Save Time and Money When Cooking by Making More 2-for-1 Meals

Some cooking methods and types of meals can make your food budget go farther and maximize your time in the kitchen. On the Slow Food USA Blog, cookbook author Tamar Adler suggests cooking things in ways that create a second ingredient, which can double the number of meals you get out of one cooking session.

As an example, Adler suggests boiling or braising meat instead of simply grilling:

Cook things in ways that create a second ingredient-if you boil or braise meat, you end up with broth or with braising liquid –whatever combination of vegetables and wine and water or stock the meat cooked in. That means that you have the meat itself for a meal or several, and then the beginnings of a soup, or several. It doubles the number of meals you get for your money and the time you've spent cooking. When you grill something, you have only the meat itself.

Creating broth or stock at the same time you cook the meat, keeps you from having to spend extra time creating the stock in the traditional way by roasting the bones later.

Another money-saving idea is to use parts of the food for separate dishes:

A similar piece of advice is buying meat with its skin and bones. I've taken salmon skin off salmon and cooked each separately. After eating the salmon, I ate another meal of plain rice with a bit of sautéed spinach and salmon skin on top.

Finally, cooking like a peasant, with versatile, simple ingredients, definitely can help save money on groceries.

Hit up the link below for more tips on cooking simply and well.

Q&A with Tamar Adler and Chef Josh Lewin | The Slow Food USA Blog via Smithsonian

Photo by cookbookman17