Showing posts with label Budget. Show all posts

How to get Food Grade Buckets for FREE

I'm excited to share with you a trick I have been using for years to store my bulk food safely and inexpensively. Who else is gearing up for all the Christmas baking coming just around the corner in December? It seems like I am always cooking or baking something extra in the weeks leading up to Christmas. As someone who cooks a lot anyway, I like to have all of my dry ingredients on hand.

For those of us who cook a lot and like to save money, buying in bulk is a necessity. But when you buy food in bulk, it usually comes bagged in plastic or thick paper packages. Those are nightmare to scoop out of without making a mess. They tip over easily and pests can quickly chew through the thin layers to the food beneath. Not to mention issues with humidity and food going rancid.

Luckily there is an easy way to prevent that from happening. Food. Grade. Buckets.




The good news is that food grade buckets are really easy to get. You can buy them for about 4 dollars a piece. Buying 1 or 2 like that isn't a big deal. But if you want to stock up it can quickly make a pretty big dent in your budget. Some people try to get around this by buying the buckets at like Home Depot because they are less expensive, but you shouldn't do that.

You might be asking yourself if just any plastic bucket will work as long as it is clean. The answer is no. The plastic used for food grade buckets must be free of dyes, additives and recycled plastic products shown to be harmful to humans. The reason for this is that some foods will leach additives and chemicals from their containers which can poison your food. Most food grade plastic is in the HDPE category or high density polyethylene with the plastic code 2. You can find it buy turning the product over and looking for the number in the triangle.

I don't love the thought of spending $100 on buckets just to store my food. I'd rather spend it on yummy food! So one thing I found out many years ago is that you can go to your local grocery store bakery and ask they if they have any left-over buckets. They are usually happy to wash them out and give them to you for FREE. I just call ahead and ask and they will put some aside for me until they have as much as I need.

 What I love most though is that they come in a range of sizes from 5 gallons down to 1 gallon. My favorite size is actually the 3.5 gallon. It seems the perfect size for most packages of grain I get from Costco. And, they fit the same kind of lid as a 5 gallon bucket so I can use my favorite Gamma Seal Lids. Guys, if you haven't tried these, you are missing out. There is a ring that goes around the bucket then an inner lid screws on top making it so easy to get to your food without having to pry off the whole lid. It keeps it totally airtight and they come in a range of colors so you can color code your food easily. Love them.

These are the sizes of buckets I use

  •  wheat in 6 gallon buckets (which also can fit the gamma seal lids)
  • sugar, flour and long term storage grains and other food in 5 gallon buckets
  • rices, oats, quinoa, lentils, long term storage beans in 3.5 gallon buckets
  • beans and specialty rice like basmati or jasmine in 1.5 gallons buckets 
I have saved a ton over the years by storing my bulk foods in these buckets I've gotten for free. If for some reason you don't have a grocery bakery by you that has these buckets, I have 1 more tip. Pickles usually come in a 5 gallon buckets so those would be easy to grab from a fast food restaurant, or other restaurant that uses pickles. Just make sure you wash them VERY well to make sure you get the pickle smell out. 

Have any of you tried this? What is your favorite size of bucket?

XOXO,

Provident Princess
5 Gallon Bucket Lids, Budget, DIY,
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How to Afford Healthy Food on a Budget Part 2



I had so much to say on my last post about how to afford healthy food on a budget that I had to split it into 2 posts. There are just so many ideas to help you save money but still be able to eat the kind of food we want too.

 Homemade vs. Packaged
This one is huge. I think the biggest way to save money is to cook at home. It is also the healthiest because we can control what goes into our food so there isn't all the added salt, sugar, fat and preservatives that come in restaurant and prepackaged foods.

