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Thursday, November 13, 2008

Helping Your Family Embrace A Frugal Kitchen

Frugality often necessitates changes in the kitchen. For most people, living a frugal life doesn't include many packaged, pre-made meals or take-out. Even though the family may in complete agreement about living frugally, that doesn't mean their stomachs are 100% on-board just yet. But there are certain things you can do to make the transition a little easier.

  1. Take it slowly. Eat the "old way" at least 3 days a week. That way, anyone who is cautious about trying new foods or foods prepared a different way will know there will be something they are used to tomorrow or the next day.
  2. Be creative. Try to find recipe recreations of foods that you know your family enjoys.
  3. Be willing to accept some flops. You may find a recipe that costs only $1.00 to make, but if no one eats it and ends up snacking to fill their still-hungry stomachs, are you really saving any money?
  4. Step outside your comfort zone. If you are used to relying on a lot of canned and convenience foods, understand that you may have to adjust your role in the kitchen. And the best way to start doing that is to just jump in with both feet.
  5. Let everyone who is able help in meal preparation and meal planning. We all know that children are more likely to eat things they have had a hand in helping to prepare or plan, but the same is also true for husbands.
Head over to Biblical Womanhood for more Frugal Friday.

2 comments:

Lynn said...

I agree. These are great idea.

Mom2fur said...

I would also recommend not being ashamed to use 'store bought' ingredients if you don't like making something. For example, I have found that I like to use pizza dough from Trader Joe's for our homemade pizza. I use jarred sauce, too. (Homemade sauce is for Sunday dinner.) TJ's piecrust just tastes better than my own. It's still homemade, and it's a lot cheaper than take-out--even with the cheese. If you've ever seen that show "Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee," you know what I mean!