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Stretch your grocery dollar with strategic meal
planning
I have a Midwestern way of thinking about
groceries. Where the rest of the world sees a
fresh green pepper glistening in the grocer’s
misted produce section, I see a pepper cut into
thirds. One third of the pepper would go into
quesadillas, one third is reserved for salad and
the last third is chopped into weekend omelets.
The key to cross-training with your groceries is
to think of main items in thirds or halves and
to improvise with what you have on hand.
I have a sample list of typical items found in
my grocery cart along with my practical-minded
approaches to making every purchase work hard
for my family.
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One loaf Texas Toast = Big grilled cheese
and soup dinner, Garlic bread for spaghetti
dinner, Excellent weekend French toast or
Indulgent croutons
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Two pounds hamburger meat and one pound
Italian sausage = Spaghetti sauce, (1/4 lb.
or less) hamburger meat reserved from
initial frying to season for quesadillas
later in the week, a sprinkle of sausage
reserved is good in an omelet or inside a
calzone
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Leftover spaghetti sauce = Thicken with a
little corn starch and it makes a fabulous
calzone filling or pizza sauce and only
takes about one or two cups
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Tortillas = Quesadillas, Sandwich wraps
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One pound deli counter turkey = Sandwich
wraps, Topping for a large salad
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Fresh bunch spinach = Sauteed side dish in
bacon grease and carmelized onions, added to
canned soup for vitamins, Use instead of
lettuce for turkey wraps
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Blueberries on special 2 quarts/$5 =
Pancakes, Frozen yogurt smoothie for Friday
night snack
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Bananas = Snacks, Smoothie ingredient,
Topping for frozen waffles with peanut
butter and walnuts
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