still eats a little more fresh produce overall and we enjoy more variety and choice, but their family certainly isn't suffering in any way and they still eat an excellent, whole foods diet with fresh fruits and vegetables.

I know that discounted foods aren't available absolutely everywhere- just yesterday someone was telling me that where they're from in Illinois, they just don't see these discounted items. But, they are available far more than you think. Ask the managers at the stores where you shop where they put discounted items or what days they mark them down. If you never see items already discounted, you can also just ask. Just because it isn't marked down doesn't mean it can't be. Trust me on this.

Buy Other Discounted Items

Produce isn't the only place to save in this regard. Many stores will also discount their dairy (yes, including organic or even raw), breads, meats, fish, eggs, and sometimes dry goods and regular grocery. Learn which stores do, learn how and when they mark them down, and then try to shop according to those patterns.

Don't be afraid to buy near-expiry items. Unless they really don't look good, they almost always are. Meat or fish can be used within a day or two, or frozen immediately. Same with milk, pasteurized or raw (and after being frozen, it's still great for making yogurt or kefir, for baking, for pouring over cereal or oatmeal, etc.). Yogurt or other cultured dairy usually lasts far beyond the expiry date, as do eggs. Breads can also be frozen and taste just fine once thawed.

Image by bcmom

Use a Natural Foods Co-op or Bulk Store

Although there are sadly few of these in Canada (at least, not in the West where I live), I have found an excellent one that I can buy from and pick up just across the US border. I buy from a co-op called Azure Standard. This is, hands down, my most cost effective option for purchasing any sort of grains (whole or already ground into flour), dry beans and legumes, other baking staples, dried fruits, raw honey, among other things.

The beauty of food co-ops (or natural bulk-foods stores) is that they regularly offer foods in much larger quantities. I buy my dry beans in 5 lb bags, for example, instead of the piddly little 450g bags I used in the $250 scenario. Here's the price difference:

Pinto Beans

• 5 lbs $6.25 (organic are just over $7)
• 450 g (just under 1 lb) $1.88
• 5 bags of 450g each (to equal 5 lbs) = $9.40

By buying in bulk, I am saving over $3. If I only want to save a little over $2, I can get organic instead. This makes a huge difference in your overall budget!

Take Advantage of Special Store Deals

The particular store that I used as the basis of my $250 budget actually runs a fantastic promotion each month. The first Monday and Tuesday of every month are Family Days. Depending on how much you spend ($25, $50, or $100) your discount goes up. When I spend $100, I save 15%.

In other words, I could have taken that $250 budget, and by buying at least $100 worth of it at the beginning of the month in one shopping trip, taken an immediate $15 off my total. That alone would give me the extra I needed to be able to buy more snack foods, or to help with extras like spices, yeast, baking soda, etc.

This is just one example of a store promotion. Every store is totally different. Maybe your store offers really excellent in-store coupons that you can use. Maybe you get a gift card back when you spend a certain dollar amount on particular days. If the store that you regularly shop at doesn't offer promotions like this, see if you can find one that does and make the switch.

Image by jshontz

Include Home-Grown and Preserved Food

When I made that $250 budget, I did it from scratch, not including anything I already had in my house.

The truth of the matter is, I have jars and jars and jars of preserved foods up above my cupboards. Among them are:

• Apple sauce made with gleaned (free) apples
• Apple jelly (made with the same apples)
• Strawberry jam (made with cheap $1 jam berries bought in season)
• Peaches (I bought cases at the end of the peach season, for $0.60 per lb)
• Dried beans, zucchini and tomatoes (all free from the excess of my garden)
• Salsa (with my excess garden tomatoes, and discounted peppers and onions, made last summer)

I know, you're not going to be growing or preserving much at this very moment (and neither am I). But winter is a great time to start thinking about what you might want to grow or preserve during this upcoming spring and summer season.

If these posts were written in summer, I could also include plenty of fresh produce from my garden that we would eat with meals and snacks, instead of needing to buy as much produce. Though I certainly don't grow everything our family eats, even with a handful of garden boxes, a few containers and a very small in-ground plot, I grow enough that we only buy produce minimally during the growing season. I can't think of a better way to include more fresh, nutrient-dense, organically-grown produce in a tight budget!

There's So Much More to Say

Truly. I could ramble on about this subject all day (and I will just a little bit more, on Monday). Writing posts like these are so hard for me, because a post just feels so short and there's so much more I want to say.

In fact, I did say it. I wrote an entire book on this topic in detail. It's called Real Food on a Real Budget: How to Eat Healthy for Less.

