Let Grandma Teach You How to Cook
Mothers or grandmothers, these were/are the women who taught you everything you know, or used to know. Good cooks, or not so good cooks, these women knew how to shop sales, cook from scratch, and stick to a budget. They also made you clean your plate, eat your vegetables, and said no when you begged for soda pop and store-bought bread.
These kitchen goddesses will all tell you that the single best way to stick to a budget, and save money, is to plan your meals. Yes, prices are up but it isn’t as if this hasn’t happened before. If you are still paying $5 for designer coffee and eating take out for lunch, you shouldn’t be complaining about price increases.
We’ve become a whole generation of people who cannot cook properly, cannot make recipes from scratch, and cannot stick to a budget.
It’s time, once again, to call on the experts in your family; your mothers and your grandmothers. They will tell you that feeding a family for less starts with being organized.
- Plan your meals and have your leftovers for lunch the next day
- Creativity: get creative with left overs (whole books written on this subject)
- Freeze; use your freezer for more than ice cream
- Organize your pantry and know what is in there
- Eat seasonally, eat your vegetables, and shop the specials
- Shop on-line if you can’t control impulse buying
- Don’t shop when hungry and don’t take the kids along
- Maximize use of cheap foods like bananas, beans and pasta
- Decrease consumption of meat, desserts and junk food.
Plan menu’s, build shopping lists, and use items that you already have on hand. You can make healthy, inexpensive meals, just like mama used to make. Homemade soups, casseroles and desserts are still much better than anything you can buy in a box.
Memories were made in the kitchen; now is the time to resurrect memories and recreate meals that made family dining a culinary adventure.
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