Picture this: It’s Friday night, and there’s no food at home. Instead of going for a grocery run at a later hour and making a dish from scratch, the majority would instantly choose to have food delivered instead. While this is convenient and easy, it will unfortunately cause a build-up of long-term problems in terms of allow a build-up of long-term problems in expenses and health.
Store-bought dishes and packed meals from groceries can inevitably lead to limited options with higher prices. It will also be difficult to count calories and keep a strict diet, which will deter you from eating healthy.
What are some of the solutions? Homemade dishes and ingredients!
These allow you to have better control over what you eat, mitigate the high prices and expenses associated with store-bought food, and plan your meals and health goals accordingly. We’re here to give you some tips and tricks that would not only save you a couple of bucks but also utilize your kitchen to the fullest!
Make Smart Decisions with Your Food Budget
You decided to finally plan out your budget, and you’re in the grocery store bombarded with ingredients and endless possibilities of dishes to make. How can you combat the alluring options with rising prices?
Through smart food planning, you can easily lessen your expenses and maximize your savings. Here are tips that would help you reach that point:
Plan smart in identifying the ingredients needed. Buy what can be easily used in different recipes and dishes, factoring in the ingredient’s longevity and flexibility. An example would be sayote and chicken that would work great for recipes like Tinola and Misua.
Wait for sales and discounts. Since groceries often hold Buy-1-Take-1 promos and discounts for items that have a near-end shelf life, pick and choose these ingredients and use such to create dishes that can be consumed before end date. Additionally, groceries would have their fruits on sale during weekends so you can also maximize this time to purchase such.
Make pantry staples at home. We’ve got easy recipes on how you can make your own ketchup, salsa, hummus, granola, and peanut butter so you can spend less on store-bought kitchen must-haves.
Cook At Home
Once you’re done at the grocery store and you’ve bought the ingredients, you’d now want to start cooking at home. This way, you can better control how healthy your dish is, as well as keep in mind recipes that suit your health goals, lifestyle, preferences, and restrictions.
Here are some tips to think about when creating meals from scratch:
Plan your Meals. By providing a schedule to make recipes and food preparations, you can prepare better and smarter for weekly or bi-weekly grocery shopping.
Start doing Batch Cooking. Instead of preparing and cooking every time it’s lunch or dinner, this allows you to prepare bigger portions in one go to save more time.
Be Mindful of Food Waste. Set schedules within the week for eating leftover food. An example would be Reheat Thursdays, where any leftover food from previous days can be consumed on this day. This would help lessen the need for decision-making and potential food waste.
Refill, Recreate, Rejoice
Congratulations! You finally started buying and cooking smarter. What does the future look like for you?
By buying smart, you mitigate high expenses and reduce the need for store-bought food. By cooking smart, you can now control what you eat according to your goals, lifestyle, preferences, and restrictions. In doing both, you save money and utilize your kitchen to the fullest.
Apart from these benefits, these dishes and ingredients made from scratch will also lead to more bonding time with family and friends as you gather around the table, surrounded by home-cooked goodness.
In essence, you refill what you need, recreate what you’ve made, and rejoice for the short-term and long-term benefits this can give you! With ease, efficiency, and innovation by your side, you can be sure that your homemade dreams can come true.
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