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09/08/09, 08:24 PM
Text by Ruth Manimtim-Floresca
Healthy eating does not have to cost a lot of money. Unfortunately, a lot of people choose convenience over practicality when planning for or buying meals. That is why many sometimes find themselves short on food budget and don’t even realize exactly why.
With our economy the way it is these days, families must learn how to prepare and buy meals that are still good for the body and yet light on the pocket. Here are several ways to save money and still keep on eating a healthy diet:
1.Prepare just enough food to avoid having leftovers. Determine how much your family consumes every meal. In our house, there are five of us I need to prepare meals for. When I shop for groceries, I buy two big slices of liempo for sinigang or five to seven big pieces (my hubby and second son likes to have second helpings) of chicken thighs for tinola. I also know that three cups of uncooked rice in the rice cooker would be sufficient per meal.
If you have little kids at home, be practical enough to serve them portions that they can reasonably finish off. It’s unfair for a child to be told to clean his plate when you have filled it up with the same amount of food you placed on yours.
2. Make a weekly menu and only buy what you need to make those meals. The menu doesn’t have to look super fancy like those examples in cookbooks. You can simply list down seven items under breakfast, lunch and dinner each. What’s important is that you’ll have an idea what you will be serving in the next seven days.
Get a quick inventory of the refrigerator’s contents before buying groceries. If you still have a bunch of pechay or several pieces of potatoes on hand, scrap them off your shopping list unless your menu has two viands that would need both ingredients in the coming week.
3. Buy veggies and fruits that are in season. There are certain times of the year when I can buy kalamansi measured in a small plastic basin at the public market for only P10.00 as compared to other seasons when these sour pieces go for as high as P1.00 each! When they are readily available, hubby and I make batches of kalamansi juice instead of our regular pitchers of iced tea.
When sweet corn is in season and go for about P30/kilo, we enjoy boiled, yummy corn as meryenda about three times a week. The same goes when favorite fruits like atis, longgan and watermelon are at hand and cheaper in fruit stalls.
4. Cook meatless or less-meat meals. Vegetable dishes remain more economical than all-meat viands. When putting away grocery items, I divide half a kilo of ground meat in four or five small containers then use them in several sautéed veggie dishes like ginisang ampalaya or ginataang sitaw at kalabasa where the vegetables serve as the main ingredients. My family also likes tomato sauce (menudo) and soup-based dishes (nilaga) where I can use less meat and more vegetables.
5. Prepare two-meal viands to save time and cooking fuel. Cook dishes that double a recipe. Serve half to your family and freeze the other half for later in the week. This is particularly handy during evenings when you come home later than usual and, instead of a longer preparation time, you’ll only need to reheat something from the freezer.
6. Be creative with leftovers. If your family hates eating leftovers, become an expert in incorporating them in other meals. Chicken from last night’s adobo can be flaked in the morning and mixed with a mayonnaise-based sandwich spread for a good bread filling. You can also use the cucumber, tomatoes and lettuce from a leftover salad to add to hamburger sandwiches for meryenda the next day.
7. Lessen those eat-out, take-out or delivery meals. Yes, it’s nice to once in a while be freed from cooking duties. But making it a habit to buy cooked food from fast food outlets or restaurants can take a big chunk off your budget. Besides, when you plan meals in advance, you won’t need to feel rushed in the middle of the week such that you’ll resort to buying more expensive food for convenience’s sake.
8.Bring baon to school or work. Many office workers are finding out that having a packed lunch prepared in the morning can save them a substantial sum per week if they refrain from buying the more expensive food at the office. Even kids who bring rice and viand to school won’t need to spend a big part of their pocket money on lunch.
9. Keep foods fresh. Don’t open a pack of juice, sugar, coffee, or chocolate powder without transferring the contents in a jar with a tight cover. Have a small, dry scoop or spoon inside to discourage family members from dipping wet spoons and caking the contents into one solid mass.
10. Know where to get the wisest choices. The palengke is still the best place to buy fresh and inexpensive fruits and vegetables. If you doubt the quality of meats and fish there like I sometimes do, go to the supermarket instead and spend a little more. Paying for the peace of mind is worth it knowing my family won’t get sick from contaminated food and we won’t have to pay extra for medicines or hospitalization costs later. At least I know that meats stored in controlled temperatures don’t breed bacteria as fast as when they’re exposed to the heat and flies outside.:listening:
^^^herword.com
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Healthy eating does not have to cost a lot of money. Unfortunately, a lot of people choose convenience over practicality when planning for or buying meals. That is why many sometimes find themselves short on food budget and don’t even realize exactly why.