There are so many things that I could go into for this but lets just use one example. We love bread. My favorite bread is made by a company here in Utah called Prairie Grain Bread. The only ingredients are fresh stone ground wheat, water, salt, yeast and raisin juice concentrate. No preservatives, oil, eggs or dairy. It is delicious but it also costs $4.79 a loaf. I can make a loaf of organic bread for around $1 so that would save 3.80 a loaf. The average person eats 80 loafs a year x that by my family of 5 (not including the baby) and if I made my own bread all year I would save $1,520! That is a chunk of change that could really be spent on so many other things. Baking bread might not be your thing right now, but there are many things like that in your diet that you could make the switch from store-bought to homemade. Organic yogurt and bone broth, prepackaged salad or pancake mixes just to name a few.

Grow and Preserve Your Own Food
A subcategory of the homemade vs packaged cost savings is to actually grow and preserve your own food. You know I love preserving my own food. It is so satisfying to me and everything tastes so much better when you grow it in your own backyard. I can by a jar of organic spaghetti sauce for about 2 dollars. I can buy a whole organic tomato plant for about the same and over the course of the summer it would give me enough tomatoes to make at least 20 jars of tomato sauce! And let me put in a little plug for tomatoes being so easy to can. You could also freeze the jars if you don't want to can just yet. It is all about baby steps and slowly incorporating these cost saving things into your life.

Potatoes are pretty expensive if you want to buy them organic. But they are so easy to grow. You really don't even need a garden to grow them. You could grow them on a balcony or patio. I am going to be doing a post on that later in the spring to show you how easy it is so stay tuned. Once you have the potatoes, those are great things to shred and freeze to use later as hash browns. I love to put them in breakfast burritos to give a little more substance than just eggs.

Bulk up or Substitute Meat and Dairy
If you are trying to stay away from factory raised meat and dairy then pasture raised meat and dairy is going to be a huge expense in your food budget. One way I do this is by not using meat as a main dish. Very rarely do we every have chicken breasts or steak accompanied by sides. Instead, I try to use meat as a flavoring or accent to the main dish. Think chicken fajitas. There is definitely chicken in there but it is also surrounded by tons of onions, peppers, tomatoes, guacamole and beans and anything else I can think of to bulk it out and make them feel filling. The most common way I buy grass-fed beef is ground. That way I can put some in with chili made mostly with beans. Or use for tacos, but I will mix it half and half at least with refried beans. (that also makes it stick better to the taco shells while my kids are eating them). I like to add potatoes or other veggies to curry so it is not just chicken. This way we can still get the meat taste in our meals which is especially important to my husband, but it also makes the meals cost about 1/4 of what they would if we used meat in bigger portions. And it makes them more nutritious since we are getting more fiber and a variety of minerals and vitamins.

With dairy, it's kind of the same idea. I use it when we will taste it. Like drinking a glass of milk plain. But if I am cooking and it calls for milk, butter or eggs, there is no way I'm going to 'waste' my organic or pasture raised dairy in a recipe. I will use a plant-based milk and either chia or flax seed 'eggs'. These egg substitutes are awesome and so cheap compared to organic or pasture raised eggs.

I love having these little tricks to help keep our grocery budget down. That makes me feel more able to afford the more expensive items I like to include in our diet.

I hope these tips are helping and stay tuned for part 3. And here is part 1 if you missed it.
Budget, Cooking From Your Garden, Frugal Tips,
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How to Afford Healthy Food on a Budget


Sometimes it seems like the only way to be able to afford healthy, organic food is to be rolling in the dough. But it's not. Sure, it would make it easier, but there are ways to afford feeding your family healthy food on a budget. I am going to share 4 of my most used tips on saving money on my food bill while buying nutritious food at the same time.

Buy in Season
Organic or Non-GMO food is expensive. There is no getting around that. But there are many ways to make it less expensive. The biggest way is to buy food when it is in season. I would suggest this even if it wasn't less expensive because food in season tastes better and is more nutritious than out of season food that has been sitting preserved in a warehouse for months or is being shipped halfway around the world.

