SingleDad.com is your number one single parent resource. This month, Chef "Jeff" shares his advice on the importance of shopping and cooking wisely during these economic times.
Economically Minded Cooking & Shopping
| Author: Chef Jefferey Allen Kaufman | Posted: 03/11/10 | ||
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Recently this single father of three sat down and wrote out his weekly shopping list. As I wrote the items down that I planned to buy, I took some time to think about why and what I buy, and how I cut costs as an experienced single dad running a household of four.
Now, I wish to pass on what knowledge I have obtained to you other single dads and parents learning the ropes of single parenthood.
My mode of cooking in the kitchen for three little table monsters and myself, includes a hearty assortment of meats, starches and vegetables. I tend to stick with items that are frozen, or are considered to be a dry item. Such as rice, beans, pasta, lots of pasta, and canned foods, such as corn, and vegetable items. These always make my meals at home a three course meal and there is less risk of spoilage and waste.
Meats:
With meats, I tend to buy what my kids like, chicken is a big winner, and beef, such as small steaks, pork chops and ground pork as well, are winners. Even the occasional seafood items grace our table at times, such as small shrimp and fish fillets. The main concerns for me, as I'm sure they are for you, are the costs, and quality of what we buy. I tend to buy cheaply, without sacrificing quality, but I always make a point to get the food items I know my kids will eat that will supply protein and vitamins to their diet, but that doesn't mean I don't ever try to introduce them to new foods, such as different ethnic foods, or odd items they may have never seen or tasted before in the attempt to broaden their food knowledge a little. For the most part though, I keep my shopping basic and easy. I buy what are proven table favorites, and what is easy to cook.
Shopping:
When shopping at the local grocery outlet, I look for the best price in relation to quantity, and quality. I know I can purchase in good amounts, beef items, such as bulk sized ground beef, and beef steaks relatively cheap if I keep my eyes peeled for good deals. I buy bulk family packs of chicken breasts, drum sticks, and ground chicken. Pork goes over well also, along with sausages, bacon, and eggs for menu construction, but as always, you need to buy everything that will go with your meal choices, and I have a simple solution that I use every time I go shopping, but first, if I may make a suggestion, buy a few dozen Tupperware type, family sized bowls, with lids. I'll explain later.
Side Dishes
Now on to side items, your pasta, vegetables, rice, beans, or whatever items your family likes, can be bought relatively cheaply, if you shop on a week to week basis, which is what I suggest. It is far easier to budget your shopping on a weekly basis, then trying to do the once or twice a month shopping excursion. My favorite day of the week to do my shopping is two days after pay-day, never on pay-day, but always two days after. My reasoning is this, normally everyone goes shopping the same day they get their paycheck, and if you notice, typically Fridays at your basic shopping center are the busiest day of the week. That's just my suggestion of course. In my house hold we eat a tremendous amount of pasta, rice, and vegetables. For pasta choices, I go with what the kids and I enjoy, such as Penne, Elbow and Rotini shaped pastas. These are great for both hot dishes and pasta salads. Rice, well the 5 minuet variety of course! Who wants to spend an upwards of 30 minuets cooking rice? Vegetables, I use all the varieties available, fresh, frozen, and canned. Mostly corn, and peas when I buy frozen. Fresh items range from bell peppers, cucumbers, onions, potatoes and tomatoes. Canned items in my household are an assortment of green beans, kidney beans, cut corn, mixed vegetables, and whatever else I find relatively cheapest.
Snacks:
I splurge from time to time on little treats and the such, but mostly, if you want a snack in my house, it's an apple, a pear, or something from the fruit family. I like having bananas around the kitchen, excellent handy treats, and I will even place a small bunch of grapes out to keep the little ones out of the kitchen when I cook.
Spices:
You can buy spices that can change your meal completely around. Dried Italian spices are great, Latin, or Mexican Spices are also must have seasonings, Oriental spices, and the list goes on. I can tell you, I have enough spices in my spice rack to make Indian Chicken Curry Salad, to German Schnitzel, to Mama Mia that's Italian!! Spice is the variety of life gentlemen, so stock up when you can!
Buy in Bulk:
When I get home from the shopping, I divide my bulk meat items out into what I think of as, "Daily Portions", for instance, if I buy 10 pounds of ground beef, I part that out into 3 pound size packages. I don't use a scale, even though I'm sure it would come in handy, I just eye up the sizes into equal looking amounts. Chicken breasts, one and a half per person, drumsticks, three per person. I use a simple rule of thumb, one and a half servings per person, that way there is always enough to go around and leaves enough for left overs. I then freeze all my meats, nicely wrapped in plastic wrap, with a simple black permanent marker date, written where I can see it.
The Menu
Now, lets talk menu. Remember those Tupperware containers I suggested? This is where they come in handy. To cook a well balanced, yet inexpensive meal, that you can almost count on being eaten until gone, I go with pasta. Pasta dishes, both cold salads, and hot items, like pasta in Italian red sauce, can contain a well assorted ingredient list of meats, starches, and vegetables, along with a good amount of healthy oils and fats.
For instance, a cold pasta dish, can have almost every vegetable or meat you wish to have tossed in. Diced tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, celery, peppers, fresh herbs, ham, ground beef, chopped chicken, diced shrimp, and whatever else you can dream up, can be easily mixed into a pasta salad, and eaten without having the salad picked apart by your children. The trick here is to remember quantity, I cook 1.5 pounds or more when I make pasta dishes. This means leftovers, and leftovers are awesome when your in a pinch for time, or looking to add variety to sandwiches at lunch. Nothing beats dads tuna fish sandwiches and his pasta salad.
The idea here is simple. To be a little more economically conscience with your cooking, try to make what will go over well and not overly analyzed by your children. Stick to the basics that you know your kids like. Now I'm talking being healthy and cost conscious at the same time. There is nothing wrong with the occasional fish sticks and canned mixed vegetables, but for the most part, if you enjoy the feeling of satisfaction when cooking a great meal, while knowing your feeding your youngsters healthy foods, and implementing kitchen memories, that they carry with them through life, this is the way to go.
Smart Meals
Lets talk about good meal choices. Pasta salad is one, but there is a magnitude of varieties out there that you can cook, and save as a main dish or side dish additions. Here are a few choice ideas you might like. When you cook, lets say chicken breasts for an example, one and a half breast per child, and the same for yourself, and you're making a well-rounded meal, lets say the breasts, plus corn, and some rice. You serve it, and they eat it. Lets say for an example, you have two breast left over, about 3 cups rice and maybe the same in corn. Now for dinner tomorrow, you can take the rice and corn from the night before, sauté it up a little with some diced onion, diced chicken from the night before and add a few ounces of tomato paste, season it with some Mexican spices, and you can have some make shift burritos. Nothing fancy mind you, but the recycle method works here in my house very well.
The way I work things, I'm sure you can carry out into your household too. I cook enough to stretch one extra day and think ahead, that's how I cut costs, and time. Keep your eyes open for good deals, and when you find good deals, don't hesitate to buy them. The key to running an economical healthy kitchen is to remember this, be creative, and resourceful. Try to join new food items with the left overs, and don't be afraid of bulk purchasing. Relax a little, and shop wisely. If you take your time and watch what you cook, you can master the kitchen costs like a pro, and if you shop wisely, thinking of what your kids like, you won't waste anything! Be smart and like everything in life, this is a learning process, so learn, and apply your knowledge!