If you want to really delve deeper into the details and techniques of cutting down your budget without compromising the quality of food that you eat, I think you'll find it immensely helpful. If you want to focus first on learning to carefully think through and plan out your meals like I did in my initial $250 budget post, then you might want to start with my book Plan It, Don't Panic: Everything You Need to Successfully Create and Use a Meal Plan. 

What about you? What other types of techniques do you use to take a tight budget and stretch it even farther?

Top image by USDAGOV

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:

• Q&A- My Grocery Budget
• How My Grocery Budget Works
• Q & A: The necessity of a low grocery budget
• Q&A- My Grocery Budget, Part 2

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*After you read this post, be sure to read the second post in this series, with thoughts on how I would improve upon this budget.*

I had way too much fun writing this post.

I hinted on Facebook last week that I was working on a post detailing what I would buy if I could only spend $250 a month for our family of 5 (we currently spend $450, although that does include some household goods/toiletries, which my $250 budget doesn't).

My goal? To prove that you can still eat real, whole, nourishing foods even on a tight budget and while living in an expensive area.

A few caveats to help you explain what I've done here: 

1. I used Canadian prices. I realize most of you live in the US. These prices should be encouraging, because they are generally more expensive than what you would pay in most US grocery stores.
2. I did this based on an average, popular grocery store chain where I live (Extra Foods/Superstore). Not a discount chain, mind you, but just an average store with decent prices.
3. I didn't use all of the tricks that are usually a part of my repertoire. First, I wanted to see if I could do it with only careful planning and from-scratch cooking. No gardening, backyard chickens, food co-op, preserving, coupons, discounted/near-expiry items, shopping multiple stores for sales, etc. I didn't even use my beloved produce market's prices. I wanted this to relate to anyone.
4. I didn't include any food allergies or special substitutions, but I'll address that a little bit in the next post.
5. I did include eggs from a local hobby farm for $3 a dozen (these are the eggs I actually buy), as well as ground beef and beef bones from a local meat store that offers mostly grass-fed (grain-finished, but otherwise very clean meat) for reasonable prices. I considered using only grocery store meat offerings, but wanted to see if I could keep all of the meat sources (because it's at the top of the food chain) a bit cleaner and most people could find a similar source of meat locally if they were to really look/ask around.

Image by *clairity*

My $250 Budget Grocery Shopping List

Grains

• Whole Grain Rolled Oats- 1 Kg ($2- sale x 2 = $4)
• Organic Brown Rice Pasta- 2 454g packages ($2.79 x 2= $5.58)
• Brown Basmati Rice 4.54 Kg (10 lbs) $12.99 (this would probably last two months)
• Whole Wheat Flour 22 lbs $8.78

Dairy

• Full (whipping) Cream 1 L $4.13
• Whole Organic Milk (not raw) $8.50 per gallon (x2) = $17
• Cheddar Cheese 907 g $8.99
• Mozzarella Cheese 907 g $8.99
• Regular Salted Butter 1 lb $3.29 x 4 = $13.16
• Sour Cream (full fat) 1 L $3.88

Produce

• 20 lb Russet Potatoes (local) $8.98
• 5 lb Ambrosia Apples (local) $4.98
• 5 lbs Carrots $3.48
• 1 Large Celery $1.98
• 1 Large Green Cabbage $2.34
• 1 Broccoli Bunch (3 smaller heads) $0.96 (sale)
• 2 Field Cucumbers (local greenhouse) $0.98 each = $1.96
• 10 lb Navel Oranges $5.96 (sale)
• 3 lbs Yellow Onions $2.48
• Large Bag Baby Spinach $3.48

Image by cookbookman17

Meat/Fish/Protein Sources

• Dry Kidney Beans 450 g bag $2.58
• Dry White Beans 450 g bag $2.28
• Dry Pinto Beans 450 g bag $1.88
• Dry Red Lentils 450 g $2.78
• Canned Wild Pink Salmon 213 g $2 each x 4 = $8 (sale)
• (Mostly) Grass-Fed Local Ground Beef 4 lbs x $2.50 ($10.00)
• Whole Chicken ("free from" antibiotics, hormones, etc.) 1.93 kg (4.25 lbs)  $15.29
• Eggs $3 per dozen x 5 = $15
• Large Bag Local (Mostly) Grass Fed Beef Bones $5

Other Grocery

• Organic Tamari Wheat-Free Sauce (like soy sauce) 296 ml $4.99
• Natural Peanut Butter (no additives or sugar, but not organic) 750 g $5.19
• Unpasteurized (but not local/high quality) honey  1 Kg. $6.00 x 2 = $12
• Tomato Paste 13 oz. cans $1 x 2 = $2
• Diced Canned Tomato 28 oz. cans $1 x 4= $4
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1 L $8.99
• Raisins 750g $4.28
• Shredded Coconut 400g $3.38
• Walnut Pieces 400 g $5.78
• Bulk Flax Seed 500 g $1.20

Grand total = $237.17 

Image by victoriachan

Meals That I Would Make:

Would there be much extra? Nope. By the end of the month, I would be down to slim pickings and creative cooking. Employing more of the techniques I talk about next time would help me to purchase a greater quantity and variety of food to make the cooking a little easier.

