Recipes
To save time in preparing foods to put in a recipe, you may choose to buy the items in the form you need them. It is more costly than buying the items in bulk, but you will save time in the kitchen. For example, you will shorten the preparation time if you choose shredded or sliced cheese, boned and skinned chicken breasts and cut-up fresh vegetables. You can also save time by buying bread crumbs, bottled minced garlic and packaged clean spinach.
Smart Shopper's Tip: Preparing foods for your recipes can often be the most enjoyable part of cooking. If value is more important to you than reducing preparation time, you might want to buy food items in bulk and prepare them yourself. Also, read recipes in newspapers and magazines carefully. They may call for rare spices and prepared soups and sauces that are often costly.
Leftovers
Go ahead and plan for leftovers. It's a great time-saving technique for any busy cook. Just be sure to double the amount of ingredients on your shopping list, too. You can use leftovers creatively in salads, stir-frys, soups, casseroles or sandwiches. Or freeze leftovers for longer storage, and simply thaw and reheat them at a later date. Good freezing choices are soups and one-dish meals.
If you want to avoid leftovers, you could cut a recipe in half. For recipes that contain a sauce, the ingredients for the sauce may not need to be cut in half.
Smart Shopper's Tip: For easy leftover storage and re-heating, buy heavy freezer bags and containers, wash and reuse. Make sure containers are microwave safe. You can also reuse and recycle plastic ice cream containers and plastic bags from vegetables.
