Making Your Meals Go Further

It gets to this time of year for me when the expense of Christmas fear kicks in and I start to think about some changes to put into place to save a few pennies.

Our biggest outgoing and area of waste by far is food, yet it is the area I find easiest to make saving when I make a bit of an effort.

Here are a few tips to stretch that weekly shop and save on any unnecessary waste.

Package Free And Wrapped Veg 

Instead of grabbing the easy to use pre-prepared veg opt for the loose vegetables and wrap them in paper towel before placing in the fridge to prevent the condensation form softening them.

Crusts For Breadcrumbs

If your children are like mine and always want their crusts removed save them and make breadcrumbs to be stored in the freezer.  These can be then be used in different meals as and when you need them.

Squashed Tomatoes

Those squishy tomatoes hiding at the back of the salad drawer can easily be turned into a soup or pasta sauce to use straight away or freeze for another day.

Bulk Up Those Soups

With the colder weather upon us soups will be coming back into onto our menu and to make them a more filling meal simply add some rice or small pasta to bulk it up.

Big Bird Better Than Portions

The traditional Sunday roast chicken is the perfect meal to stretch over to the next day.  Use the breast meat for the Sunday roast and then save the rest for a curry, casserole or add to pasta on the Monday.

Pack In Those Pulses And Veggies

Meat is definitely the most expensive part of my food shop so wether it’s a curry, casserole or mince dish, make it go further by adding lentils or vegetables to make it go so much further.

The Freezer Is Your Friend

Don’t just throw out those leftovers you don’t think will get eaten. Box them up into individual portions and save for those days you are pushed for time or simply can’t be bothered to cook.

Dinner For Lunch

We spend way to much money on eating out and find that making extra the night before and saving for lunch the next day is the perfect way to stop the temptation of eating out.

Bread

The dieters nightmare and a bone of contention in our house is bread.

For me a good crusty loaf is the perfect, cheap way to fill up hungry kids. It can be eaten with a simple spreading of jam as a snack and can be served with most meals to bulk it out a bit.

My husband disagrees and says it fills the kids up to much and they don’t eat their dinner!

If your loaf stays around long enough and has gone a little dry simply sprinkle with water and bake for a few mins to bring it back to life.

Fancy Kids Snacks

I always have a bag full of snacks that are predominantly used as a distraction or bribery tool when when we’re out.

I have stopped buying those snacks they are geared towards little ones with attractive packaging and a hefty price tag by buying rice cakes and raisins and decanting them into those food bags with characters on that can be washed out and used again, saving an absolute fortune!

I hope your got a few tips here and I would love to have some more of you have any to share with me?