Today I am continuing with my series of Ways We Save Money.  (See all of the saving money posts here.) As a reminder: just because this is how our family does it, does not mean that you have to do things this way as well!

This post is part 2 of Saving Money on Groceries.  Part 1 (planning and shopping) is here.

1. Eat out of the pantry & freezer
We often stock up on great deals and good buys, but are we actually eating all of that good food?  We try and take a week off from grocery shopping to just eat the food that we have stocked up on in our pantry and freezer.  Chances are, you probably have enough food on your shelves and in your freezer to feed your family for at least a week (or maybe more)!  It’s always fun to get creative and come up with new recipes based on what I have on hand.

2. Eat less meat
We eat a lot of vegetarian meals to save money.  It is rare for us to eat meat for lunch and dinner, and we make a lot of meals without any meat.  When we do eat meat, we serve it as part of a meal, not the main event.  Examples: ground beef in sauces or casseroles, sausage as a pizza topping, chicken combined with beans or rice inside quesadillas or taquitos, bacon sprinkled on a soup as a garnish, etc.  We don’t feel “deprived,” though we are both meat lovers (on the rare occasions we eat out, we both love to order things like Philly cheese steaks or hamburgers)!  If you eat meat with every meal, try some meatless dishes.  If you are serving chicken breasts, steaks, hamburgers, and fried chicken, try cutting back your meat usage and incorporating meat inside casseroles so it goes further.

3. Use what you have or substitute
I try really, really hard not to run to the store just to buy one thing I’m missing for a recipe.  I have learned so many tricks and substitutions by googling!  If you menu plan and shop from a list, this shouldn’t happen very often, but when it does, just find a way to use what you have!

4. Cook from scratch
I don’t cook everything from scratch, but I cook a lot from scratch!  I make (not all of these every week, by any means!): bread, waffles, biscuits, pizza crust, bagels, pie crust, English muffins, cornbread, macaroni and cheese, taco seasoning, chili seasoning, stir fry sauce, chicken stock, yogurt, popcorn, granola, granola bars, occasionally salad dressings, guacamole, hummus, and pretty much all of our breakfasts/lunches/dinners are made from fresh, real food ingredients.  You can save a lot of money by making lots of things from scratch.  Don’t be overwhelmed; just start with one thing next week (something easy, like yogurt).  I didn’t get to this point overnight either.  It’s a process of slowly changing your mindset from opening a package to cooking from scratch.

5. Try freezer cooking
I haven’t done any major freezer cooking days in a while (the last one was June, I think), but I really enjoy being able to cook one day and then enjoy the fruits of my labor every evening by simply thawing dinner instead of preparing it from scratch!  I do a simplified version of freezer cooking on a regular basis when I haven’t done a major freezer cooking day.  When I make a large amount of something (spaghetti sauce, soup, etc.), I freeze half (or more) of it to enjoy at another time.  Sure, we could eat on it all week, but we’d probably get tired of it.  By freezing part of it, we can enjoy it again next week!

Your turn to share!  How do you save money on groceries by what you do in the kitchen?  I’d love to hear your ideas!