This is not an advertisement for factory-made frozen semi-finished products, not at all. We made our own preparations, on a free day and to the taste of family members, so that on weekdays all that was left was to bring the dish to an edible state, add a side dish and salad.
Two rules for thrifty housewives
1. Rule for buying food - we buy what we need, and not what they want to sell us:
a) We make a list of products and buy strictly according to the list.
b) We monitor nearby supermarkets on the Internet for ongoing promotions on products that interest us.
c) We don’t fall for all sorts of “temptations”, such as “buy two for the price of three and get the third for free.”
d) We go grocery shopping, having thoroughly refreshed ourselves at home.
e) We choose slowly, compare prices and check the expiration date.
f) We make basic purchases once a week, according to the prepared menu, and during the week we buy only bread and dairy products.
g) We do not buy semi-finished products.
2. To eat economically, you need to cook yourself, creating a menu.
Since wasting money on food is directly proportional to the number of visits to supermarkets and markets, we can reduce it to a minimum
To do this, we’ll choose a time (preferably right after payday), draw up a menu for the week (month) and purchase all the basic products once.
Advice: If we purchase products in advance, some of them need to be quickly processed into semi-finished products. It is better to do this on Saturday (and devote the whole day to family on Sunday).
It is cooked and frozen semi-finished products that will allow you to no longer spend money on groceries and will reduce the time for preparing meals on weekdays.
Meat dishes
If you want to save money and eat meat, you need to spend it sparingly. From the same piece of meat, you can fry chops and eat them at one time, or you can, as we suggest, grind it into minced meat.
Homemade liver is very profitable. It is easy to prepare, inexpensive and, as needed, you can use it for pies, pancakes, dumplings or navy-style pasta.
Our advice: instead of the usual kilogram of meat for minced meat, take two, two and a half kilograms. You will spend the same time preparing minced meat for cutlets, but will provide yourself and your family with food for a month. And it is not at all necessary to cook only cutlets from minced meat. You can make cutlets and meatballs for variety, goulash, meatballs, beef stroganoff (thin strips), etc...
I won’t say a special word about dumplings, khinkali and manti - this is already clear to everyone.
I place the blanks on cutting boards. I have a lot of them specifically for freezing semi-finished products. I always put a plastic bag on the board so that the pieces can be easily removed after freezing. All this must be placed separately either in the refrigerator or in the freezer. Remove and cook as needed.
Goulash
Cut the meat into 3x3 cm pieces and generously pepper it. Fry and cool, place in a container. You will add salt directly when preparing dinner.
Chops prepared for a couple of days
Making this semi-finished product is quite easy: take a piece of tenderloin or neck (pork, veal, lamb), cut into portions, beat and place in the marinade. The marinade is also done quickly: add 1 tsp into boiling water (1 liter). salt, 0.5 tsp. sugar, 1 tbsp. dry white wine or a weak solution of vinegar, 2-3 cloves, 3 peas of allspice. Place the chopped pieces of meat into the cooled marinade.
Air balls
Prepare the minced meat: meat, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, eggs beaten with a mixer. We knock it down well so that it becomes plastic. With wet hands we form round flat balls and place them on a stand. Then there are two options: either keep it in the refrigerator and use (fry, stew) for a maximum of 2 days, or put it in the freezer.
You can also make meatballs for soup - for future use.
Well, with cutlets things are even simpler: We take the frozen cutlets out of the freezer. Place in a frying pan preheated with oil and fry on both sides, as we always do.
Add a teaspoon of water to the pan and, closing the lid, let the cutlets steam for no more than one minute, turning off the gas. All. Our cutlets are ready. The time spent is no more than 10 - 15 minutes. We prepare the side dish and the second course is ready for dinner.
Therefore, if you want to save money, listen to my tips and your own “voice of reason,” include dishes using minced meat or liver in your menu.
Also use meat cooked in broth for salads, casseroles, or, like liver, for filling dumplings, pies, and pancakes.
The semi-finished products you have prepared are also good because if they are not used, they will be perfectly preserved until the next big purchase of food.
What is important to take care of in advance
Decide where the children will be at this time
Distraction by children can significantly extend the time allotted for creating blanks, so it is better to make sure that someone will sit with them in advance. In my case, the main distracting factor was my youngest son, who is now 1 year and 4 months old. During this session, he slept for the first two hours, then I was a little distracted by changing the diaper and he continued to walk with dad outside so that I could finish what I started. If your children are not that young, it makes sense to involve them in kneading dough or chopping fruits and vegetables.
