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With the price of groceries constantly rising, supply chain issues worsening, any tips on stretching meals to i:nclude nutritious, delicious ideas for a working family, couple, single or anyone that's on a budget?  
 
Edited by PT1001, 2022-02-10 18:11:32

Eggs are an economical and highly nutritious superfood that can be used in a huge variety of ways to stretch a budget.  
The other thing that we do ( not everyone is able) is to grow as much of our own vegetables as possible. In the fall I spend many nights blanching and freezing home grown vegetables for use throughout the rest of the year. That’s one great thing living here, a very small area can be highly productive in a very short space of time. My home garden is about 12 ft by 20ft and that is lots for me to deal with along with running the farm.  
For meat go straight to a local butcher or small processor such as Henry’s, Renards etc. Meat will be much higher quality and more sensibly priced than that available in stores.  
A bread maker can save a family quite a bit too.  
You can also often buy quality fruit from farmers markets or fruit trucks during the summer and can or freeze for winter use.  
The key with food is that quality always beats quantity and if you can buy and preserve or freeze at home it doesn’t have to be expensive.  
Above all avoid all highly processed or manufactured convenience foods, soft drinks and alcohol. These are all expensive, often loaded with salt or sugar, offer poor nutrition and are detrimental to your health.  
 
Edited by Farmergeorge, 2022-02-10 19:37:46

Food waste is often most of our issues it seems. Save leftovers, even small bits, in freezer bags in the freezer to make leftovers at a later date. For example, when you have enough potatoes and veggies frozen, make shepherds pie. Or if you enough frozen chicken and veggies, make a stir fry. Got ham? Make ham and eggs  
 
Little things like buying blocks of cheese instead of pre-shredded, buying salad bags instead of ingredients to make multiple salads, checking to make sure that bulk purchases aren’t more expensive than buying single, on sale items (like a big box of fruit snacks versus the small ones) Do you buy bottled water? Can you switch to a water cooler and reusable bottles?  
 
Eat more meatless meals. Or decrease the meat. If your spaghetti sauce calls for 2lbs of ground beef, do 1lb and maybe add mushrooms or other veggies to make up for the other pound. Or just leave as is and have a runnier sauce  
 
Eat more meals that require ingredients and not just thrown in the oven. Ingredients are cheaper than convenience  
 
Eggs are a great protein and can go in so many dishes! There are many who sell local farm eggs too. I get 5 dozen delivered right to my door any Wednesday I want for only $20! If you want his info, let me know.  
 
Superstore has an app where you can buy discounted food. I forget what it’s called…flash eats maybe? I’m sure someone here will know! There’s also the new store downtown that sells food at discounted prices to reduce food waste  
 
If you can garden, garden! If you’re like me and can’t, ask a friend (or two) that are wonderful gardeners, to grow some for you and pay them for their time! And their love for the garden. I’m pretty sure that’s why I’m not good at gardening LOL  
 
Pick a week and don’t spend money on any groceries. You have to get creative with what you have on hand. Make it a challenge between family members??  
 
Shop sales ONLY for many things. Decide what those things will be for your family. For me, it’s things like condiments, peanut butter, baking supplies, canned items. Things like that. If it’s not on sale, I don’t buy it  
 
Breakfast meals tend to be cheaper usually, have breakfast for supper more often. Or lunch, soup and sandwich meals.  
 
Buy meat from a local farmer if you can. It tastes better, better price and the meat goes farther because it’s not filled with junk and water. I recommend Henry’s!  
 
Look at dollarama and dollar tree for foods that you eat. Sometimes they are cheaper and sometimes they are not.

I find meat prices have gone up so much. So we buy the value packs at a cheaper per pound price. We divide it up ourselves in saran. Since prices went up we now divide them in 3/4 of a pound instead of 1 pound packs. You don't even notice the difference in recipes.

We do a lot of the same things as FarmerGeorge. We garden (we have 8 raised beds, about 300 sq feet total, plus perennial food plants like strawberries, raspberries, apples and rhubarb, plus I seed save many of my regular crops) , can. ( I own about 500 jars and a pressure canner), freeze (we own 2 chest freezers plus 2 fridge/freezers) nd dehydrate what we can. I bulk-buy from the farm and process it for ourselves in the summer/fall, buy meat from the farm or as a side from the butcher etc. I bake most goodies and a lot of our bread. I even make wine from the apples that grow on our property.  
 
One of the best things is to simply avoid waste. With so much food going to waste at the consumer level, having a plan to use up what you have is imperative. Make sensible portions. Eat up leftovers. Use up scraps. Use oldest or most perishable food first. Rotate your pantry staples so  
 
I utilize my freezer a lot. I'll keep bits and bobs of things to throw into soups etc. I'll save leftovers if I have a plan for them but not until next week. I prepare meals and put them in the freezer for when I need a quick meal (I cooked one today - a package of chili ingredients went into my crockpot this morning). I'll chop and freeze produce that is still edible but on the verge of getting dodgy and then cook with it later.  
 
