Do you enjoy cooking, but hate the effort and cleanup that comes along with it? One great way around that is to cook with a slow cooker.
Some recipes for slow cookers still end up requiring a lot of prep work and even a lot of additional cooking prior to putting the food in the slow cooker. Other recipes have rare or expensive ingredients that you likely won’t use for anything besides that recipe.
A great way to help your meals to be frugal is by planning in advance, not just for the upcoming week but even further than that. You don’t need to plan exactly when you are going to make each thing, but rather just make not of the ingredients that you will use for something that you will cook eventually. Then be sure to be on the lookout for deals for said items.
To give you an example of planning further in advance, take the Potato Soup, which calls for cheeses & sour cream, in addition other ingredients of course. If you wait to buy everything until you are ready to make it then most likely you will pay full price for some or all of the ingredients. So instead – as long as the product has a long enough shelf life – buy it when it goes on sale and/or you have a coupon for it. That way the $1.99 container of name brand sour cream may only cost around $1.00 – 35 cents cheaper than store brand. Also the blocks of cheese that costs between $4.00 and $5.00 may only cost you $2.50 - $3.00 each. Then once you have acquired most or all of the ingredients at reduced price you can make it at potentially half the cost compared to if you had not prepared in advance.
- London Broil – five minute prep time
- Potato soup – 20 minutes prep time
- Sweet and saucy meatballs – five minute prep time
- Southwestern Style Chicken Tortilla Soup – for those that like food with a kick - five minute prep time
- Beef Soup – 10 minute prep time
- Easy Steel Cut Oatmeal Overnight Crockpot Recipe – five minute prep time
- Cube steak and gravy – five minute prep time
- Hungarian Beef Stew – 15 minutes prep time
- Pork Ribs – 2 minute prep time
- Sweet Onion Pulled Pork – 10 minute prep time
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