Eat well without going broke
Successful food budgeting blog based out of Arichat
ARICHAT — Myra HylandSamson had always been a food lover but four years ago when she and her husband Laurier Samson were living on a reduced income, she knew some changes had to be made.
It was just after the birth of their second of three children, and they were living on Laurier's parental leave cheque.
“So we were trying to save money whenever possible,” Hyland-samson said in a recent phone interview.
“I am a complete foodie and I've always gravitated towards cooking and making and eating delicious food so we were still wanting to eat delicious food but not wanting to spend as much money. We started brainstorming a lot of ideas about how we could save money on ingredients and make recipes that had clever substitutions and we had a lot of great ideas. For the first while we were just telling them to all our friends and family and then finally it dawned on us that maybe it would be helpful to other people to hear our ideas as well.
“So we started the blog.” Four years later, deliciousonadime.com receives close to 40,000 monthly page views, 1,800 Facebook followers and 2.1 Pinterest followers, all interested in ways to save money on their weekly food budget without compromising what they love to eat.
Most of their readers are from the U.S. (54 per cent compared to 35 per cent from Canada) even though their food costs are lower there and 25 per cent of their readership is between the ages of 25 and 34.
“Food costs have been rising every year and every year around January we see the stats saying produce costs are increasing, food costs are rising — we live in rural Atlantic Canada where food costs are kind of high anyway compared to more urban centres or in the United States,” she says.
“They have access to bigger markets and more variety of grocery stores and different opportunities to save money on groceries so I feel like here we have to be more creative, which I like anyway, and think outside the box on ways to save on groceries.”
Armed with a journalism degree from Kings, HylandSamson does the writing, photography and recipe development while her husband takes care of the technical requirements and design.
“It's been a real labour of love,” says Hyland-samson.
“The first two years we worked on it a lot and then we had another baby and then for the past two years it's been a bit more sporadic but we have so many more ideas and we're looking forward to carving out the time to create more recipes and we have so many more tips that we want to share with people and I feel we're overflowing with really great ideas. Bit by bit we'll find the time to get them out there.”
While job losses and income reduction due to COVID are an issue for some, Hyland-samson says there are many reasons why people may want to save money on their food bill, including saving for a major purchase like a car or a house. One of the best ways to save is to find out where your money is actually going.
“I was really surprised at how much money we were spending on groceries before we actually sat down and looked at it and tallied it up so I feel that I a really good first step because often times people don't really know how much they're spending,” she says.
“Then it is helpful to sit down and have a look at ways you can trim that budget and for a lot of people who are working, eating out and takeout is a huge expense ... it's not that hard to make a couple of lifestyle shifts to help save money in those departments.”
While it's easy to suggest simply packing a lunch and not eating out, saving money could just involve changing the way that you buy meat or protein, usually the biggest part of a family's food budget.
“Wait until the meat that they eat goes on sale and then stock up and use what hopefully most people have access to — a freezer, which to to me its the most wonderful tool that will help you save money on groceries,” she says.
Meal planning is another way to save money because it allows you to not waste leftovers from other meals.
“Basically we sit down on Sunday, have a peek in our fridge and see if there's anything we want to use up for the week — I feel like it's really important for people if they have restraints on their budget to try to use what you have first before you go and spend money on other groceries because what you have is already bought and paid for. And if you don't end up using it, it goes in the garbage and that's just a waste of food and money.”
Keeping an eye on prices is another way to keep your food budget under control. Some stores charge more for certain products so learn not to buy those items at those stores or just wait until they put the items on sale. Don't assume you always need to have a particular kind of tomato sauce to go with pasta — adapt your recipe to whatever you have on hand.
“If you have pesto in your fridge, you can toss it with hot pasta and a vegetable, like half a pepper or some mushrooms. If you can fry half an onion and some mushrooms, you can mix that with a bag of pasta and some sauce and it's a pretty quick and easy meal.”
And most importantly, try not to be too hard on yourself.
“People are just so burnt out and so tired — just struggling with all the emotional highs and lows that comes with living through a pandemic, these are unprecedented time,” she says.
“I feel that people should
not be hard on themselves and need to give themselves some grace and just say ‘Let's try to do the best we can.' For us, during really crazy, unusual times, it's what we can realistically get on the table. If it's pancakes some nights, I'm fine with that — my kids love pancakes and it's their favourite night of the week.”
TWICE BAKED POTATOES
From deliciousonadime.com
3 lbs potatoes (6 medium sized potatoes, or about 4 large, or 8 small) 1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/3 pkg bacon (cooked and crumbled or chopped)
1 green onion, or small handful of chives (chopped)
1/2 cup fresh parsley (chopped (or 1/4-1/2 cup dried)
1 cup shredded cheese (I used cheddar, but whatever you have on hand plus more for topping, if desired) 1 tbsp seasoning salt* (you really shouldn't skip this)
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp pepper Wash potatoes well. Poke them with a fork and either bake in a 350 degree F oven until they're easy to pierce with a knife (about 45 minutes, depending on size of potatoes), or cook in a microwave for 10-15 minutes.
Once they're cooked and easy to pierce, let them cool slightly so that you can handle them. Slice them in half and scoop out the potato flesh, leaving a thick enough layer on the potato skin to maintain their shape. Add 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup plain yogurt to potatoes. Use a hand mixer to mix them until they're nice and creamy. This usually works best when they're still warm.
Time for add-ins! Add bacon, chopped green onion or chives, fresh parsley (or dried), shredded cheese, garlic powder, onion powder, seasoning salt and pepper. This is a flexible recipe, so you can work with what you have on hand, but make sure you test the filling to make sure it tastes good! You could easily make these vegetarian by leaving out the bacon (although I might add some smoked paprika for that delicious smoky flavour). Stir well to combine.
Fill potato bowls with the delicious mixture you've just made. Top with a little extra shredded cheese if you wish (I do wish).
At this point you can either bake the potatoes for about 30 minutes on 350 degrees F (or until heated through), or you can cover them and refrigerate until you're ready to bake. This is a great recipe to make ahead of time. If you refrigerate them in a glass dish just make sure you bring it up to room temperature before putting it in a preheated oven.
HEALTHY WHITE CHICKEN ENCHILADAS
From deliciousonadime.com
8 large flour tortillas (or 10-12 small) 2 chicken breast (or 2 cups leftover shredded turkey or chicken)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (I will use Monterey Jack only if I have it on hand)
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
2 cups chicken broth (I like to make my own with Better Than Bouillon) 1 cup plain yogurt
1 4oz can crushed green chilis Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook chicken breasts. I like to poach them. Arrange in the bottom of a pot and cover with water. Add a sprinkle of salt (optional). Cover pot with lid and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn heat off and let sit for 15 minutes. Remove chicken. Test with a meat thermometer (should read at least 165 degrees F). Use two forks to shred chicken (debone if you're using bone-in). While chicken is cooking, prepare sauce. Melt butter in a pot over medium heat. Add flour and whisk until smooth. Cook, whisking for about 1 minute.
Very slowly start to add broth to flour mixture, a few tablespoons at a time, whisking well between each addition. Mixture will seize up at first, but will gradually thin out as you add more broth. Continue until all broth is added.
Cook, whisking occasionally, until sauce thickens slightly, probably around 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add yogurt and green chilis. Set aside to cool slightly. Shred cheese. Mix 1 cup of cheese with shredded chicken in a bowl. Divide it between the tortillas, roll them up and place, seam side down, in a lightly oiled pan. Pour sauce over pan of rolled up tortillas. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, until heated through. Broil for a minute to brown the cheese, if you want.