Substitutions can save money, too. Olive oil has become very pricey, but you can often sub applesauce for oil in baking and vegetable broth for sauteing. I also sub dried cranberries for pomegrante seeds. Sometimes it's cheaper to buy an herb plant than a dried spice bottle or fresh herbs. DIY applesauce is easy. Cook Granny Smith apples for 5 minutes in water or until soft, drain the water, and blend. Freeze leftovers.
Popcorn is my go to savory snack, I pop mine in the microwave in a silicone popper. No oil needed and delicious! I think you can also make it in a paper bag or of course stove top. For easy recipes that substitutes are encouraged is the @Zero-WasteChef, great book and website. She pushed me into keeping my veggie scraps in the freezer to make broth, make sourdough bread regularly and to use up my leftovers.
If you have a fruit stand or ethnic stores you can find inexpensive items, our fruit stand has amazing deals, so I freeze the extras. I also grow my own herbs. Sourdough discard makes amazing pancakes and crackers.
Good tips! I use every bit of freezer space for our two-person household, and find that an inventory is super helpful - it’s just a list of what we have and how much. I snap a photograph of it before I go grocery shopping, and that way I’m not tempted to buy something that’s on sale so we have it later if we already have some at home.
I totally agree with using the freezer. l'm lucky enough to have a chest freezer. It's stocked with lots of homemade foods like veg broth, cookies, hummus, date paste, cooked beans, rice, etc. It saves me a lot of time on busy nights.
As far as finding lower cost groceries, I compare prices online as much as possible, especially for high dollar items. It's amazing the price differences. Even stores like Whole Foods tend to have good prices on things like store-brand tofu and frozen veggies & fruit. Their prices are better on these items than my local grocery store.
Perhaps unpopular, but I will often go to ChatGPT and say “I have these ingredients at home. Please create a meal plan for me to use them up over the next X days.” Not the most astounding meals of course but they are usually tasty enough and it saves me so much work on finding recipes myself.
I only price compare shop on items that I know are pricey or don't buy often so it doesn't take too much extra time.
Substitutions can save money, too. Olive oil has become very pricey, but you can often sub applesauce for oil in baking and vegetable broth for sauteing. I also sub dried cranberries for pomegrante seeds. Sometimes it's cheaper to buy an herb plant than a dried spice bottle or fresh herbs. DIY applesauce is easy. Cook Granny Smith apples for 5 minutes in water or until soft, drain the water, and blend. Freeze leftovers.
That's a good point!
Popcorn is my go to savory snack, I pop mine in the microwave in a silicone popper. No oil needed and delicious! I think you can also make it in a paper bag or of course stove top. For easy recipes that substitutes are encouraged is the @Zero-WasteChef, great book and website. She pushed me into keeping my veggie scraps in the freezer to make broth, make sourdough bread regularly and to use up my leftovers.
If you have a fruit stand or ethnic stores you can find inexpensive items, our fruit stand has amazing deals, so I freeze the extras. I also grow my own herbs. Sourdough discard makes amazing pancakes and crackers.
I love popcorn too! And thanks for mentioning Zero Waste Chef. I follow her too and she has some really good tips.
Good tips! I use every bit of freezer space for our two-person household, and find that an inventory is super helpful - it’s just a list of what we have and how much. I snap a photograph of it before I go grocery shopping, and that way I’m not tempted to buy something that’s on sale so we have it later if we already have some at home.
yes! that's so smart.
I totally agree with using the freezer. l'm lucky enough to have a chest freezer. It's stocked with lots of homemade foods like veg broth, cookies, hummus, date paste, cooked beans, rice, etc. It saves me a lot of time on busy nights.
As far as finding lower cost groceries, I compare prices online as much as possible, especially for high dollar items. It's amazing the price differences. Even stores like Whole Foods tend to have good prices on things like store-brand tofu and frozen veggies & fruit. Their prices are better on these items than my local grocery store.
I should really do that more. I just find that price comparison shopping is so much work!
Perhaps unpopular, but I will often go to ChatGPT and say “I have these ingredients at home. Please create a meal plan for me to use them up over the next X days.” Not the most astounding meals of course but they are usually tasty enough and it saves me so much work on finding recipes myself.
Yeah, I try not to use ChatGPT because of the energy costs, but that website I referenced, "What's in the refrigerator" does something similar.