Image by stevendpolo

Why I Chose These Foods

What would you feed your family if you had to seriously cut back your budget? Which foods would be a priority and why?

Top image by USDAgov

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:

• Q&A- My Grocery Budget
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Written by Mindy, Contributing Writer

Without proper planning, a whole foods diet can be more draining on your wallet than you might expect!  However, by menu planning and incorporating meals with lower cost ingredients into my meal plans, I actually spend the same amount on groceries now as I did before we made the switch to whole foods.

Here are five of my favorite meal ideas for keeping our grocery budget under control.  We usually have at least two of these meals every week, which helps to keep our grocery budget where it needs to be.

1.  Cornbread and Beans

I grew up eating cornbread and beans quite often, and I must be honest - I was always disappointed when I saw that's what we were having for dinner.  However, now as an adult, cornbread and beans is one of my all-time favorite meals!  It's my ultimate comfort food.

To make this meal, simply cook some dried beans in the crock pot with some bacon or other pork for flavoring.  Then serve the beans with/over corn bread (or corn muffins).  We almost always serve with fried potatoes also.

Ketchup, maple syrup, and raw onions all make great toppings for this meal.  It might sound strange, but it's actually really good!

2.  Pizza

Photo Credit

We almost always have homemade pizza on Friday nights.  When you make everything from scratch, it is a very frugal meal that everyone will enjoy!

Keep the toppings simple, and try to use up things that you have on hand.  Leftover meat (chicken, beef, pork, whatever!) and leftover veggies almost always top our pizzas along with mozzarella cheese.

For the sauce, I make a big batch of this crock pot pizza sauce.  I then freeze it in ice cube trays and then transfer the frozen cubes to freezer bags.  It is so convenient to always have pizza sauce on hand, and to be able to warm up as much or as little as I need at any given time.

I have two favorite pizza crust recipes - White Whole Wheat Pizza Dough and Sourdough Pizza Crust.  I seem to go back and forth between the two, but they are both delicious and very easy to make.

3.  Soups and Stews

Soups and stews are an excellent way to get a lot of bang for your buck when it comes to taste and nutrition.  Using homemade stock allows you to stretch small amounts of meat and other proteins into a complete meal.

Broth and vegetable based soups are more frugal than cream based soups.  Here are a few of my very favorites.

• Breakfast Lentil Soup - Lentils are delicious, filling, and cheap!  Serve this soup for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
• Creamy Pumpkin Soup - This is my husband's favorite soup of all-time!
• Simple Soup for the Spring and Summer - I know it's not spring or summer right now, but this soup is so delicious and the vegetables can be switched out for whatever is in season.
• Creamy Tomato Bisque - This recipe calls for fresh tomatoes, but I have successfully used preserved tomatoes with great results also.

4.  Breakfast for Dinner

Photo Credit

This is what I almost always fall back on when my dinner plans just aren't coming together.  Throwing together some pancakes and scrambled eggs is so quick and easy, and also very cheap.

The possibilities for breakfast for dinner are endless, but a few of our favorites are

• Omelets and hash browns
• Pancakes, eggs, and fruit
• Eggs in a basket and smoothies
• Egg roll-up breakfast burritos

5.  Main Dish Salads

Salads are like soups, in that they can stretch small amounts of meat into complete meals.

When serving main dish salads for dinner, I always start with bowls full of lettuce and then top with whatever fresh veggies I have on hand.   From there I top with some meat, cheese, and homemade dressing, to complete the meal.

The combinations are never ending!

For our salad meats, we usually use grilled chicken, salmon, or taco meat.  Grilled steak is another yummy (but more expensive) option!

Our homemade dressing for our salads usually alternate between vinaigrettes and ranch, depending on what meat and veggies are on our salads.  Here is a list of my favorite homemade dressings.

• Homemade Ranch
• Raw Apple Cider Vinegar Dressing
• Italian Dressing

These are my five favorite frugal meals that my family loves to eat.  They are easy to prepare, taste delicious, and are easy on our wallets!  You can't beat that!

