Goal: $100
Actual: $94.81
Six weeks in to this food budget project, I've learned I can save a lot of money by
- Buying some produce (lemons, limes, bananas, and garlic especially) and basic staples (chocolate chips, cocoa powder, whole-wheat pasta, frozen strawberries, maple syrup, and olive oil) at Trader Joe's. Is there anywhere else where you can get a quart of olive oil for $5.99?!
- Stocking up on produce on sale at Giant Eagle.
- Stocking up on sale items at Right By Nature. When they put stuff on sale, it's usually a huge discount--$5 off tahini, $6 off whole-wheat flour, etc.
- Taking measuring cups to the bulk bins and buying only what I need. (This was another blogger's suggestion--thanks to whomever it was!)
- Buying spices, dried beans, and rice from Indian groceries.
- Baking my own bread (and pitas, pizza dough, and other breads) and cooking my own veg stock. I did the cost analysis, and baking my own bread saves me $16.34.
- Cooking my own beans. Yes, canned beans are inexpensive, especially at Trader Joe's. But it's ridiculously cheap to buy a bag (especially at an Indian grocery) and cook your own. I'd like to do the cost comparison, but I know it's a lot cheaper.
- Planning meals in greater detail. I've always planned my meals for the week, but I now have a daily planner devoted just to meals, ensuring that I can use leftover ingredients in other recipes before they go bad.
- Mixing my weekly meal plan up with simple meals like scrambled tofu and sauteed greens and more complex meals that use more ingredients.
- Reducing the amount of desserts I make. After I got Isa and Terry's Vegan Cupcakes and Vegan Cookies cookbooks, I went crazy making either cupcakes or cookies every single weekend...and then giving them away to neighbors or coworkers so that I didn't eat them all. Obvious waste of money!
- Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Toasted Cumin Seeds
- Roasted Mushroom Quesadillas
- Garlicky Mushrooms and Kale
- Sauteed Collards
- Cincinnati Chili (didn't make it last week)
- Smoky Black Bean Enchiladas
- Roasted Chili Enchilada Sauce (didn't make it last week)
- Caesar Salad with Eggplant Bacon and Caesar Chavez Dressing
- Herb Roasted Cauliflower
- Curried Scrambled Tofu with Mushrooms
- Curried Chickpeas and Greens
- Black Bean Brownies
- Brown Rice Crispy Squares
Check out the other participants:
- Emily Levenson
- Maria Marz
- Veggie Converter
- Low Budge Veg
- Dairy-Free Cooking
- Motor City Girl In the Steel City
- Baked Beans and Broccoli…Vegetarian Budgeting
- Sweet Rehab
- The Happy Cactus
- The Vegetarian Salmon
- Test Kitchen Tuesday
- Newly Vegan
- Always Sick and Tired
- Veggie on the Cheap
- MeloMeals: Vegan For $3.33 A Day
This is genius: "Taking measuring cups to the bulk bins and buying only what I need." I would like to thank the person who said that, too! I'm perpetually left with 1/4 cup of Israeli couscous or some other thing.
ReplyDeleteBeans: I know a lot of vegan chef people are big advocates of using a pressure cooker for beans and making batches for the week. The new person on the budget blog roll this week (Melody @ Vegan for $3.33 a Day) does this with her grains and beans and even sauces: http://melomeals.blogspot.com/2010/11/tips-and-sample-weekly-menu.html
Pressure cookers are expensive, but I'm wondering if it will end up paying for itself if I stop buying canned beans so much.
you're awesome!
ReplyDeletei love the list of what you've learned so far. we used the bulk bins on vacation for pine nuts. spent $3 for what we needed vs $13 on a box that will just sit.
i also wonder at what point do pressure cookers become worth the cost.
Oh, here's her thing on the sauces. Forgot to post: http://melomeals.blogspot.com/2010/10/making-base-sauce-and-using-it.html
ReplyDeleteGreat idea--I'm going to look into a pressure cooker! I slow cook my beans when I have time because they come out really well. They can come out broken when I cook them in a pot if I'm not diligent about watching to make sure the simmer is just right & doesn't boil. I'm going to check out what Melody does. Thanks!
ReplyDelete