How to become a frugal gourmet
I have periodically had the great pleasure of assisting at a local food bank. At the food bank, a community comes together to aid those struggling to keep up with the financial demands of life by providing them with fresh produce. Large brown boxes full of “ugly” root vegetables — those deemed unsellable by grocery stores due to slight imperfections — are packaged into grocery bags, ready to be distributed to those in need of nourishment. Whilst I thankfully don’t count myself as underprivileged or in need to assistance, the perils of financial hardship for me, like many of us, are no more than a pay cheque away. As housing costs and grocery costs continue on their upward trajectory, I find myself thinking more and more about how to reduce my food expenditures. For me, it’s about having a plan before going to the grocery store and using ingredients, like root vegetables, which tend to be less expensive, to form the base of my weekly diet.
10 TIPS FOR REDUCING YOUR GROCERY BILL
• Meal planning – Make a list of each dinner you plan to have for the week. Buy groceries according to your plan. Invariably, planless shopping leads to excess and food waste. Plan on having some meal leftovers for lunches or freezing leftovers for a future meal.
• Use flyers and grocery apps – Discount dining is as quick as a scan through your weekly flyers or apps such as Flipp and Rebee. Invariably, I’ll craft a meal, or two, per week around a protein I bought on discount. Remember, recipes are guides and not rules. If you have a recipe that calls for chicken drumsticks, but chicken thighs are on sale; adjust the recipe accordingly.
• Make a list – The list is my grocery store savior. I organize mine according to where in the grocery store the item is found, so I have direct path to what I need and am not distracted by other items.
• Assess your pantry – Do you really need another can of tomatoes? You won’t know unless you assess your pantry before leaving your home.
How many times have you come home with one more of something you already had lurking in the dark recesses of a cabinet?
• Learn to make bread – While flour hasn’t been immune to price increases, it still remains a great deal. Consider you can make a homemade loaf of bread for a little more than a dollar based on 25 cents per cup of flour (based on $8.99 for a 5-kilogram bag unbleached all-purpose flour), about 10 cents for yeast and less than a penny for a pinch of salt). Even accounting for a little for electricity,
you’ve saved a couple dollars compared to the “artisanal” bread found at your grocery store. The cost is even less if you buy your flour at a bulk food store.
• A sale isn’t always a sale – It’s like buying that new shirt on sale. If you aren’t actually going to wear it, or in this case you aren’t going to eat that big hunk of meat ‘on sale’, then you haven’t saved any money.
• A grocery store is for groceries – Resist the temptation to purchase household cleaning products at the grocery store. Discount stores often offer these items for less and increasingly they are positioning themselves next to or near the big grocery store chains for your convenience.
• Look down – Look down, the lower priced ‘no name’ items are usually on lowest shelf. No name or grocery store labels aren’t necessarily worse as they are often made by the same companies producing the ‘name’ brands.
• Avoid the snack food aisle – Chips and other convenience snack foods are grocery store budget killers. Ask yourself, do I really need to go down that aisle?
• Be creative – Ultimately, the best way to save money is to use items that are less expensive and find ways to infuse them with flavour. Chefs have long known that many less expensive cuts of meat can deliver great flavour if cooked properly, and those mundane root vegetables and beans that deliver a lot of value can be transformed into delicious dishes.
BUTTERNUT SQUASH RISOTTO
• 1 small butternut squash, peeled, cored, fine dice
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 tbsp herbs de Provence
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 litre vegetable (or chicken) stock
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1 1/3 cup arborio rice
• 1 cup parmesan
Directions: Set oven to 400 F. Toss diced squash with one tablespoon olive oil and herbs. Roast for 20 minutes. Place stock in a pot and bring to a gentle simmer. Meanwhile, add remaining olive oil and butter to a pot set over medium-low heat. Add the onion and sauté until soft and translucent. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant. Raise heat to medium. Add rice. Toast rice for two to three minutes, stirring to ensure the rice is covered in oil. Add white wine. When wine has been absorbed, add a ladle of warm stock. When stock has been absorbed, add another ladle of stock, repeating until stock is used. Add roasted squash and parmesan with the final ladle of stock. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Mark DeWolf is currently the creative director of food and drink at the SaltWire Network, director of marketing and communications of the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale (ASI) and past-president of the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers (CAPS). He enjoys drinking, eating, writing and talking about wine, beer and food.