Tips and Recipes to Save on Groceries and Time

Want to cut down on your grocery bill? Just fill up your pantry. How do you save money if you are buying lots of items to fill it up? By stocking a core group of pantry staples, you can cook a meal any time with what you have on hand. This will save you time and money in the long run because you will not be relying on expensive prepared frozen or boxed meals, and you won't be running to the store every evening to get "a few things" for dinner. Plus, the staples are inexpensive and are often on sale.

Non-Perishable Staples

Pasta: Keep a variety of your favorite pasta shapes and flavors on hand. Look for new low-carb or whole-wheat varieties. Buy several packages when they are on sale.

Beans: Beans contain lots of protein, calcium, and fiber and they are very inexpensive. Beans can be added to nearly any meal and can be a great replacement for meat products. Use either canned or dry beans. There are many great varieties of canned beans today including pinto, kidney, cannellini beans, red, black, navy, garbanzo, and chili. Look for fun combinations like black beans with jalapenos and lime juice or mixtures of different beans with corn in a southwestern sauce.

Rice: A naturally fat free food, rice is another great versatile staple. Stock up on instant or slow cooking varieties. Plain white or brown rice is more versatile and less expensive than the boxed "Rice-A-Roni" prepared types.

Canned or Frozen Vegetables: Of course fresh veggies are always great, so certainly choose them whenever possible. However, with frozen or canned you don't have to worry about spoilage and waste if you don't use them quickly, although canned will keep longer than frozen. Studies have proven that the canned and frozen varieties are just as nutritious as fresh, so they will keep you healthy too. Stock an assortment of your favorites and throw them into any meal. There are lots of great combinations of veggies in both canned and frozen. Look for the new lower sodium choices also.

Seasoning Packets: Little packets of taco or chili seasonings are great to use to add flavor to ground meat. But packets of gravy mix, pasta sauces, stew seasonings, and marinades will give you lots of options when making meals. You can throw a gravy mix into a crock-pot with any mixture of meats and veggies for a simple slow cooked dinner. Or you can mix up a marinade and toss it with some chicken and rice and bake it. These little packets are very inexpensive. Pick up a few different types every time you shop and you'll have a great variety in pantry when you need it.

Canned soup: You cannot have a well-stocked pantry without having lots of canned soup. Soup is not just for heating up for a quick meal on its own. Use it as a sauce or flavoring in just about any casserole, skillet dish, or crock-pot or pasta recipe. Cream of mushroom soup has long been an asset to pot roast, but check out other "cream of" choices like chicken, celery, potato or broccoli. Think of these basics as sauces to go along with any meat or veggie. You can start with soup like nacho cheese condensed, then add chicken tenders, red and black beans, some veggies and rice and you have a simple homemade meal! There are so many options when it comes to soup you could fill your panty with just soup, but start with keeping three to five cans of your favorite creamed soups on hand, then experiment with other flavors when you see them on sale.

Bisquick: Bisquick is a great staple for the pantry because you can make so many quick meals with it and the other items you stocked. Each box of Bisquick features their standard recipes for pancakes and biscuits, but there are also great recipes for simple main dishes. If you have a box of bisquick you can whip up some quick bread sticks, or you can make a whole meal when you don't know what's for dinner. There is also have a reduced fat Bisquick. If you like the recipes on the box, it is worth it to invest in a Bisquick cookbook for more fast ideas.

Broth: Chicken and beef stock or broth is very important part of cooking out of the pantry. Substitute the stock for water in recipes to add flavor. Boil potatoes in chicken stock for a savory flavor or use the reduced fat kind instead of water to cook your rice in or simmer your veggies. Broth is great as a base in crock pot cooking or simmering skillet meals. Again, stock up on canned broth whenever it is on sale.

Perishable Staples

Clearly the non-perishables are easier to stock up and keep, but there are a few perishable items you should try to have on hand all the time also.

Cheese: Cheese stirs into so many casserole or skillet meals, it is really handy to have at all times. You can fix a quick cheese crisp meal with some spicy black beans and chicken. Buy cheese in large blocks if you use it often, but it really doesn't freeze well, so only buy in quantities you will really use. Stay away from the pre-grated types because they usually cost a lot more per pound than the block. Put the kids to work grating up a bowl or two at a time and keep in plastic bags in the fridge for quick use.

Eggs, milk and butter: If you are going to make use of Bisquick regularly, you need to have eggs, milk and butter on hand. Again, do not stock more than you will use before they expire or you'll end up wasting. Eggs also are great for quick "breakfast for dinner" meals like omelets or scrambled egg with cheese and beans skillet meals. Butter (or margarine) is useful for sautéing or adding flavor to vegetables and rice.

Tortillas: Tortillas are another handy staple because you can use either the flour, or corn varieties in casseroles or you can wrap up anything in them and make a meal of it. Rice, seasoned with salsa, mixed with beans and corn, wrapped in a tortilla makes a yummy low-fat, quick dinner.

Meat: Obviously, if you are vegetarian you don't want to stock meat, but if your family likes meat, buy in bulk when it's on sale. Get large packages of ground beef or turkey when it's cheap and then divide it into meal-sized portions and freeze. Also, look for great deals on packages of stew meat or chicken tenders to use for quick meals. When buying roasts on sale, look for chuck or rump roasts, which have a little more fat content, but are best for slow cooking in crock-pots. Always shop the grocery store ads for meat, never buy full priced meat. If you get a few of whatever is on sale and put in the freezer, you'll stock up a good selection in a matter of weeks.

So, now that your pantry is full, what are you going to do with all of this stuff? Below, are some basic recipes you can use as a guide for plugging in your pantry staples.

Basic Casserole:

Pasta - cooked
Soup
Beans
Veggies
(Optional meat)
Cheese
Combine in a casserole pan and bake until bubbly.

Example:

Bow-tie noodles
Campbell's Creamy Chicken Verde Soup
Black beans
Corn, diced tomatoes
Diced cooked chicken
Monterey Jack cheese

Basic Skillet Meal:

Cooked rice
(Optional browned meat)
Soup
Beans
Veggie
Cheese
Combine ingredients, simmer in large skillet until hot.

Example:

White minute rice
Chicken tenders sautéed in chicken broth
Cream of chicken soup
Red beans
Peas, carrots, mushrooms
Grated cheddar

Basic Crock-pot Meal:

Roast
Soup or broth
Veggies
Seasoning packet
Combine all ingredients except veggies, cook on high eight hours, add veggies last 45 minutes.

Example:

Pork roast
French onion soup
Diced tomatoes, onions, carrots, potatoes
Zesty herb marinade

Once you get in the habit of cooking from the pantry, you will realize that it's easy to create your own combinations of staples to create quick, original homemade meals. You will save yourself a great deal of time and money by stocking up on basics and cooking from the pantry. Bon Appetit!