With our economy the way it is these days, families must learn how to prepare and buy meals that are still good for the body and yet light on the pocket. Here are several ways to save money and still keep on eating a healthy diet:
1.Prepare just enough food to avoid having leftovers. Determine how much your family consumes every meal. In our house, there are five of us I need to prepare meals for. When I shop for groceries, I buy two big slices of liempo for sinigang or five to seven big pieces (my hubby and second son likes to have second helpings) of chicken thighs for tinola. I also know that three cups of uncooked rice in the rice cooker would be sufficient per meal.
If you have little kids at home, be practical enough to serve them portions that they can reasonably finish off. It’s unfair for a child to be told to clean his plate when you have filled it up with the same amount of food you placed on yours.
2. Make a weekly menu and only buy what you need to make those meals. The menu doesn’t have to look super fancy like those examples in cookbooks. You can simply list down seven items under breakfast, lunch and dinner each. What’s important is that you’ll have an idea what you will be serving in the next seven days.
Get a quick inventory of the refrigerator’s contents before buying groceries. If you still have a bunch of pechay or several pieces of potatoes on hand, scrap them off your shopping list unless your menu has two viands that would need both ingredients in the coming week.
3. Buy veggies and fruits that are in season. There are certain times of the year when I can buy kalamansi measured in a small plastic basin at the public market for only P10.00 as compared to other seasons when these sour pieces go for as high as P1.00 each! When they are readily available, hubby and I make batches of kalamansi juice instead of our regular pitchers of iced tea.
When sweet corn is in season and go for about P30/kilo, we enjoy boiled, yummy corn as meryenda about three times a week. The same goes when favorite fruits like atis, longgan and watermelon are at hand and cheaper in fruit stalls.
4. Cook meatless or less-meat meals. Vegetable dishes remain more economical than all-meat viands. When putting away grocery items, I divide half a kilo of ground meat in four or five small containers then use them in several sautéed veggie dishes like ginisang ampalaya or ginataang sitaw at kalabasa where the vegetables serve as the main ingredients. My family also likes tomato sauce (menudo) and soup-based dishes (nilaga) where I can use less meat and more vegetables.
5. Prepare two-meal viands to save time and cooking fuel. Cook dishes that double a recipe. Serve half to your family and freeze the other half for later in the week. This is particularly handy during evenings when you come home later than usual and, instead of a longer preparation time, you’ll only need to reheat something from the freezer.
6. Be creative with leftovers. If your family hates eating leftovers, become an expert in incorporating them in other meals. Chicken from last night’s adobo can be flaked in the morning and mixed with a mayonnaise-based sandwich spread for a good bread filling. You can also use the cucumber, tomatoes and lettuce from a leftover salad to add to hamburger sandwiches for meryenda the next day.
7. Lessen those eat-out, take-out or delivery meals. Yes, it’s nice to once in a while be freed from cooking duties. But making it a habit to buy cooked food from fast food outlets or restaurants can take a big chunk off your budget. Besides, when you plan meals in advance, you won’t need to feel rushed in the middle of the week such that you’ll resort to buying more expensive food for convenience’s sake.
8.Bring baon to school or work. Many office workers are finding out that having a packed lunch prepared in the morning can save them a substantial sum per week if they refrain from buying the more expensive food at the office. Even kids who bring rice and viand to school won’t need to spend a big part of their pocket money on lunch.
9. Keep foods fresh. Don’t open a pack of juice, sugar, coffee, or chocolate powder without transferring the contents in a jar with a tight cover. Have a small, dry scoop or spoon inside to discourage family members from dipping wet spoons and caking the contents into one solid mass.
10. Know where to get the wisest choices. The palengke is still the best place to buy fresh and inexpensive fruits and vegetables. If you doubt the quality of meats and fish there like I sometimes do, go to the supermarket instead and spend a little more. Paying for the peace of mind is worth it knowing my family won’t get sick from contaminated food and we won’t have to pay extra for medicines or hospitalization costs later. At least I know that meats stored in controlled temperatures don’t breed bacteria as fast as when they’re exposed to the heat and flies outside.:listening:
^^^herword.com
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