The kids and I are about to hit the grocery store for our Thanksgiving supplies. But first, I have a few tips for how you can eat well without overspending this Thanksgiving.

1. Pay attention to price tags

It’s easy to glance at price tags and only see the big numbers. But a closer look reveals the real cost of what you are buying. Take for instance Brussels sprouts at my local grocery. They are available in the prepacked little cup or you can buy them from the bulk section. The price tag on the left (above) is the prepacked little cup. On the right, are the lose bulk Brussels sprouts. If you buy the cup, you’re paying $7.09 a pound. If you grab a bag and select from the bin, you only pay $2.49 per pound — less than half the cost. That’s a huge savings! The same can be found between green beans (prepackaged fresh ones versus bulk ones), lettuce (the bagged versus the heads), garlic and more. In the reverse, the loose potatoes at my grocery often cost close to twice as much per pound compared to the prebagged ones. Yes, it’s a hectic time to be shopping, but taking the time to pay attention to the actual unit prices will pay off with big savings for you this Thanksgiving.

2. Stay in-season

In the past, Thanksgiving has always been an anything goes holiday for me where I paid little attention to what’s in-season and just made what we like. Not so this year as I am trying to put on a great meal on a budget — and the first step I took toward doing so was to eliminate dishes with out-of-season produce (sorry beets!). While we love them, there is big savings to be had by going more traditional with a harvest-based menu.

3. Tap into easy DIY

Anytime you buy something that’s a convenience — from pre-sliced French bread for crostini to pre-cut meats and cheeses, you pay a premium. But doing itself can save a bundle and doesn’t have to take long. So buy a whole butternut squash instead of the pre-cut (hint: peel it while watching TV and then remove the sinew-y bits and seeds and dice it. Store in an airtight container in the fridge. It lasts for days). Slice your own carrots too. And also buy a head of garlic instead of pre-peeled. And if you are using shredded cheese in a dish, go big. I will be — my Decadent Cheddar Mashed Potatoes with Bacon and Apples calls for quite a bit of cheese. But I won’t be reaching for the preshredded. Instead, I will buy a big block of cheese and shred it myself in my food processor for a big savings. And leftover shredded cheese will be perfect for reinventing Thanksgiving leftovers this weekend. Likewise, I will save time on my prep work by chopping, slicing and shredding veggies using my food processor as well. KitchenAid recently sent me the new KitchenAid 13-cup food processor to try out, and it makes quick, accurate work of all this. It works particularly well with dishes that use onions — I can get a fine chop on them in a few seconds, lending all their flavor to my dishes without my husband (who hates the texture of onions) complaining about them. Score!

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Disclosure: KitchenAid provided me with a food processor for use in my holiday coverage but I wasn’t compensated in any other way. All opinions are my own.

The post Stress-Free Thanksgiving: 3 Ways to Save Money on Your Meal appeared first on Sarah's Cucina Bella.

When you plan your meals ahead of time, the evening goes much smoother. It becomes simpler to just finish up whatever you need to (work, laundry, whatever) and then move into a speedy dinner prep. Unfortunately, I fell back into bad habits recently and wasn’t planning dinners. Heck, I wasn’t even thinking about dinner … until it was time to make it. We consumed a lot of pasta. It was really chaotic, and I hate chaos.

But I am working on it (we’re on day five of planning success!). Honestly, the stress of having dinner roll around without a plan is something I don’t need. No one needs it. And it’s just too easy to skirt the issue with a little bit of planning.

The slow cooker really comes in handy. It’s just so simple. You toss the ingredients in early in the morning and then when dinnertime rolls around, you have a hot, ready to go dinner. If you are struggling with dinners, you should totally get your slow cooker out and give it a shot. Having this stew bubbling away the other afternoon provided such sweet peace of mind so that I could focus on what I needed to without stressing over what I would toss together for dinner.

Oh, and this Slow Cooker Beef and Veggie Stew is a great dish to re-start your slow cooking adventures with.

This stew has a faint French onion-ness to the broth, but not so much that onion haters will balk (and the onion pieces are big so they can pick ‘em out anyway). And the roasted garlic adds dimension to the broth. The slow cooking blends the flavors as it renders the stew meat completely fall-apart tender. The vegetables – carrots, broccoli stems, potatoes and sweet potatoes – give the stew bulk so that it fills you up.

Did you catch that it has broccoli stems. Stems! The part that no one loves to eat. I keep stems in my freezer for using in recipes like this. And honestly, after slow cooking the stems for so long, the kids and I really enjoyed them in this stew. It was an unexpected but welcome element.