Do you have any favorite frugal meal ideas that you rely on to keep your grocery budget under control?

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As 2011 comes to an end, we’re sharing helpful lists to help you save money, stay healthy, get organized, creatively repurpose, frugally gift-give, intentionally celebrate and more in our “11 Things for 2011” series throughout these holiday months.

By Contributing Writer Brandy Ferguson

As a busy wife and mother of almost eight boys, it's been necessary through the years, to find more and more ways to save on our growing family's grocery bill.

The list could be endless, of course, including practical tips like breastfeeding and cloth diapering your baby, and making your own baby food.  Here are just a few things we've learned along the way.

11 Ways to Save on Your Grocery Bill

1. Make a weekly menu plan.  A weekly menu plan prevents those last minute what-are-we-going-to-have-for-dinner panic moments.

2. From your weekly menu plan, make a grocery list.  Stick to the list.  Avoid buying anything that is not on the list.  Using an organized shopping list each week helps ensure you have every ingredient you will need for making the meals on your menu plan.  It also keeps you from running back to the store for any forgotten items, which almost always results in buying extra things.

3. Buy in bulk at a wholesale store when possible.  Costco is great for offering a lot of organic foods, and still at a discounted price.  You can often find all of these organic products at Costco:  apples, other fruits, eggs, milk, salsa, chips, cereal, olive oil, unbleached flour, sugar, yogurt, meat, chicken, vegetables, and more.

4. Use coupons if you have them, but only for things you need and will really use. Shop at Walmart when you can.  Over the years, we've repeatedly noticed how our grocery bill is drastically less if we choose to shop at Walmart.  When we don't have the extra money to spend on groceries in bulk at Costco, we know that we can still find a relatively good amount of healthy and organic options at Walmart.

5. Eat whole foods.  Even if it isn't organic, whole food is still better than processed food.  Processed foods and convenience-packaged foods are often more expensive, and if not, they're likely to cause you to spend money for health reasons later on.  For a list of easy, healthy, homemade snacks, click here.

6. Eat at least one vegetarian dinner per week.  There are so many options for delicious, meatless meals, you'll never miss it.  This is also a great way to help ensure your family is getting in those extra veggies.  Experiment and see what your family likes.  You may be surprised at how much they love loaded baked potatoes, veggie pizza, beans and cornbread, or garlic or vegetarian spaghetti with delicious, homemade sauce.

7. Plan on eating leftovers for one dinner a week, too.  Even if there isn't enough left over from one meal  for the whole family, you might have leftovers from two meals, so it can work.  Make it a leftover buffet night.

8. Make your own baked goods including breads, rolls, biscuits, granola bars, energy balls, cookies and cakes. Cheaper AND much healthier!

9. Don't buy cleaning products.  Instead, make your own non-toxic, all-natural cleaners with just a few very inexpensive ingredients like baking soda and vinegar.  Also buy these products in bulk and keep on hand.  For floors, consider switching to a steam mop, which uses only water for steam cleaning and disinfecting bare floors.  Learn how to make your own simple dishwasher detergent here.

10. Make your own laundry detergent.  With just a few simple ingredients, you can make a five gallon bucket of detergent for under five dollars.  Considering that this should last several weeks to several months (depending on your family size), this is extremely economical.

11. Use natural remedies for skin care and minor ailments when possible.  A Delightful Home is the greatest resource I am aware of for making your own body scrubs.  Make your own vapor rub by following this tutorial.  Instead of buying face wash, try this recipe for a natural, homemade version.

How do you save on your grocery bill?

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As 2011 comes to an end, we’re sharing helpful lists to help you save money, stay healthy, get organized, creatively repurpose, frugally gift-give, intentionally celebrate and more in our “11 Things for 2011” series throughout these holiday months.

As I've been learning that less is more and working hard to purge and pare down the things that we own, I've been reminded of the beauty of having multi-purpose appliances. Today's post is a feature of the handy, inexpensive little gadget that we know as a coffee grinder.

But, oh. It's so much more than that.

I bought mine for $4 at a thrift store, about 4 years ago. It is used multiple times most weeks, and the majority of those uses aren't for grinding coffee.

One thing that I particularly love is the convenience of using a coffee grinder for fast jobs and easy clean up. It is the perfect size to tackle small tasks with efficiency and ease, and with a swish of a cloth, it's wiped out and ready for the next time I need it.

Here are 11 ways to put your little coffee grinder to very good use: 

1. Coffee

I know, it's painfully obvious, but it still had to be said. For the freshest, best-tasting pot of coffee, store your coffee beans in sealed bags or containers in the freezer, and grind the beans in small amounts as needed. To save time, I usually grind enough for several days at once, then store it in a container back in the freezer.

