University of Maine Cooperative Extension Bulletin #4331

Ideas For Planning Thrifty Menus

If you like, use the sample menus in Planning Thrifty Meals for Small Families, bulletin #4330 for a week or two. Then start to plan your own menus. To stick to your food budget,

• choose low-cost foods;

• use smaller amounts of meat, poultry and fish;

• feature grain products;

• alter favorite recipes;

• avoid waste: plan for leftovers;

• make your own convenience mixes.

Choose Low-Cost Foods 

Low-cost meals do not have to be dull or lack variety. There are many low-cost, nutritious foods from which to choose. In fact, many favorite foods are low in cost. These foods are used in the sample menus. 

Some foods (soda pop, candy, alcohol, coffee and tea) are not in the menus because they are both high in cost and low in nutrients. Some convenience foods, such as pastries and prepared foods, aren’t in the menus either. Convenience foods sometimes cost more than similar foods you make at home. To get nutritious meals at low cost, you want most of your food money to pay off in nutrients.

Use Smaller Amounts of Meat,
Poultry and Fish 

Meat is a good source of several nutrients, but most meats are more expensive than other foods. Try combining small amounts of lower-cost meats, poultry and fish with bread, cereal, rice, pasta or potatoes for hearty main dishes. Dry beans, dry peas, eggs and peanut butter can be used often in casseroles, soups, salads and snacks. They provide the same nutrients as meat at lower cost, and may be lower in fat, too.

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Feature Grain Products

Enriched and whole-grain products are among the most economical sources of many vitamins and minerals. They can be a real plus in your diet. The sample menus in the bulletin #4330, Planning Thrifty Meals for Small Families, may use more grains than you now eat, but you may be surprised at the different ways they are used.

Alter Favorite Recipes 

You don’t have to throw out the recipes and cookbooks that you have been using for years. Altering recipes to substitute low-fat ingredients for high fat ingredients doesn't have to change the taste of your food.

Simple changes can make your food lower in fat and lower in calories, so it’s healthier for you. Here are a few examples to try.

	Recipe Substitutions
	If your recipe call for	Use this instead
	Whole milk	Fat-free milk
	Evaporated milk or cream	Evaporated skim milk
	1 cup of butter or margarine	1/2 cup margarine plus 1/4 cup prune puree. (For some baked foods, you can substitute applesauce, plain yogurt or prune butter or puree for equal amounts of fat. Try it out to see what works
	Shortening or lard	Soft margarine (The texture of some baked goods is changed significantly when light margarine is used, and so is not recommended for baking.)
	Mayonnaise or salad dressing	Nonfat or light mayonnaise or salad dressing; mustard in sandwiches.
	1 whole egg	1/4 cup egg substitute or 2 egg whites
	Cheese	Lower fat cheeses
	Cream cheese	Nonfat or light cream cheese
	Sour cream	Nonfat or low-fat sour cream or yogurt
	Fat for greasing pans	Nonstick cooking spray
	1 ounce baking chocolate	3 tablespoons cocoa powder plus 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
	Regular bouillon or broth	Low-sodium bouillon and broth
	Pork bacon	Turkey bacon, lean ham or Canadian bacon
	Pork sausage	Ground skinless turkey
	Ground beef or pork	Ground skinless turkey

Avoid Waste: Plan for Leftovers

Many foods don’t come in packages small enough for one or two people. Buying larger packages than you really need sometimes results in wasted food. And that means money down the drain. To avoid waste, try the “planned-over” idea. “Planned-over” means planning ahead to buy or prepare amounts of food that give you servings for more than one meal. Simply, planning for leftovers. For example, consider preparing a recipe for four and serving it twice. Or try cooking a large cut of meat or whole chicken. Eat some, and save the rest to use in other main dishes. The menus in bulletin #4330, Planning Thrifty Meals for Small Families, include planned-over recipes for braised turkey and beef chuck steak (Week 1). The menus for Week 2 include planned-over recipes for pork roast. “Planned-over” ideas like the two from the menus below can help. 

Make Your Own Convenience Mixes 

Everyone needs to get meals on the table fast sometimes. But store-bought convenience foods can be expensive. To help solve the problem, you can make your own low-cost convenience foods. The biscuit mix recipe in bulletin #4334, Thrifty Recipes: Salads and Soups, Breads and Desserts is used in the menus to make muffins, apple cobbler and biscuits. This mix will keep up to three months in the refrigerator. There is a pudding mix and a meatball mix, too.

Prepared by Nellie Hedstrom, Extension nutrition specialist

Source: "Thrifty Meals for Two: Making Food Dollars Count," USDA Home and Garden Bulletin #244.

Published and distributed in furtherance of Acts of Congress of May 8 and June 30, 1914, by the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, the Land Grant University of the state of Maine and the U.S. Department of Agriculture cooperating. Cooperative Extension and other agencies of the U.S.D.A. provide equal opportunities in programs and employment.

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