Don't miss: Cooking ahead: 6 chicken marinades you can freeze
Breakfast lunch and dinner
If you're running for hours to stock up on food for one or more weeks, you also need to think about what you'll be fueling that day. It was late in the morning on Sunday, so we had fruit for breakfast and cheesecakes for lunch, half of which were then frozen. After the work was done, a light dinner in the form of fried fish and vegetable salad, which did not require much effort on my part. It is better to start preparing food immediately after breakfast or lunch.
Clean kitchen
To stay inspired for the entire three hours, I created the appropriate atmosphere around me:
- removed all excess from work surfaces;
- emptied the sink of dishes;
- took out the trash and took out a new garbage bag;
- I washed the floor with water with the addition of baking soda and citrus essential oil.
Preparatory stage
Before you start cooking, prepare and lay out all the food and utensils on the table. This will minimize your movement around the kitchen and allow you to concentrate on what is most important.
Action plan
You can't go anywhere without him. First, on a separate sheet of paper, I made a list of all the dishes that I want to cook. Then, on another sheet of paper, I wrote out a detailed step-by-step plan of what I would do and in what order. This allows you to optimize the process so that there is no downtime, and it is also more convenient to delegate some tasks to assistants.
First meal
It is better, of course, to prepare broths in advance in a large saucepan; you can prepare broths for first courses. Boil the chicken or meat (we boil the meat for broths, and also freeze it fresh). Boil rich broths, 5-6 liters in a large saucepan, and divide the finished broth into 5 servings and freeze. As needed, take one portion, defrost and add the required amount of water. Do the same with the next portion of preparations for the first courses when these run out.
“Frying” for first courses: I usually also peel 2-3 carrots and onions and leave them in the refrigerator in bags. Then in the evening, preparing the “frying” for the soup takes at most 10 minutes, in fact, the frying of the vegetables itself.
I also boil mushrooms and freeze them especially for soups. This is also a semi-finished product. Alas, this trick doesn’t work with potatoes.
Important points
None of the frozen foods become poisonous. Its taste or consistency may simply change. Therefore, it is better not to freeze:
- potatoes in pieces (but in dumplings and potato cutlets - ideal)
- coarsely chopped cabbage (can be used in the form of lazy cabbage rolls)
- sour cream and kefir
- “water” vegetables (for example, cucumbers)
Advice! It is best to freeze meals in portions so that you do not have to refreeze them later if the contents of the container are not eaten.
What you need for freezing
- free freezer
- food containers, pickle buckets
- cling film to wrap each container in several layers
- baking paper
- freezer bags
To simplify the preparatory cooking process, a blender or food processor will not hurt you. Makes it easier to cook for 2 weeks and have a multicooker. I make do with a lot of pots.
Side dishes for the second course
A make-ahead option for side dishes is rice. Prepare fluffy rice, cool it, and transfer it to a container with a lid. Instead of rice, you can also do it with other porridge - buckwheat, pearl barley.
Cook it more and complement it with goulash or chop. However, I don’t do this - any porridge, except corn, does not take long to cook, requires practically no expense from the housewife, and is delicious fresh.
But you can come up with the following menu: on Monday you have buckwheat as a side dish, but on Tuesday it would be nice to have chops with cabbage. And please! If on Saturday you finely chopped the cabbage, topped it with grated carrots, peppercorns, grated it with salt and sugar (just a little) and put it in a jar, then by Tuesday evening you quickly take the jar of cabbage out of the refrigerator and fry it in vegetable oil. , add spices to taste - after 7 minutes the side dish for the chops is ready.
Boiled “frozen” vegetables are also perfect for side dishes. Well, don’t forget about the preparations from the fall either: they will diversify your menu. You can also stock up on boiled beets, carrots and turnips. Then on Wednesday evening you can have a fabulous salad of boiled vegetables to go with the meatballs.
Rolls with fillings
Cook the meat as you would for chops. You just need to beat him back more strictly. Salt and pepper the pieces. Prepare the filling: mushrooms with onions, cheese, boiled egg and herbs, thin strips of fried bacon with walnuts and garlic. Place the filling on the meat and roll it into a roll. Then you can fry and stew the rolls, or you can put them in the freezer.
Vegetables
Do you have two shelves in your oven? This is cool! Let's reduce the cooking time and add colorful vegetables to the side of the meat.
Place chopped cauliflower, broccoli, and young carrots on a baking sheet. You can also add bell peppers, mushrooms, firm tomatoes, and skin-on eggplants. Vegetable set of your choice!
From the heart, sprinkle the vegetables with oil, season with spices, and add a little water to the baking sheet for steam.
In 20 minutes, soft, healthy vegetables will be ready!
If you are cooking chicken or fish and your portions are small, place them on a baking sheet along with the vegetables. The ingredients have the same cooking time!