2. Spices

Spices are the most flavorful and aromatic when freshly ground. If you don't have a mortar and pestle, a coffee grinder stands in well as a spice grinder. I have used it to make Indian spice mixes, grind cloves or cardamom pods, and peppercorns, among other things.

3. Bread crumbs

Several weeks ago, I gave 11 ideas for using up your stale bread, and bread crumbs are one of my personal favorite uses. I hardly ever pull my big food processor out of the cupboard unless I have a lot of bread to go through.

If you just tear your bread into small pieces, a coffee grinder can handle it easily and it makes crumbs that are as large or as fine as you want them, depending on how long you keep it on. Just don't overload your little machine and keep the bread amount to about half of its holding capacity.

4. Small amounts of flour

For those who also grind their own grains, have you ever needed just a cup or two of flour and felt that it wasn't worth it to pull out your grain grinder? That was how I first discovered that, in a pinch, I could grind small amounts of flour without the hassle of the larger appliance.

It's also perfect for lesser-used grains. I have a pot pie recipe that uses millet flour in the crust, but I hardly ever use millet flour so I never grind it ahead of time to keep on hand. Whenever I make this recipe, my coffee grinder lets me grind exactly the amount that I need, no fuss, no muss.

5. Dry herbs

Whatever herbs I grow in the garden that aren't used fresh are usually dehydrated and then ground into dry herbs to use in my cooking throughout the winter.

As you can see with my parsley above, the coffee grinder is a winner for this simple job. You can grind it more finely if you desire, and this works for pretty much any dried leafy herb.

6. Herbs for teas

It's easy to make your own tea blends using dried herbs that you have purchased in bulk, as well dried flowers, spices, fruits, etc. Depending on the size of the ingredients, it can be helpful to grind some things just a little smaller so that all of the yumminess is equally distributed in each pot or mug of tea.

Last week, Mindy shared some simple homemade gift ideas, including homemade tea blends. Definitely worth checking out!

7. Powdered sugar

Although my blender is my preferred appliance for finely grinding unrefined sugars to make my own powdered sugar, the coffee grinder will work in a pinch, when all you need is a little bit.

8. Chopped nuts and seeds

For a quick sprinkle on top of yogurt, a salad or any other place where you enjoy chopped nuts or seeds, the coffee grinder works well. It can grind flax seeds (or any seed, really) into a nice, fine meal.

If it's chopped nuts you're looking for, it works very well with softer nuts like walnuts, pecans, pine nuts, peanuts. With soft nuts, don't grind for too long or you'll start to get nut butter, which may not be what you're looking for. For something a little harder like almonds, it will grind them, just not quite as uniformly as you may like. If you want to turn your almonds into more of a flour, then I would recommend using a food processor or high-powdered blender instead.

Image by izik

9. Garnishes

Want little bits of chocolate, coconut, orange or lemon peel, or other small edible bits to use as garnish? The coffee grinder can handle most of them.

Of course, if you're more of a perfectionist and want lovely little shreds instead of small chunks, you may want to hand grate them instead. For the less-gourmet among us, the grinder does the job well enough.

10. Potpourri

Use your grinder for dried flower or spicy, warm potpourri, if you need somewhat smaller pieces to get an evenly distributed mix,

11. Paper Confetti

Turn recycled white or colored paper into a quick and festive confetti with a few whirls in the coffee grinder!

How do you use your coffee grinder? What other multi-use appliances do you find most handy in your kitchen?

Top image by theogeo

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Written by Rachel, Contributing Writer

As you well know, it's Christmastime! Your music is playing, the stockings are hung, your tree is decorated and it's time to get baking!

When I think about baking during this season, my first thoughts are about gingerbread houses and cookies. I love the spicy, sweet flavor. They are adorable, although they are full of white sugar and decorated with artificial flavoring and color frosting usually.

Did you know that it is possible to make these little guys while removing some of the bad ingredients?

A few things about ginger. Ginger is anti-inflammatory and has immune boosting powers. Ginger also aids in gas relief as well as motion or morning sickness and has many more healing effects to take advantage of. Eating gingerbread or gingerbread cookies will probably not give you the exact same health benefits as eating ginger raw but  it's a lot more fun, especially this time of year!

