We all love food, and if you’re like me then you love to save money as well. But you don’t have to choose one or the other. There are plenty of ways to eat well and spend less. I’ve found some of the best food hacks that will help you get the most out of your food, whether your eating in or dining out.
Red Book Magazine recommends storing your asparagus upright, like a bouquet of flowers. Make sure you fill the jar with a little bit of water, and your asparagus will stay fresh for days!
Buzzfeed recommends grating your own cheese. It’s astonishing how much more grocery stores charge for simply shredding cheese. So do it yourself!
If you want to keep your cheese fresh and tasty, She Knows recommends wrapping it loosely in wax paper and then storing it in a partially sealed plastic bag.
Whenever you can, buy your meat in bulk. You can freeze most of it and keep a small portion in the refrigerator. Image via One Good Thing by Jillee.
If your veggies have gotten a little too old to eat raw, Red Book Magazine suggests turning them into veggie chips. These will last for months if stored correctly.
Pop Sugar suggests freezing leftover salad greens in ice cube trays so that you can pop the healthy cubes into your next smoothie.
Instead of throwing away stale bread, She Knows suggests turning it into croutons. These are super easy to whip up, and you can customize them using your favorite herbs and spices.
Red Book Magazine suggests storing an apple with your potatoes. This will keep the potatoes from sprouting or becoming wrinkly.
Prevent Disease suggests wrapping the top of your bunch of bananas with plastic. This will extend the life of the bananas and keep them fresh.
Real Simple recommends doing your produce shopping at ethnic grocery stores. And when your scoping out the veggies, choose ones that are in season–they’ll be much cheaper and tastier.
She Knows explains how to test eggs to see if they are still good or not. Simply place the egg gently in a bowl of water–if it sinks it’s good to eat!
If you decided to go out to eat, Living Well Spending Less recommends knowing the restaurants where kids eat free. You can save a lot of money by planning your dinners out around kid freebies.
Buy chicken with the bones in. It’s much cheaper than boneless chicken, and it’s really not that difficult to take the bones out yourself. Plus you can use the leftover parts of the chicken to make tasty broth. Image via My Recipes.
When you think you’ve scraped out all the Nutella, She Knows says to add a little bit of milk and a dash of cinnamon. Heat up the jar and you’ll have the perfect serving of delectable hot cocoa.
If your celery has gone limp, Chow suggests placing the stalks in a jar of ice-cold water. Trim the tops and bottoms of the celery stalks first for best results.
Great tip, my mom always grated her own block cheeses, and I remember helping many times! 🙂