I recommend!
Large hard vegetables - beets, babat, potatoes, parsnips, large carrots - are best cooked in a slow cooker (on a wire rack) or in a steaming pan. First, you need to prick the tubers with a fork and add salt to the water.
Pancakes
Bake some pancakes. You can make pancakes from them, with the same minced boiled meat or cottage cheese or something else, or you can just freeze them in a stack, and then defrost them in the microwave and serve them with sour cream or jam.
When I cook stuffed pancakes, I fry the pancakes on one side (this will save time), then I put the filling on it, wrap the pancakes in an envelope and put them away for freezing. The filling for pancakes can be any:
= Boiled meat from broth, twisted in a meat grinder, with overcooked onions;
= Cottage cheese with or without raisins;
= Boiled rice with boiled eggs;
= Minced mushrooms, etc.
Basic rules for preparing food for the week
There are certain rules that must be observed when preparing food for the week:
- All food should be frozen. This method of storing food does not deprive it of its taste. Freezing preserves most of the nutrients and vitamins contained in food. If necessary, any dish can be defrosted quickly and effortlessly in the microwave.
- It is important to purchase plastic containers. Not only can they be put in the freezer, but they can also be put in the microwave.
- Dishes should be varied and balanced (meat/fish, side dishes, vegetables). Food should be healthy, satisfying and tasty.
Fish
I buy big fish - pollock, salmon, pink salmon, halibut, cod. I clean, hustle, and cut into portions. And I freeze these pieces separately. And then I take it out as needed. If you fry it, put it from the freezer to the refrigerator in the morning, defrost it in the evening, 10 minutes in a frying pan, and it’s ready. And if you stew or bake in the oven, take out the frozen pieces, season them, put them in foil or a casserole, and leave for 30-40 minutes.
Here are a few more options: cut up pieces for frying, ground minced meat for delicacy cutlets, or completely frozen cleaned small fish.
If the product allows and there are plans for fish soup, then I always put the fish broth kit in a separate bag. It cooks quickly and offers many options for soups.
Gas stations
To combine our healthy ingredients into a single dish, we will add delicate sauces to the preparations.
The first one is light yogurt!
Prepared from low-fat yogurt, lemon zest, dried herbs and garlic (optional).
The second one is Mexican salsa !
Mixed from crushed tomatoes, chili peppers, coriander, onions and garlic.
The third one is Japanese teriyaki !
Traditionally, the mixture includes soy sauce, sugar, wine (or sake). Make these wonderful sauces and replace the unwanted ingredients with ones you know and love. Such dressings will make dishes tasty and healthy!
And here are our preparations for the week!
Now let's put glass or plastic containers on the table. We will lay out delicious preparations and pour them with aromatic sauces.
Attention!
Temperature-resistant dishes will help you quickly heat up a dish in the oven or microwave, and will also save you from washing extra dishes. Place the cereal into the prepared container.
When distributing products, we rely on the tastes of our households!
Add small vegetables and large tubers, peeled.
Now we divide the preparations
into vegetarian and not so vegetarian.
Those who love meat and hot spices will get portions of Mexican chicken.
Those who like sweetish food will choose teriyaki poultry. Some of the family (optional) will go on a vegetable diet for a week, while others will be satisfied with a dish with a cheese crust.
The housewives will take care of everyone, and for lunch during the week there will be dishes like this!
Meat with vegetables, cheese, fresh parsley and flatbread.
Healthy cereal with peas and vegetables in yogurt sauce.
Teriyaki meat with vegetables on a bed of cereal.
Ready-made ingredients can be combined to your liking, and heating will take no more than 5 minutes. Within a week, all household members will be full and happy!
Inexpensive recipes for an economy menu: chicken cutlets with cottage cheese and zucchini
At first glance, it may seem that an economical menu means monotony and daily boredom, but this is far from the case. Here are a few inexpensive, but original and incredibly healthy dishes that will take their rightful place on your table. Let's start with the most tender chicken cutlets.
Ingredients:
- Minced chicken – 800 grams.
- Cottage cheese 0% - 200 grams.
- Zucchini – 500 grams.
- Egg – 1 piece.
- Garlic – 3 cloves.
- Spices - to taste.
Cooking steps:
- Remove the skin from the zucchini (if it is hard) and grate it. Squeeze out excess liquid.
- Finely chop the garlic cloves.
- Mix all the ingredients together. Add chopped herbs to taste.
- We form small cutlets and fry them in a non-stick frying pan until a pleasant, appetizing crust forms.
- Reduce the heat to low, cover with a lid and let bake until finished for five minutes.