Gingerbread  Cookies

Ingredients:

• 4 C whole wheat flour (+ 1/4 C at the end*)
• 2/3 C sucanat (or sweetener of your choice)
• 2/3 C raw honey
• 3 large eggs
• 2/3 C butter
• 4 tsp cinnamon
• 4 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp all spice
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 3/4 tsp baking soda

What to do:

1. Combine dry ingredients except for sucanat in a medium bowl, mix and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter, sucanat, honey and eggs.
3. Mix wet and dry mixtures. *If the mixture is still to wet, stir in 1/4 cup of flour.
4. Knead dough together, then divide into two and place in a glass bowl with an air tight lid or in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.
5. Once you have refrigerated the dough, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
6. Roll dough on a floured surface to about 1/8 inch thick.
7. Use your favorite cookie cutters and transfer cut shapes onto a greased cookie sheet pan. (You don't have to grease, I found that the cookies remove very easily with this particular recipe)
8. Bake for 8 minutes, then remove from heat and cool on a wire rack.
9. Decorate them with chocolate frosting  if you would like to.
10. Enjoy!

Chocolate Icing for Decorating

 Ingredients:

• 1 C  homemade powdered sucanat (or organic powdered sugar)
• 3 tbs cocoa powder
• 4 tbs heavy cream, milk or water
• 1 tsp homemade vanilla

 What to do:

1. To make your own powdered sucanat, take 1 cup and pour in blender.
2. Cover and blend until powder-like.
3. Pour the powdered sucanat and cocoa into a medium bowl, add vanilla and cream.
4. Mix well and add more liquid as needed.
5. Spread icing onto cookies with a butter knife or spoon frosting into a plastic zip baggie or in an icing pipe bag or bottle.
6. Decorate cookies and enjoy!

Gingerbread

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 C whole wheat flour
• 4 tsp cinnamon
• 2 1/2 tsp ginger
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 C butter
• 1/2 C sucanat
• 1/3 C honey
• 1 1/4 C puree pumpkin or 1 can

What to do: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine dry ingredients except for sucanat in a medium bowl, mix and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream butter, sucanat. honey, pumpkin puree, and egg.
4. Fold dry ingredients into wet a little at a time.
5. Pour in your greased baking 9x9 pan or 9x5 loaf pan. Mixture will be very think!
6. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until done.
7. Cut a slice and enjoy!
8. For further indulgence, add some easy whipped cream cheese frosting!

* To reduce sugar, use apple sauce in place of one or both sweeteners or check out this recipe, you could just add a few teaspoons more of ginger and cinnamon.

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Guest Post by Janelle 

With the holidays approaching fast, many of our minds are turning to the inevitable Christmas party. Entertaining on a budget is challenging.

Entertaining GLUTEN FREE on a budget: Even more challenging. But, not impossible. Here are some ideas to help you keep it simple and yet delicious, whether for yourself, or a guest with a gluten intolerance.

1. Go Natural

Fruits and vegetables are delicious. Make the most of them. A nice plate full of fruit is a great place to start. And who doesn't love a veggie tray with a yummy dip?

Instead of attempting to recreate the usual "party foods" and make them gluten free (which can be disastrous), work with the foods that are naturally GF as your base, then spruce them up a bit.

A cheese tray with a few sauces is a nice addition. Or a bowl of different types of nuts. My family loves cashews and almonds especially. It doesn't have to be a plain jar of salted peanuts. Get creative!

Here's a great recipe for a Party Cheese Ball that I have made for years. I have yet to find someone who doesn't rave over it. Add a box of Nut Thins or other rice crackers. With this delicious cheese ball, no one will guess they are gluten free.

Party Cheese Ball

• Two 8-ounce packages cream cheese
• 8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 T very finely chopped onion, optional
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce (there are some more natural versions of this at health food stores)

Mix all together and form into 1 large or 2 smaller balls. If you want, you can roll the ball in finely chopped pecans. This gives it a bit of an earthy flavor. It spreads most easily at room temperature.

2. Have a Cozy Drink

Sometimes a warm drink especially in the wintertime, can feed the soul much better than a table full of food. Create a delicious warm drink for your guests, and you can't lose! Here's an idea that my family loves:

Russian Tea

Steep 2 tea bags (your preference), 2 cinnamon sticks, and 5 whole cloves in 2 cups boiling water for 5 minutes.

Remove the tea bags. Add 1/2 cup lemon juice, 6 ounces orange juice concentrate, 8 cups of water, and 3/4 cups sugar (you could experiment here with alternative sweeteners such as Stevia as well).

Heat thoroughly, stirring occasionally. Remove the whole spices before serving.

Makes a wonderful hot, seasonal drink.

3. Serve Something Sweet

Here are a few great recipes that don't use flour!

