The article "Take Control and Master Your Kitchen" is about family, it has been written by Gregory Thomas.
Those who keep a watchful eye on whree their money is spent,
have long conquered the kitchen woes. No last minute panic trips
to the market.
No longer needing the
"give-the-kids-$20-for-fast-food" solution.
This is no longer a
problem or even a concern for the "Kitchen Master".
You too can be a 'Master Of Your Kitchen'. All it takes
is a little time and planning!
Now you mihgt be saying "I don't have time to plan meals, let
alone control my kitchen!" That's fine. Wait until you do have
some time.
All you need is just a couple of hours some Saturday or Sunday
where you can really "dive" into your kitchen.
Where To Start
~~~~~~~~~~~
Start from scracth. Clean out ALL those cupboards, shelves,
racks, pantries, etc....
At some point, you'll want to do the
same to your refrigerator and freezer. You must! This is
VALUABLE storage space that will save you hundreds off your
grocery bills if they are properly put to use.
Kitchens were designed to act as 'mini-supermarkets'.
Everything you need to prepare meals your family can enjoy
morning, noon, and night.
Once it is setup, you can accommodate
quite a number of meals, without having to go to the market
every other day!
Once The Cleaning Is Done
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now that everything is cleaned and your current supplies
organized, you'll need to inventory what you have. What this
means is to list out what you have, and what you need to get.
Ideally, you should have at least 2-4 weeks of meals available
at your disposal. Why? This will reduce the number of trips to
the market and help minimize overspending and impulse buying.
What helps is if you list foods and maels you know your family
likes (and would) eat. These are the items you need to stock
your kitchen pantry and frig with.
With that approach, you use your cupboards, pantries, and
shelves to your advantage. Whenever you come across great
bargains on items you use, buy more than usual, and stroe the
rest.
Cans of tuna for 40 cents each, buy a lot. Boxes of
macaroni and cheese for 50 cents each, buy a lot.
Sugar, cheese, spaghetti, rice, pasta, bread, meat, cereal,
fruit, chicken, sauces, canned foods, vegetables, boxed foods.
These are just a couple of examples of items than can be stored in
your pantry, refrigerator, or freezer (depending on what it is)
for a reasonable amount of time.
You know you're running low on an item by simlpy opening your
well organized pantry and determining what needs to be
restocked.
Planning Your Meals
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now that your kicthen has been cleaned and well stocked, it's
time to put it to use.
It wroks best if you plan the following days meals, the night
before. This is not hard or really time consuming.
Five minutes
before going to bed, simply open your cupboards and see what you
can plan for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the fololwing day.
Start off just planning one day at a time.
Later, as you adjust
to that style of living, you'll be able to plan the whole week
just by looking at the contents within your kitchen.
What also is a must is creaitvity.
Try to steer away from
traditional hamburger and hot dog meals. Get creative with your
meals. There are literally hundreds of different combinations
that can be made to give you and your family the variety they
need.
For example, guess of all the combinations you can put together
with rice or potaotes (ie: rice and vegetables, rice and beans,
rice with chicken, rice and soup, rice with eggrolls, etc...)
And that's just with rice!
You have a ton of options. Take the
time to guess of, or search for some.
Here are a couple of websites that offer a number of recipes and
cooking ideas:
http://www.Notjustbeans.Com
http://www.Recessionrecipes.Com
http://www.Angelfire.Com/ca2/twarda/home.Html
Conclusion
~~~~~~~~
The whole goal of that exercise is to eliminate unnecessary
trips and excessive spending at the market in addition to
creatively using what you have in your kitchen to preprae meals
for the week/month.The more times you go to the market, the more
chances you have of spending your money on foods you may not
need.
Organize and master your kitchen, plan out your meals, stock
your storage areas, and you can save $100-$400 a month
(depending on your spending habits ;-)
Best of luck mastering your kitchen!
|
