Basics 101...Food...Menu planning

Ok, by now you've had a chance to work on your budget and have figured out where you are spending your hard earned money. We talked about heading to the store in a previous post. Before you head out though, you might want to give a bit of thought as to the meals you will be preparing...before you get to the store and the sales items begin closing in around you.

As you go through your list of needed items and the sale papers, think about your menu for the coming week(s). Since I only shop monthly, I try to have a rough idea of the types of meals we will be eating during that time.

For us, Roasts and Hams work to stretch that dollar well. The first night, with either of these meats, we will have the slices with vegetables on the side. We usually slice much of the meat for sandwiches or for re-heating to serve again with vegetables. Once I have my slices, the remainder is then cut into chunks for soups and stews. Don't toss that broth from either, freeze it for use in your soups and stews. We seem to eat soup or stew most of the year around here, even in the hot summer months. To go with your soups or stews, our favorite is Cornbread. You can also find good prices on chicken pieces at times...these also make wonderful soups and are easy to 'pick' the meat from the bones.

I try to keep potatoes, noodles, rice and dry beans on hand all the time. Leftover beef roasts make great 'beef and noodles' or stewed beef and rice dishes. The broth or drippings from your ham or pork roasts make wonderful potato soup and bean soup. Sometimes I will add broccoli to the potato soup or bean soup once we've had it a few times. Bean soup without the broccoli is used to make chili as well....that's IF I can save enough of the bean soup to make the chili...
When our boys were younger and I made either potato or bean soup, they would always ask "where's the broccoli"...amazing, since they wouldn't eat bean soup for their mother at all. I always laughed about the broccoli, how many kids do you know who actually ask for broccoli? They also adored the cornbread...one asked me to make them a 'cornbread birthday cake'...I declined by telling them not everyone would enjoy it as much as them...I made them cornbread though as part of their birthday meal instead.

Biscuits and gravy are another big hit at our house...I make biscuits from scratch and the gravy can be made from just about any meat I cook. As long as I have flour and shortening...we can eat.

I use ground beef in a number of meals we make around here...Meatloaf, gravies and of course our standby meals...Hamburger helper. Over the years I've heard many people put down the packaged foods like Hamburger helper. Hey, when you are on a tight budget, this stuff is at least filling, cheap and comes in many flavors. Not everyone has the time to spend in front of the stove. Tuna helper is another standby quicky meal for us.

So now you have some ideas to get you going with your own menus. In between the meals we have from roasts, hams and chicken...we have things like pork chops or chicken fixed various ways and even steak. The vegetables to go with these things and the side dishes prepared varies, depending on what's in season and what's on hand. One of my mom's favorite late suppers was simply a baked potato with butter, salt and pepper. But if you think about it, you can dress that potato with things like broccoli and cheese, meat and gravy or any other combination you can think of. Moderation doesn't have to mean you go hungry.

All of the food I've mentioned when purchased in quantity or large packages will help stretch your food dollar. For example, you might spend $10 on a roast...from that roast you will be able to feed four people at least three meals...everyone gets a couple slices per meal and the remainder can be made into a large stew or soup that will continue to feed your family for several more meals. Makes that $10 roast break down to just pennies per serving. It's the same with Ham...while the initial cost may seem steep $15-$20...once you've served two or threes meals from this and made the remainder into a soup, you are getting these meals for pennies instead of dollars. Afterall, you aren't going to use 10 pounds of potatoes (unless you have a huge family) when making soups, and you won't be using 5 pounds of beans or rice making the soups either. Use what's on hand when you can, canned vegetables work very nice in soups...fresh is even better when its in season.

Menus don't have to be written in stone...change things up and experiment with different flavors and combinations. Who knows, you might even discover that you like to cook!