Cinnamon & Spice Dip (for fruit)

Combine in a bowl the following:

• 2 cups homemade whipping cream
• 1/4 cup unrefined brown sugar (like Sucanat or Rapadura- it has a brown-sugar taste)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• and a dash of ground nutmeg.

Serve with fruit.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies:

Mix together the following:

• 1 cup peanut butter (both chunky and creamy work great!!)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• Then stir in 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 350.

My entire extended family now bakes these instead of regular chocolate chip cookies. You cannot tell AT ALL that they don't contain any flour, and they hold together nicely. The flavor is out of this world!

Which gluten free treats do you serve during the holidays?

 Janelle is wife to Brad, who is celiac, and mom to 2 sweet girls, one of whom is celiac. She blogs about the gluten free life on a budget, including coupons, deals, recipes, and other money-saving tips at Gluten Freely Frugal.

Top image by KRO Media

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As 2011 comes to an end, we’re sharing helpful lists to help you save money, stay healthy, get organized, creatively repurpose, frugally gift-give, intentionally celebrate and more in our “11 Things for 2011” series throughout these holiday months.

Written by Kate Tietje, Contributing Writer

It's already mid-November.   Thanksgiving is fast approaching, and after that is Christmas, and then New Year's.

With a myriad of family gatherings happening on or around these dates, plus Christmas plays and other school events, and holiday parties -- it's a busy time.  So busy that you may not have that much time to cook!  

Instead of throwing caution to the wind and relying on some packaged foods during this busy season (which will almost certainly mean you'll end up not feeling well and possibly gaining some unwanted weight!), turn to these 11 simple real food meals that come together quickly and easily.

1. Chicken and Potatoes

One of our favorites, it literally cooks in less than 20 minutes, and includes plenty of healthy coconut oil.  Serve a salad or some steamed broccoli on the side, sprinkle some raw cheese on top (if you like) and you have a quick, easy, healthy meal.

2. Taco Salad

So simple to make and everyone can customize theirs however they like.  Pre-soak and pre-cook beans and keep them in the freezer and this one goes on the table in less than 20 minutes.

3. Fried potatoes with broccoli and cheese sauce

Eat it by itself, or add some quickly cooked burgers or leftover shredded chicken and you've got an easy, yummy meal.

4. Smoothies and scrambled eggs

Smoothies are easily customizable and can be made in minutes.  So can scrambled eggs (add chopped veggies or meat or cheese if you like).  Simple!

5. Frozen Waffles

That you've made yourself, of course.  They freeze excellently, so you can just pop them in the toaster.  Cover them with butter and real maple syrup, or whipped cream and fresh fruit.  Cook some quick sausage patties to go with them if you like.

6. Quesadillas

Buy some whole wheat tortillas (I buy mine at Trader Joe's sometimes) or make a double or triple batch and freeze them.  Make them just cheese, or throw in pre-cooked, shredded chicken or veggies.  Serve frozen beans alongside if you like.

7. Pigs-in-blankets

I haven't posted this recipe yet, but I made a huge batch of these and froze them (pre-baked).  They can be heated up, or even taken along and eaten as they thaw.  They're basically soaked crescent roll dough wrapped around uncured hot dogs.  They take a little work up front (not too much hands-on time, really) but once they're frozen they're dinner in minutes.

8. Pita Pizzas

Use a pita and top it with tomato sauce, cheese, and anything else you have around.  The pita's already baked, so you only have to melt the cheese.  Dinner in 10 minutes!

9. Marinated Beef Strips

I like to make two or three pounds and freeze them in the marinade.  Then I pull them out in the morning, they're thawed and well-marinated when I want them.  Fry them up quickly in a pan and pair them with beans and lettuce for a taco-salad-style meal, or pair with fried potatoes or rice.  We have done all of those ways.

10. Cheese and crackers

An old standby, just pull out a box of organic crackers and some raw cheese.  Have an apple, some beef jerky, or dried fruit to go with it.

11. Mac'n'cheese

If I'm really struggling, I get a box of organic mac'n'cheese and cook it up with good quality butter and cream.  I add some steamed broccoli and chicken, ground beef, or canned tuna (which my kids love) alongside.  Fast and yummy!

What are your top (fast and easy) meal choices for busy nights?

Top image by MathiasBaert

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As 2011 comes to an end, we’re sharing helpful lists to help you save money, stay healthy, get organized, creatively repurpose, frugally gift-give, intentionally celebrate and more in our “11 Things for 2011” series throughout these holiday months.

If there is one thing that I truly disdain, it’s waste in my kitchen. I firmly believe that one of the most effective ways to learn to save money on your grocery bill is to buy less food because you’re wasting less of it.