Eat this with a slice of buttered bread. Just divine.

Slow Cooker Beef and Veggie Stew
serves 6

1 1/4 lb stew beef, cut into 1″ chunks
1 small onion, quartered
1 Yukon gold potato, diced
1 sweet potato, diced
3 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/2″ thick pieces
6 cloves roasted garlic, sliced and crushed
1/2 cup diced broccoli stems
4 cups beef stock
1/2 cup red wine
salt and pepper, to taste
flour (for thickening)

Combine all of the ingredients except the flour in the bowl of the slow cooker. Stir gently. Cover and cook on low for 10-12 hours.

Remove a ladle of broth from the stew to a container with a cover and add flour (2 tbsp to start). Cover and shake vigorously until combined. Stir into the stew. Repeat until you reach desired thickness.

Serve immediately. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days.

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For years I haven’t watched the news at night. While I think it’s important to be informed (and I am), it’s easy to become enraptured with the frightening amount of bad things that happen every day everywhere. I like to believe in the inherent goodness of people, but also realize that for whatever reason some people do very bad things. But it’s my choice not to focus on those things. So, I change the channel when the news comes on.

All of this is a wind up to explain why it was so unusual for me to watch the news last night. I’d heard a preview about rising food prices, and I had to tune in. I handle the budgeting for our family — for everything from food and utilities to vacations — so I really feel the impact when prices rise. I wanted to know what I am in for.

The news isn’t good. We all know that the price of gas and food has risen over the last year. Fuel, which has risen nearly 30 percent in the last year, is largely to blame … and the rising prices aren’t done climbing yet. Gas is expected to topple the $5 a gallon mark soon — something that was unthinkable a decade ago. With this, the cost of meat has and will continue to rise, as will pantry staples. How much? Beef alone is expected to rise by 7% this year. Good thing we don’t eat a lot of beef anymore, right? But the rise in prices is largely across the board, so not eating beef won’t let us escape the costs.

The cost of putting food on the table — any food at all — is rising. Whether you eat all organic or whole foods or cleanly or low-carb, it doesn’t matter. If you aren’t feeling the pinch yet, you will.  That is scary.

This all made me start thinking about ways to cut costs, naturally. There’s only so much my family — and especially me — can comfortably cut back. As a food writer who makes a living developing recipes, I have to buy certain ingredients no matter what the cost. But what I can do is cut back in other ways like cutting back on my coffee habit, getting less takeout and driving less. And I can plan our meals in advance, allowing me to save on gas for the many trips to the grocery store I make each week.

Really, no matter whether food is an intrinsic part of your work or just what you need to nourish your family, planning is absolutely key to frugal eating. This dish — Lemony Pasta Salad — is a perfect example of a well-planned meal. It’s a side dish with 12 portions, so you can make it for dinner one night and have plenty of leftovers for lunches and quick sides all week. Easy.

Regarding the frugal part, I totally paid attention to how much it cost me to get this on the table. Here’s the breakdown:

• Pasta – $0.88
• Broccoli – $1.88
• Lemon -  $0.67
• Garlic – $0.02
• Olive oil – $0.90
• Spices – $0.50
• Olives – $1.50
• TOTAL – $8.33 (About $0.70 per serving)

Do the rising prices of groceries and fuel worry you?

Frugal Lemony Pasta Salad
12 servings

1 lb rotelle pasta
1 bunch broccoli, florets only (reserve the stems for another use)
1 lemon, zested and juiced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 tsp sweet Hungarian paprika
1/4 tsp dry ground mustard
salt and pepper, to taste
1 6 oz can black olives, drained and halved

Heat a large pot of water on the stove. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions. When two minutes are left on the timer, add the broccoli to the pan as well and stir well. Cook for remaining two minutes. Drain well.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the lemon zest, juice, garlic, olive oil, paprika, mustard, salt and pepper.

Combine the pasta, broccoli, lemon vinaigrette and olives in the large pot and stir well to combine. Let sit for 20 minutes and stir again. Then transfer to a serving dish and chill until ready to serve.

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Tuesday: Blue Cheese Stuffed Burgers and Parmesan Rosemary Sweet Potato Fries

Wednesday: Grilled Island Chicken with wild rice and salad

Thursday: Spice-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Grilled Potato Wedges and corn

Friday: Grilled Rosemary Chicken with couscous and green beans

The post Meal Plan for the Week of May 24 appeared first on Sarah's Cucina Bella.

