{"id":24600,"date":"2016-03-01T07:48:19","date_gmt":"2016-03-01T12:48:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/canadianbudgetbinder.com\/?p=24600"},"modified":"2025-01-22T12:24:37","modified_gmt":"2025-01-22T12:24:37","slug":"inexpensive-meals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitalskyweb.co\/canadianbudgetbinder.com\/2016\/03\/01\/inexpensive-meals\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Stretch Your Food Budget"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/span>Estimated reading time: <\/span>17<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adding inexpensive meals <\/strong>to your meal planning is a great way to stretch your food budget. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don’t have to wait until you’re struggling to buy groceries to build a box of inexpensive meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, I will share some of our favourite meals in our recipe box. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember that the prices reflected in this blog post are from 2016. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cook Inexpensive Meals In Bulk <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I often get emails from fans who want to know how to create inexpensive meals on a very tight food budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another concern is stretching recipes so they last for a few meals, which gives you a better bang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the biggest budget busters in the food department begins when you eat outside the home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you decide to eat out, whether inexpensive meals or not, you more than likely can always make it at home for less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think fresh food; you know what you put into your food when making it yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can’t put a price on that, my friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To limit the temptations of the outside world, you must prepare meals beforehand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I eat out occasionally but don’t make it a daily or weekly occurrence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer is to arm yourself with a meal plan and a grocery list that suits your tastes and food budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not everyone knows product prices<\/a> at<\/strong> the grocery store industry level, which is the number one factor in meal costing and what meals to make with the ingredients purchased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s difficult for some consumers to set aside traditional recipes to look for something new, so they stick with what they know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life in the kitchen doesn’t need to be boring, and adding new ingredients can be fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I will address how we create inexpensive meals on our $ 235-a-month food budget <\/strong>for two adults and one toddler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creating recipes that can stretch meals beyond one meal would be best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is Comfort Food?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

People often think of “Comfort Food<\/strong>” when they want to stretch a meal so they don’t have to cook the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comfort food typically hits the spot and includes minced beef, eggs, vegetables, and beans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Create A Recipe Index of Inexpensive Meals<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the biggest challenges my wife and I have is creating healthy, inexpensive meals that both of us can eat, especially since she’s eating a low-carb, keto diet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most often, I think about meals I can create for the three of us, which include all the food groups or what is allowable for my wife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, we’ve created plenty of <\/strong><\/a>budget-friendly recipes<\/b> that our family would eat over a few days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being busy parents with a toddler, we must be on top of the meals or end up not sticking to our meal plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am the first to admit that there are weeks when our meal plan is pretty dull or repetitive because, like many others, we go with what is familiar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I have time off from work, I create new meals to add to our recipe box so we don’t stay in boring food mode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, we’ve created a recipe index for inexpensive meals we can make any night of the week without spending hours in the kitchen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes we boil up a dozen eggs and make egg salad as a side dish to a meatless meal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eggs are inexpensive and a great way to get protein into your diet, which keeps you full longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CBB fan Lisa C told us that the best part about making inexpensive meals in bulk is that “You only have to clean up once,”<\/em><\/strong> which is ideal for many families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will have a general clean-up the rest of the week but nothing like batch-cooking night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inexpensive Meals Turned Into Soup<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Soup will always go a long way; you can bulk it with various proteins, vegetables, and legumes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of our favourite homemade soups;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n