Did you know that:

“At home, the average American family throws away 14 percent of their food, Jones said. In terms of money, that’s almost $600 every year in meats, fruit, vegetables and grain products. The best ways to cut the losses is for families to honestly examine what they actually eat, draw up menus and freeze leftovers so they spoil before you can eat them, Jones says’. quoted from The Nourishing Gourmet

I think we’ve all had times when the end of a loaf of bread begins to dry out before we have an opportunity to use it. Particularly those crust pieces, if you have family members (as I do) who prefer them less than the other slices.

Always on the lookout for more ways to maximize our food purchases and avoid waste, I’ve come up with a list of 11 ways to creatively use stale bread.

1. Bread crumbs

I keep a bag in my freezer at all times, where I chuck each loaf remnant or dry slice of bread. At these add up, I remove the bag from the freezer, let it thaw slightly.

I find it fast and easy to whir these pieces into fine bread crumbs, with the use of either my food processor, or my coffee grinder (best for smaller amounts). Then they can be used immediately, or re-bagged and store in the freezer until you want them, for making things like meatloaf, meatballs or fish cakes.

Image by thebittenword

2. Croutons

Store-bought croutons are ridiculously expensive, and if you’re cautious about the grains and oils that you serve your family, you probably don't want to each them anyways.

Here is a simple and delicious homemade crouton recipe.

3. Bread pudding

What better way to use up stale bread than to turn it into a comforting, warm dessert? Here’s a tasty Bread Pudding recipe for doing just that.

4. Stuffing

It always feels counter-intuitive to me that I have to leave perfectly fresh bread sitting out overnight in order to have it dry enough for making stuffing or dressing. If you always have a loaf that is drying out, why not take advantage?

This is a recipe that I enjoy making for special family dinners (but with whole grain, not white, bread and butter instead of margarine).

Image by ralph and jenny

5. French toast

The key to good french toast is to ensure that the bread is thoroughly drenched in the egg/milk dip. Fresh bread will do this somewhat, but drier bread soaks up liquids with greater ease. Next time that loaf on the counter is starting to show its age, make this protein-rich and scrumptious breakfast that is one of our family’s favorites.

Perfect French Toast

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 8 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk (we prefer raw, whole milk, and I usually use coconut milk when I need a non-dairy alternative)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cinnamon (optional, but yummy)

Add ingredients to a wide bowl (important to make the dipping process easier). Preheat a frying pan to medium heat, while melting your choice of oil (butter tastes best, and coconut oil is also nice).

Whisk until well mixed, then dip pieces of bread until thoroughly coated, first on one side, then flipped over and dipped on the second side. Lift the soaking bread straight onto the hot pan. Cook until egg mixture is lightly browned, then flip and repeat. If you want to boost the protein content, cut bread into halves or thirds, so that each piece gets even more egg/milk coating.

6. Garlic bread

Put your oven on to broil, while you slather dry bread with butter and freshly minced or crushed garlic. If you’re like my husband, you might also like to add cheese, but it tastes great either way.

Stick slices on a cookie tray and pop under the broiler for about 5 minutes, until crispy and lightly browned. Serve with soup, stew, pasta or a large salad for a complete meal.

7. Casserole or pasta topping

Coarsely (or finely, depends on your preference) chop stale bread in a food processor. Lightly saute in a pan with some butter or olive oil, a bit of salt and pepper, and herbs of choice. Sprinkle on top of your favorite casserole or pasta dish, add a light sprinkle of shredded cheese if you like, then pop it in under the broiler for 5-10 minutes until perfectly browned and slightly crispy.

Image by startcooking

8. Italian Bread Soup or French Onion Soup

Ingenius women throughout history have come up with recipes that made use of their old bread, and one such delicious option is to make a soup that uses bread for a thick, hearty base.

Try this recipe for Italian Bread Soup (Riboletta), or this one for a rich French Onion Soup.

9. Open-faced sandwiches

Lay bread out, top with roasted or grilled veggies, thinly sliced meats, cheese, pesto or anything else that appeals. Warm up under the broiler, or even on the top level of the BBQ in the summer, for delightfully warm, toasty sandwiches.

10. Bread salad

This is a new idea to me, but it stuck out when I was brainstorming ideas for this post. Here is a recipe that looks fresh and delicious.

11. Make it fresh again

After all of these options for using bread in its already stale state, perhaps what you really desire most is for it to be fresh again!

This article shows you how to put some life back into that tired loaf, to make your options for using it even more endless.

How do you use bread gone stale? Share your best tips or recipes with us!

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