I'm sure you know what I mean when I say that a fresh tomato bought in the summer has a completely different and richer flavor than one bought in the winter. Those ones are almost flavorless. Food that need to be preserved and sold at later times, either to keep markets stable or to always have available need to be picked earlier so they won't go bad. Food picked at the peek of ripeness have all the goodness of flavor and nutrients that are missing in out of season food.

Use Everything You Buy
Did you know that a recent study by the Natural Resources Defense Council found that Americans throw away almost $165 BILLION worth of food every year? That translates to about $2,200 for the average family of four. I don't know about you but that is a lot of money I'd rather spend on something else. There are so many ways to use everything you buy. Let's take mushrooms for example. When I use mushrooms in a recipe I will always either use the stems in what I am making or save them to mince up and put in our scrambled eggs for breakfast or in a meat dish the next day.

Fresh herbs are a big money waster. Usually you have to buy an already over-priced package of herbs for one recipe that won't even need the full amount. So you are left wondering what to do with the rest. Fresh herbs freeze wonderfully. I wrote an how-to post here with 3 different ways to do it.  Cilantro is an herb that we seem to use a lot in our house. Maybe because we are out west and enjoy a lot of Mexican food. There is a popular fresh-mex restaurant chain near us that makes the best Tomatillo Ranch Dressing. Ever. We like to make a homemade one from a copycat recipe that calls for 1/2 bunch of cilantro. But whenever I make the ranch, usually I am making their Cilantro Rice too. It calls for 1/2 a bunch of cilantro as well. So what do I do? I cut off the stems and use those to flavor the ranch. Since it all gets ground up you won't even notice, then I can use the pretty leaves in the rice. And, did you know that the most flavorful part of cilantro is the stems? Score. Plus I'll have some extra to use as garnish and the rest to throw in our eggs the next day. Sensing a pattern? I will usually use the little pieces of left-over, cut-up veggies in either our eggs or on a salad the next day. When I am spending money on organic food, I want to make sure none of it is being wasted.

Learn to Like Leftovers 
Ok, so I didn't know there were actually people out there who won't eat left-overs. ??? 

Apparently it's true. I don't understand it. I love leftovers. First, most things taste better when they have been left to sit and marinate over night. Second, it gives the cook (me) more time to do something else instead of preparing a meal every night. It is especially nice to have something already made when you know you are going to have a busy day/night and it's just one less thing to think about. Lastly, this is where you save a lot of money buy not throwing dollars down the sink. I just hate thinking about splurging on something only for it to be thrown in the trash. If you don't have enough for another full meal, keep reading below.

One last thought on this topic. I know that eating the same soup for lunch and dinner days on end is not fun. And food should be enjoyable I think. So if you always make enough for an army but your family doesn't make a dent in the amount you made, keep some to eat for a day or two, then portion out and freeze the rest for another time. (Most of the time they won't even realize it's leftovers that way.

Repurpose Your Leftovers
My husband always teases me because I save even the smallest amount of things. But I know it is worth it.  Especially because I have 2 small babies right now and they don't eat big portions. It's so nice to just take a little something that is already made, and that I know is good for them out of the fridge without having to make something special just for them to have a snack. Saves me a lot of time. Which I need with babies 15 months apart.

This also translates to old family members too. Say you splurged and got a grass-fed roast or some pastured chicken. Most likely you aren't going to have enough for another full meal of that so why not shred it up and use it in burritos with some sauted onions and peppers to bulk it up? Or cut up some bigger chunks for soup. Or stick it on a salad. Or sandwich. The options are endless. One of my kid's favorite 'meals' is a clean out the fridge night where they can eat anything they want out of the fridge that is already made.

I have a lot to say on this subject but the post was getting long. For more ideas how to afford to eat healthy food on a budget, check out Part 2 and Part 3. It will deal more with actually how to buy organic food for less.

Leave a comment below if you would like to see any specific recipes that I mentioned above or if you have any tricks you use to make your food budget stretch.
Budget, Food, Frugal Tips,
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