Tuesday: Mini Shell Pasta with Creamy Smoked Bacon and Pea Sauce (from Jamie’s Food Revolution: Rediscover How to Cook Simple, Delicious, Affordable Meals); tossed salad

Wednesday: Ginger Soy London Broil; Orzo Salad with Peas

Thursday: Pork Tenderloin with Soy, Ginger and Lime (from Everyday Food, July/August 2008); white rice; sauteed sugar snap peas

Friday: Grilled Rosemary Chicken; Israeli couscous; tossed salad

The post Meal Plan for the Week of May 3 appeared first on Sarah's Cucina Bella.

First, as a reminder:

The Plan: No spending from Saturday until the following Saturday. Cash in wallet can only be used in a true emergency.

What Happened: On Saturday, the kids and I hit two stores and got most of the stuff we needed. I had trouble finding the pork shoulder that was to comprise two of this weeks meals. In the end, I didn’t end up buying quite everything we needed on Saturday.

On Tuesday, after consulting with Twitter experts, I discovered that pork butt could be used (apparently, the butt can be part of the shoulder … in a pig, at least) and I knew where to find that. We never found the taco shells I wanted for Friday’s dinner (it’s hard to locate ones without those partially hydrogenated ingredients that I avoid). But that’s okay, because we ended up ordering pizza last night.

While I didn’t go overboard with spending, I did not limit spending to Saturday as I have in previous weeks. And due to an event tomorrow, I will be hitting up the grocery store for some supplies tonight too.

As far as My Spending Diet goes, I was totally off the wagon this week.

Spending: My spending remained down this week. Coupons helped keep costs to a minimum, but I feel like I have less of a handle on my spending since I didn’t limit it as I have in previous weeks.

What’s Next: My Saturday shop will be on Sunday this week. It’s also spring break for us this week. Rather than stressing myself out about adhering strictly to the rules, I am going to lighten up this week and budget for some fun. Also, my focus is shifting: I just want to spend less … so next Friday may focus more on cost-cutting measures.

Cost Cutting for This Week: I plan to use coupons again this week to cut costs and also shop the sale fliers. I want to focus our meals on more inexpensive options, while keeping with our passion for good food. It can be done. For activities, I am going to look into free options but not limit us to them. After all, I want my kids to enjoy life and sometimes really fun things do cost money.

Photo credit: mconnors from morguefile.com

The post My Spending Diet: Week Five appeared first on Sarah's Cucina Bella.

Monday: BBQ Pulled Pork from Everyday Food; Honey Maple Cornbread (new recipe); Sweet Potato Fries; Vinaigrette Coleslaw (new recipe)

Tuesday: Pulled Pork Wraps (new recipe); Lime-Cilantro Red Beans and Rice; Corn

Wednesday: Asian Turkey Burgers with Stir Fried Rice; Salad

Thursday: Teriyaki Beef Kabobs; Roasted Green Beans; Grilled Potato Wedges

Friday: Tacos with Homemade Mild Taco Seasoning, avocado, sour cream, cheddar and salsa; Yellow Rice, Salad

Need some inspiration for your dinners this week? Here are some of my favorites:

The post Meal Plan for the Week of April 10 appeared first on Sarah's Cucina Bella.

Four weeks! I can’t believe it! Seriously, I really can’t. When I started my spending diet four weeks ago, I doubted it would last more than two weeks. But week two was easier and week three even easier and now I have ventured into finding ways to simply spend less.

As a reminder:

The Plan: No spending from Saturday until the following Saturday. Cash in wallet can only be used in a true emergency.

What Happened: This week flew by. Really, it did.

We followed our meal plan almost completely this week. The only change up was on Tuesday, when I served the Salmon Cakes over a salad instead of on a roll because we ran out of rolls on Monday. But it worked out better that way. They were fab on the salad.

We did run out of a few things – for instance, I failed to purchase half and half for an Easter recipe, and accidentally used all of my husband’s. He picked up a new carton of it. We also are out of bleach, which I will totally buy tomorrow (promise, Shawn!).

As I mentioned last week, the urge to shop midweek is pretty much gone. Although, I will readily admit that when we had balmy summer temperatures this week, I was very tempted to go to the local garden center in search of plants for my garden. I didn’t. It’s still early in the season, and it wasn’t Saturday.

Spending: The kids and I had lunch out once this week (which we’ve done pretty much every week). Cost: about $10. My spending is way down, even with a big holiday meal served this past weekend.

About My Saturday Shop: I’ll be the first to admit that my shopping list left a little bit to be desired this week. It’s largely due to Easter, which I cook for every year. I was so caught up in making sure that we had everything we needed for the holiday that I forgot to do the same for our eating during the week. We didn’t go hungry — we just didn’t have a lot of extras.

