Keeping the grocery budget in check can be pretty hard no matter the time of the year. However, winter seems to be a bit harder on most households. With major feasts happening for the holidays and family members wanting heavier meals to keep them warmer, buying groceries to satisfy everyone can really become a huge form of stress. There’s a lot of great ways to stretch your food budget further though, so you can enjoy feeding your family without feeling guilty about not having enough for them to eat. With any luck, you may even find these tips cut back on your time in the kitchen, so you can enjoy the close-knit feeling of the season with the people you love.
1. Homemade Bread
Feeding the family cheaply during the winter months often means a lot of meals with bread and simple sandwiches for lunch. Although bread at the store isn’t exactly the most expensive item in your grocery cart, the amount you buy can add up quickly. Baking your own bread at home can be a cheap alternative that will allow you to have more control over what your family eats. Homemade breads lack the preservatives and harmful ingredients that store bought breads do too, so you can feel better about giving them to your family. Apart from that, you can easily make a wider variety based on you family’s likes and dislikes. Homemade breads usually taste better too, no matter if you serve them alone or as part of a meal. The baking process isn’t very hard either, especially if you have a bread machine. While baking, you should be able to cut down on the heater as the oven will make the home warm and cozy, as will the delicious smell.
2. Crockpot Recipes
If there’s one thing that comes in handy during the cold months, it’s certainly the crock pot. This handy device doesn’t escalate your gas bill and barely uses any power, so you can leave it going all day long while saving plenty of money. This is especially great if you have to spend all day at work or running errands, as you won’t have to stress over your meal being ready in time. There’s a lot of good and hearty recipes you can utilize with the crockpot too. This is especially true when it comes to soups and stews, which are sure to warm up your family when the weather is freezing. Crockpots make it easy to cook a lot of food at once as well, so you can enjoy leftovers for a day or two, or freeze them to have on a separate occasion.
3. Go Casseroles
Make life a little easier by choosing more casseroles during the winter months. You may find some casseroles as comfort food from childhood, so pass on the tradition to your children too. The best thing about casseroles is they usually take up only one pan, so you should be good to go when it comes to cleanup options as well. You can really mix it up with your casseroles too. There’s tons of recipes online, but you can also work with breakfast, lunch and dinner concepts or throw in a few cultural elements. You may even be able to work on a casserole using leftovers from other meals. Casseroles tend to last longer too, so you can use them for other lunches or dinners to help spread out your meal plan. For an added bonus, the oven will heat up the home saving you even more money.
4. Soups/Stews
Warm up the body and the soul, when you whip up a delicious homemade soup or stew for the family. Most soup recipes won’t cost you an arm and a leg, especially if you plan a way to use the ingredients to suit more than one meal. This will help spread out your grocery budget, so you can eat healthier and smarter. Soups and stews tend to last a lot longer than other meals as well, especially since the broth fills up the belly while ensuring everyone gets plenty of nutrients. You can base a soup around things you already have in the home, or go off recipes of your own. You never know, you may even come up with your own special recipe that can be passed down from generation to generation. If you’re worried about holiday pounds then soup is the perfect diet choice as well, since so many have a low-calorie count per bowl without forcing you to feel hungry or unsatisfied. If you make large batches of soup, you can freeze them for later, which is perfect for weekend lunches for the kids.
5. Oats
One of the keys to keeping your family well-fed during the winter season is to start out early. You can do this by serving up foods like oatmeal for breakfast. These will warm up their bodies while keeping them feeling energized and full much longer than other foods would. If you don’t have a lot of prep time in the morning then you may want to consider making overnight oats. This allows you to mix the ingredients at night and simply microwave the meal in the morning. Oatmeal is great for keeping everyone happy too as you can make all sorts of varieties, with ingredients that will add even more health benefits to the family. Best of all, oats are proven to increase mood and may even help fight Seasonal Affective Disorder. If oatmeal isn’t on your agenda then consider making snack bars and cookies with oats, or cooking meals with the wide variety of oats available in the market.
6. Caffeine
Tis the season to enjoy lots of warm beverages, which will help fill you up and keep your body temperature feeling nice for much longer. When it comes to winter, caffeine can be one of your biggest friends. Most coffee beverages now contain milk and other ingredients, which almost act as a full meal. If you love your lattes and cappuccinos, then there’s many great home recipes you can use that are incredibly cheap and easy. You don’t have to stick with just hot coffee either. In fact, iced coffee will even help warm you up. It may not be as fast as the hot beverage, but the caffeine will boost your metabolism so you feel much warmer. You don’t just have to stick with coffee either though. Tea and chocolate will do the trick too.
7. Curries
If you love to eat curry then you’re in luck because it is actually one of the best foods to eat when you’re really cold. You can also whip up a lot of these dishes with ease at a price that won’t leave you stammering. The key to curries is most of them contain turmeric and cumin. Both of these spices are known to help boost your metabolism, which also raises your body temperature on top of a wide assortment of other health benefits. If you love spicy food then this will also help raise the temperature. Most curry contain chili powder and you can always add even more to raise the temperature of food, but go gentle on the amount if you’re not used to eating spicy food often. Some curries will even have ginger in the mix, which helps to keep you warm too. Of course, serving yours with some ginger tea may also be a quick way to get your body feeling great again.
8. Bulk Meals
Sometimes, it’s a lot easier to make large portions of food at once. This allows you to not spend as much time cooking on a regular basis and can help save a lot money when you’re shopping for ingredients. Often, we end up spending more than we should on food items, because we can pay a little more to get a whole lot more of the product. When you find deals like this you should jump on them and use them to your advantage. For instance, macaroni and cheese can easily be made in large batches. This is an easy dinner, side dish, or lunch for the whole family and can be frozen without worry. You can do the same with lots of other dishes you may find yourself making over and over again. Before long, you’ll wonder why you spent so much time in the kitchen when you could have just made serval meals in one quick cooking session. Cooking like this is especially great during the holidays and will help keep your family in leftovers for some time.
9. Water
The season doesn’t matter, as water consumption is a must when it comes to keeping your body’s temperature regulated and your belly full. Most people don’t drink enough water, which actually ends up causing overeating and other health problems that can make your grocery bill skyrocket. Instead of spending more on groceries, try having everyone drink a glass of water around half an hour before every meal. This will cut back on over eating while ensuring the family feels full and happy. Doing this will help you meet your daily quota for water too, which will help ensure you don’t feel as cold as the freezing weather works its way through your region. Water is a lot cheaper than most beverages too, especially if you use a home filtration system. So, make sure this winter you concentrate more on hydrating than you do on raising the grocery budget.
10. Seasonal Produce
You might not think it, but the winter months have some pretty awesome produce to enjoy. Everything from root vegetables to fruits like pomegranates are on sale during this time, which means you’ll have a lot to work with when you make your meals from scratch. Seasonal produce is always the best to buy as it is the freshest and helps you and your body flow with the seasons. Of course, it also helps that the produce is also cheaper than other items in the produce section. Generally, munching on seasonal produce will help your body get through the specific season too as it provides nutrients needed to handle colds and so much more. Your winter produce won’t be frozen or imported from abroad in most cases either, which means you get a better overall product.
Cooking in the winter time can be stressful if you find yourself working around a tight budget and a hungrier family. These tips will help you find the cheapest and most efficient ways to feed your family while keeping your money anxiety down. You may even find new recipes using these methods that are sure to stick with your family throughout the year.