Also, rethink what you're eating. Tofu is cheap and filling and can replace a meat once in awhile, and can be prepared a multitude of delicious ways. Frozen veg is nutritious and often better quality than fresh when not in season. Dried beans are super cheap, delicious and easy to prepare with a crockpot or instapot (and about 1/3 cost of canned).  
 
It's definately getting expensive, and many basic things have gone up significantly (I'm looking at you, pasta). We're very privileged that we can afford the food storage and time we have to prepare food.

We plan our meals out for the week, and usually make a meal last two days so during the week we are only making a few different meals. As others have said we minimize waste, try to use ingredients from one meal onto the next. You can make cheap nutrious meals by eating more lentils, beans and whole grains. Some examples:  
 
Bean burritos - cheap and easy to make  
 
Lentils and Rice (Mujaddara, middle eastern dish, very flavourful) - super cheap and easy to make  
 
Rice (or quiona )bowls with roasted potatoes, fresh vegetables and some type of sauce. (we make cilantro lime sauce alot!) - easy to make, cost can increase depending on what you put in the bowl  
 
Eat more Soups, they are easy and cheap to make. We make a simple vegetable soup with barley. Very filling and healthy, lasts for days.  
 
Pasta sauces can be made with red lentils instead of meat, which costs a lot less than meat and is much healthier.  
 
Tofu is cheap and very versatile. Make a simple stirfry served with vegetables and tofu over rice or noodles.  
 
Those are some basic ideas that are cost friendly and easy to make. We feed a family of 5 and understand the importance of saving money when shopping for groceries. Sticking to your meal plan will save you time and money during the week.

Don’t get tied to a recipe. Not all things are necessarily required for it to taste good.  
 
When my kids were little vanilla was very expensive. So I just stopped using it. No difference at all to food.  
 
Like raisins nice to have but expensive so don’t use food just as nice.  
 
Too bad I can’t show you a number of things you can do to save on groceries and meals. I became quite creative in what I call our poor years in our family.  
 
My oldest son if I could make him that cereal square cake. He was surprised when I told him I don’t think so as I called it “poor mom’s squares”. I used all the leftover over cereal in all the boxes so it changed all the time.  
 
Many ways to spread the food to feed your family.  
 
If you can’t grow a garden a couple of potted vegetables like tomatoes etc. Can provide a great source.  
 
A friend or neighbour may be a source of garden produce. Gardeners always grow too much. Reach out you be surprised what you find.  
 
I would love giving you tips. If you interested perhaps we could do over virtual or something.  
 
PM if you would like more information.

I feel like I'm pretty good at stretching and making the most of our meals just have to deal with as little food waste as possible. There are some great tips above to keep in mind. I do know that other families can benefit from a post like this.  
 
* Gardening - top tip and family can all get involved. Small areas can yield lots if planned  
* Canning and preserving if you can although space to store can be a challenge for some  
* Definitely freezer space (extra bonus for winter months and balcony space). Vaccum sealing really prolongs food items from meat to fruit to veg  
* Buying in bulk, then vac seal  
* Using apps like FLIPP to locally meal plan weekly and search specific items  
* Cook to plan for leftovers .Usually always better next day and alleviates stress. Next day can have an added twist to add extra rice or potato  
* Clean fridge weekly and utilize, freeze or make use of items before next grocery shop  
* Beeswax wraps preserve fresh produce  
* Cut, chop, slice and have a use for what you have to have ready for quick salads  
* Beans, lentils, mushrooms, barley, grains, oatmeal, older bread dried, chopped frozen can stretch a meal  
* Spices, seasonings add so much to meals - bulk stores easy and you could only buy what you need Make your own sauces if you can  
* Spend day with family chopping and cutting veg, prepping for meals. It's fun and cuts down on buying pre-cut stuff  
* Share time with friends with a cooking day and split the meals -  
* Soups and stews are easy and delicious to make  
* Agree to search out better farm fresh meats if you can't buy or share a half or whole side (local places like Henrys Meats and East 40 meat, Tendercuts etc) You get what you pay for  
* Save bones and carcasses for soup or broth  
* Love breakfast for dinner idea. Eggs and bread go a long way plus a good quality block of cheese (cheaper, need less and better long term than pre-shredded coated shreds)  
* Freeze all bread products if you don't use quickly, same with butter  
 
 
Enjoying all the good advice.

There is a "Food Rescue store" at 31-A- 9th st  
They are focused on rescuing food from going to the landfill. Products are near the expiry dates but prices are reasonable and the folks there are very helpful.  
 
It is well worth checking out.

I don’t know that I can add a whole lot more than the great ideas that have been said.  
 
We eat almost no processed foods. I also make my own bread, cookies, cakes, etc and condiments and salad dressings. I am constantly on the hunt for recipes that taste great but aren’t super time consuming. We buy most of our meats from the butcher. I use the Flipp App every Wednesday to go through the weekly flyers and find what is on sale for a good price and buy accordingly. Sunday is prep day. Veggies chopping, cheese shredding, bread and cookie baking. We use a lot of beans. Like if I am making tacos, for example, I will add beans to less meat to bulk it up. We make a ton of soups.  
 
You got this.