That said, beyond the half and half and bleach, we really weren’t out of anything. Instead, it was simple things like snacks (okay, maybe I don’t need those), Diet Coke and more fresh fruit that I wish we had. But we survived.

As for my spending, I am really happy to have spent less than half of what I spent in previous weeks. I was so excited about that last Saturday.

What’s Next: My coupons arrived earlier this week and I am excited to use them (I really do get giddy about silly things like that). I plan to scour the ads to see if there are any great deals to be had on the items we need as well.

This will be the first week where the kids do the Saturday shop with me, which means that I need to reevaluate how to do it. Honestly, shopping for the week in three hours is just too intense for them. I’m exhausted after that, so they would be even more so. Basically, I am going to have to break it up somehow – perhaps groceries in the morning and Target in the afternoon? I also am considering skipping my usual Trader Joe’s run in favor of shopping closer to home.  What would you do to make it easier?

Over the past week I have gotten some great suggestions on how to cut costs. Thank you! I also wanted to mention one in particular: Last week, a commenter suggested that we cut back on meat consumption, having some vegetarian days to save money. Although this week wasn’t a good reflection of it, we have cut back greatly on our meat consumption and usually have one vegetarian meal each week. I totally agree that cutting back on meat is a good option for many people trying to cut their grocery bills. And vegetarian meals? I adore them! However, cutting back further isn’t an option for us – actually, me – at this time. Suffice it to say that I need meat to be the focused, on-top-of-things, energetic woman that I am.

So, how’s your spending?

The post My Spending Diet: Week Four appeared first on Sarah's Cucina Bella.

Monday: Leftover ham, macaroni and cheese, Roasted Green Beans (new recipe)

Tuesday: Homemade Salmon Burgers on ciabatta rolls with a tossed salad (new recipe)

Wednesday: Maple Soy Flank Steak, rice and salad

Thursday: Chicken Florentine over pasta with salad

Friday: Homemade fresh mozzarella, ham and pineapple pizza with salad

See last week’s plan

Need some inspiration for your dinners this week? Check out my collection on Tablespoon:

The post Meal Plan for the Week of April 5 appeared first on Sarah's Cucina Bella.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been three weeks already. As you probably remember, the first week of my spending diet was really hard but the second week was a little easier. So, how did the third week go?

First, a quick recap of what my spending diet is all about:

The Plan: No spending from Saturday until the following Saturday. Cash in wallet can only be used in a true emergency.

What Happened: In a lot of ways, I feel like I hit my stride with controlling spending this week. The urge to shop just wasn’t there, and more importantly the thought of not spending didn’t consume me all week. That was a huge win.

In terms of planning, I’ve come a long way. Pretty much everything was taken care of this week … and there was even enough room for a little flexibility when I decided against a third day of Asian-inspired foods (the turkey burgers had to wait). So, that was good.

Spending: The only spending I did this week was for a magazine subscription that was part of a gift (which I think was A-ok) and a quickie lunch for the kids yesterday (which was paid for by cash that I had on hand). It was a beautiful day and they deserved the treat. Today, I will need to run out for white eggs and milk. The eggs are for dying tomorrow and the milk is because Paige drank way more than expected this week.  Our week’s shopping will happen tomorrow as planned.

About My Saturday Shop: Doing all the shopping for the family for the week in just a few hours isn’t just challenging, it’s really tiring too. Actually, if I am going to be really specific, it’s exhausting. Last week, all I wanted to do after shopping was sleep (which, of course I couldn’t actually do).

But I still prefer the exhaustion of that to having to hit different stores several times a week without ever really getting everything we need. The organization of a one-a-week shop is really, really appealing.

Unfortunately, although I anticipated last week’s shop to cost a lot less than the previous week, that wasn’t what happened. I did spend less — though not by much. That was both shocking and disappointing. And while I understand why that was, I still want my overall weekly spending to decrease a lot.

What’s Next: This week, despite needing to factor in Easter brunch, I am going to start working on cutting our spending. It won’t be easy though since there is only so much you can cut back on necessities. However, the rewards for spending less are really great – who would say no to more money in pocket?

So, how will I save? I am going to consult the sale ads before making my weekly menu to see what I can purchase on sale. Additionally, I am going to try using coupons again. Since I don’t get a weekly paper, I ordered coupons from The Coupon Clippers for items that I know we will need in the next month or so. (That’s key: only order coupons that you know for sure you will use … I have learned that from experience.)

Do you have any tips or tricks for spending less? Share! I really want to hear them

Have a great weekend!

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The post My Spending Diet: Week Three appeared first on Sarah's Cucina Bella.