Snippets

Today I was pondering what to write about, and it occurred to me that I have a lot of ways I save money on my food budget that have become second nature, and that these small things were worth sharing. So, by popular request, here are a few of my tips and tricks for saving food dollars:

You know how you always have vegetables left over, but never enough to do anything with? I have several bags in my freezer that I put them in. It doesn't matter if it's only a teaspoon of corn, put it in the corn baggie. You can also mix veggies all in one bag. Either way, they are incredibly handy for those nights you want to use that leftover pot roast to make beef stew. Just throw all those "spare" veggies in the stew and no need to open several cans or bags of veggies. You won't notice a difference in the taste and it can save you some cash.

I do the same thing with onions. Whenever I dice onions for anything, I always add the leftovers to a baggie in the freezer. Eventually I have enough to use in a recipe and zero waste.

No one in your house wants to eat that last piece of bread when there's a fresh loaf calling their names? Throw them in a bag in your freezer. The next time you want to make stuffing, you already have the bread.

Skim, 1% and 2% milk can be frozen for later use. The next time your favorite grocery store has a killer sale on milk, stock up without fear. Don't forget to use about 1/2 cup before you put it in the freezer (to allow for expansion).

Leftover chicken broth (or any other kind of broth)? Pour it into ice trays until frozen, then dump them into a bag or plastic container and keep frozen. When you need fresh broth, just drop your cubes in the pot.

Need a vegetable bin but don't want to spend the money? Go to your favorite dollar store and get a small mesh trash can. They usually come in various attractive colors and the mesh allows airflow so your veggies don't go bad.

Never throw leftovers away. If your family is the type that won't eat the same meal two nights in a row, make up your own "T.V. dinners" and freeze them. When you are too busy or too tired to cook you will have homemade convenience food for a fraction of the price.