Good evening, friends and neighbors.

No matter where you are on Earth, certain things drive food culture forward- geography, climate, population, social mores, and so on. Right at the heart of it though, from the salt-of-the-earth origins of cuisines all over the world- from the Soul Food of the Southeastern United States to the multifaceted mosaic of Chinese food- is economics, and the single question every cook asks:

“HOW DO I TAKE WHAT’S CHEAP, MAKE IT TASTE GOOD, AND FEED EVERYONE?”

Back when I first decided that I needed to get in shape, I knew the hardest- but most important- thing I’d have to change was going to be my diet. I knew how to cook, of course, but I didn’t necessarily trust myself to come up with healthy, well-balanced recipes.

Thanks to MyFitnessPal, I’d gotten an idea of how my caloric intake should look- and more importantly, how much I needed to be exercising. Given all this, as well as MFPs handy barcode scanner and database, I got into the habit of picking up pre-packaged, frozen stuff. It had a lot of benefits, of course- I could see all the ingredients, all the nutrition info, and base my diet off of that.
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You can imagine where that went- not only was it expensive, but boring, and ultimately depressing. I’m a baker and cook, dammit! I should KNOW how to make a healthy meal, work out the nutrition, and not suck my bank account dry doing it.
That’s when the internet stepped in to help.

​For a long time, I’d been a fan of a YouTube channel called Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal Theater (or SMBC Theater-) a sketch comedy channel written and directed by webcomic artist Zach Weinersmith and his friends. When I saw that two of the actors, James Ashby and Marque Franklin-Williams were doing an off-shoot cooking show (with all the usual comedic flair,) I was right on board.
Their show, “Hand 2 Mouth” (tagline, “When you can only afford the internet”) and its evolution “Broke Eats,” had a simple premise- cooking healthy meals on the budget of a broke college student.

Well that’s just kinda perfect.

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Starting from the most basic of basics- “How to make rice on a hot plate”- they kept the show going to include making pasta, lentils (a go-to legume for me now), breaded portobello mushrooms, and more. Each episode addressed not just how to make healthy food, but how to source the ingredients cheaply: getting giant bags of stuff that won’t spoil, picking up bruised fruit and veggies, and keeping an eye out for special pricing.

One suggestion I DIDN’T really take them up on was saving money on condiments by swiping ketchup and mustard packets from fast food restaurants- I had to draw the line somewhere.

With this inspiration, I finally felt ready to let go of the pre-packaged health food route and make my own decent tasting food, and shop for it all on a budget.

With the excellent advice from Ken in the last entry on eating right, I decided this was a perfect time to offer up my own tips and tricks for shopping for ingredients.
For the pictures and prices, I wandered down to QFC- a mid-level supermarket chain out here on the West Coast. They are part of the Kroger empire- which includes Fred Meyer, Albertsons, and a couple other chains. These are not Whole Foods/ New Seasons/ Natural Grocery prices.

As a disclaimer, all the food I’m referencing here is the cheapest I found on the shelf- usually not organic, and the store/generic brand. If you have a special diet/ medical thing going on where you need to keep your eye out for certain ingredients and processes (i.e. allergies, celiac, intolerances, etc.) then KEEP TO THAT. Going cheap shouldn’t kill you.

As I mentioned in the last blog, a lot of grocery stores will happily sell you pre-cut vegetables, peeled garlic, and so on. If you look at the comparative prices for these products, you’ll find they are almost always pricier- you’re paying for the convenience of someone else having done some of the prep work for you. Honestly? Save the money, get whole veggies and fruit, and learn to use a kitchen knife. It’s saving you money, and simultaneously investing in yourself- kitchen skills never go out of style. There’s plenty of online and YouTube resources teaching how. 

 

A quick something to remember- we’re still thinking about economics here, and not EVERYTHING is cost-efficient to make at home. Butter, for example, can be made at home- and it’s delicious. All you need is cream and a mixer/food processor. Unfortunately, beyond the time involved, it simply IS cheaper to buy a pound of butter than to get a pound of heavy cream and render it down into slightly-less-than a pound of butter at home. For more examples of what should and shouldn’t be made at home to save money, look up “Make the Bread, Buy the Butter” by Jennifer Reese– another excellent book.
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If you look closely at the price tags on grocery store shelves, you’ll see there’s usually two or three different prices: the price for the item itself (usually the big number, what you’ll pay at the register,) sometimes a “unit price,” or what the store paid to get the item as a bunch, and then the “price by weight.” Sometimes for stuff like toilet paper, it’ll be “price by foot” or for eggs, “price each.” This tells you how much the item is for how much it weighs. ​

For some boxed goods, like breakfast cereals, you might also compare their prices to the number of servings in a box.

 

Freezers are awesome machines. Used properly, you can get bulk amounts of perishables and keep them for when you need them.
Meat, in particular, is pretty expensive- and unless you’re deciding to unlock Super Hard mode by going vegan on top of this healthy eating thing, you’re probably going to want to get some.
Take a look at the price tags at your market’s meat department- sure enough, they have a price by weight too.
If you feel up to it, and you have the chance to get a good deal, you can buy a large cut of meat and then butcher and freeze it at home. If you don’t feel comfortable doing the portioning yourself, some butcher counters will cut the meat, fish, or whatever for you- often for free, if you ask. Keep an eye out for if the label says “previously frozen” though- if it does, you don’t want to freeze it again! Freeze fresh stuff only.

While you are out, invest in some Press-and-seal wrap or freezer paper, and store whatever you aren’t going to use immediately. When you need it in the future, you can either just put it in the fridge the day before to thaw, or (if you wrapped it in plastic) speed-thaw it in a hot water bath.
Fish from the freezer section can be great, too- especially for portion control!

As far as vegetables go, you can totally buy frozen veggies to make preparing easier- or to avoid crap veggies when they are out of season. Just be sure to read the package carefully- no additives, seasonings, sauces, or preservatives. A bag of broccoli should be 100% BROCCOLI.

And last, but not least… STAY AWAY FROM PRE-PACKAGED FOOD.
Oh yes, it’s VERY convenient- and full of crap to make it last in the freezer forever, and expensive as sin for food you could make easily- and better- at home.

That’s just about all I have for you right now.Happy shopping, and
Stay Classy,

 

P.P.S. If you want to go really hardcore on saving money (or you have no idea what you want to eat,) most grocery stores will have coupons or their weekly sales up online, and you can plan out your meals and list from that!

P.P.P.S. Have you checked out my Patreon yet? If not, click one of those shiny “Become a Patron!” buttons, or click here!