Staples

We all try to provide the best we can for our family. Everyone wants to make good healthy meals and ideally we would always be able to use the freshest of fresh ingredients. I strive to do this myself but have found that sometimes it's just not possible. Sometimes it's financial, sometimes it's circumstantial, but there are always times when we don't know what to make when the fridge is empty and there is not a vegetable in sight.

So what do I do to ensure that I always have ingredients for a meal no matter what.

1. Freeze meat.

I am always on the look out for well priced meat and will often go out with a certain set amount just to buy a few things for the freezer. You can save so much money by picking up packs that have been marked down for quick sale. Usually these have only a day or 2 before they expire but are perfect for freezing! The other day I picked up 2kg of heart smart beef mince for $10 and separated it into 4 portions. That $10 of mince will get me through at least 4 meals, possibly more depending on what I make with it. I could have taken the premium mince for less but prefer to keep it as low fat and healthy as possible.

I also picked up marinated chicken nibblies for $2 and some excellent quality rump steak for $4 which can be cut up to make 3 or 4 serves.

So for a grand total of $16 I have enough meat to stretch through probably a good 10 meals depending on left overs.

2. Buy whole chickens and separate them into portions.

This is something I have started doing recently. I used to buy 1 packet of chicken breast per week. I don't eat steak myself so I usually make a lot of chicken based dishes. I found that I was spending approximately $7 a week on a pack of 2 chicken breasts. For some meals I could stretch this over 4 serves depending on the size but I have recently found that buying the whole chicken is cheaper and goes a whole lot further!

For $8 I can buy a whole organic chicken and bone it. You can get 1 - 2 serves from each leg, 1 - 2 serves from each breast and then you have the wings and carcas. After boning I boil up the carcas with some vegies to make a great chicken stock and any meat left on the bones I pull off and this ends up perfect to feed my son! It's soft and moist and you can serve up the vegies with it which are nice and soft for little ones with few teeth.

You can either freeze the chicken portions from here or cook them to serve or freeze after. If you don't want to make any stock you can also use chicken scissors and cut up the chicken leaving the bones with it. You can also freeze the stock if you have no immediate use for it and use it later for soups, gravies and other dishes like risotto.

3. Don't be ashamed to use frozen vegetables.

So many people I know seem to have issues with frozen vegetables and really it's not necessary! Whilst I always prefer to use fresh, sometimes it just doesn't happen. I always have at least one bag of a frozen vegetable mix in my freezer just in case. I also LOVE those individual portion size bags. Ok they may cost a little more than just a bag of loose mixed vegies but there have been times where time is short or I have been unwell so I just whack a precooked frozen chicken portion in the microwave with one of those pouches and in minutes a meal of mean and veg!

Frozen vegies are also great for casseroles, pasta sauces, shephards pies and quiches.

4. Stock up on a few basic staples.

If you have the following ingredients in your pantry, a bag of frozen vegies and some meat portions in the freezer you can make virtually anything.

- Pasta. Can be bought for less than 60c a packet to serve 4+ depending on the meal. Always have 2 packets in the pantry.

- Rice. A little more expensive these days but a cup of rice goes a long way.

- Basic herbs and spices. Salt, pepper, paprika, parsley, an all purpose mix... What ever you want. I try to keep it pretty basic and these are the main ones I use on a regular basis. You don't need a massive stock pile of herbs and spices to make a good meal.

- A few tins of peeled, diced tomatos.

- Plain flour

- A decent quality oil. Cheap is fine too but oil is one thing you should buy quality if you can. I use extra light virgin olive oil which is perfect as I really don't like the taste of normal olive oils and this does not have that taste.

And that's it. That is all you need and with a bit of creativity you can come up with dozens of inexpensive yet healthy meals that are also quick and easy.