With the holidays fast approaching now is the time to review your food budget to adjust for upcoming celebrations. Whether you are hosting extended family or you’ve been asked to bring a dish to pass for a holiday potluck, it helps to find ways to stretch your food dollar.
One of the best ways I’ve found to feed the masses on a budget is to skip the steak and opt for chicken. Save the fancier meats for the main holiday meal and use chicken to feed friends and family on the nights that precede or follow the celebratory meal. Preparing a whole chicken is one of the most cost-effective moves you can make when you are feeding a large number of guests. What’s more, if you look for pre-holiday sales you can often score chicken for as low as 59 cents per pound.
I buy chicken in bulk even when I am not hosting a house full of out-of-town guests. Typically, I roast the entire bird and portion it out so that it provides for multiple meals. For example, the first night I will serve the breast and legs and whatever meat is leftover I will use in casseroles, tacos or chicken salad. The rest of the carcass, including the bones is then used in stews, soup or made into stock.
Another way to keep from blowing your entire monthly food budget on a couple of holiday meals is to use your pantry items wisely. Be sure you stock up on staples that can do double or triple duty, such as cereal, potatoes, pasta, jarred sauces, canned soup, bread and peanut butter.
If you are uninspired after looking at your pantry selections, then surf the World Wide Web for frugal meal ideas. Delish.com is one of my favorite go-to sites. It features a litany of dinner recipes for those operating on a small budget, including a yummy potato soup and an affordable, yet scrumptious cheeseburger meatloaf.