6 ways to lower your food costs

By U.S. News & World Report

At the popular cooking Web site Allrecipes.com, visitors want to know one thing: How they can cook for less.

"People are moving away from steak and using ground beef. They're moving away from salmon and looking to tilapia, a cheaper fish," says Esmee Williams, vice president of marketing for Allrecipes.com. Recipes for less-expensive dishes such as casseroles and chili have surged in popularity, she says.

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Those cooking trends reflect the fact that food prices are rising faster than a cheese soufflé. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports an almost 5% annual growth rate for food eaten at home, with items such as cereals up more than 9%.

But cooking experts say that with the right ingredients and recipes, affordable (and tasty) meals are just a grocery list away. They offer these six tips:

Plan ahead. Shopping with specific meals in mind makes it easier to buy in bulk and repurpose ingredients, turning Sunday night's roast chicken into Monday night's enchiladas, Williams says.

"A lot of folks get in trouble when they don't plan ahead. The day takes longer than expected, and they're ordering out or reaching for ready-made meals, and those are very expensive," she says. "The more you can cook from scratch, the further your dollar can stretch."

Do it yourself. Instead of buying a package of grated cheese, buy a chunk and grate it yourself, recommends Kim O'Donnel, author of A Mighty Appetite, a blog for The Washington Post, as well as a food blog for Real Simple. "We pay for the convenience of all these things," she says.

O'Donnel also recommends making homemade hummus, which takes about 7 minutes with a food processor, and homemade pizza dough, which doubles as a fun activity for kids.

Rediscover eggs and beans. Even though the price of eggs has gone up, they're still cheap compared with meat, says O'Donnel, and they are incredibly versatile. About $3 (at 25 cents an egg) can generate a dinner frittata, brunch strata or quiche, she says.

Similarly, a simple dinner of black beans and rice -- plus chopped onion, olive oil, seasonings and shredded cheese -- can make dinner for two for under $5, O'Donnel says.

Go meatless. "Cooking vegetarian meals often is a good way to save money," says Amy Sherman, author of the Cooking with Amy blog. Her spaghetti salad and Indian-style chickpea recipes are packed with flavor without relying on meat.

Reinvent leftovers. Extra rice can go into a fried-rice dish the following night, O'Donnel says. "That's one of my favorite cheap and good meals -- just add celery, bell peppers, shallots," she says.

Certain dishes, such as lasagna, chili and soups, also are easily made in large quantities that can be frozen or eaten throughout the week, says Sherman, who often cooks most of her meals for the week on Sunday.

Use what's in the fridge. Home cooks stuck with extra eggplant or flounder can avoid wasting food by using Allrecipes.com and other Web sites to search for dishes based on the ingredients they have at home. Sherman's favorite inexpensive recipe, spaghetti carbonara, uses eggs, pasta, garlic, bacon and other ingredients that are often on hand. "It has lots of flavor, and it's easy to make," she says.

This article was reported and written by Kimberly Palmer for U.S. News & World Report.

Published April 22, 2008