organic meal planning on a budget: top tips.
Eating organic food can be a great way to improve your health and reduce your exposure to harmful chemicals. Decades of research consistently shows that certified organic produce is not only better for us but better for our planet. However, it can also be more costly than commercial produce in some cases and this can be difficult on a budget. Many of us are trying to feed our families on a budget, but not wanting to compromise on healthy nutritious food choices. Supermarkets can be fraught with trappings to break the budget, so here we discuss the benefits of shopping online, farm direct and home fresh delivery to your door. Specials & bulk buys are also important, as well as the benefits of meal planning & cooking meals from scratch where possible. Here are our top 6 tips for organic meal planning on a budget.
Plan your meals: Plan your meals for your working week in advance, so that you shop for only the ingredients you need and avoid wasting food. Start with a weekly meal planner on the fridge. I love the compact A5 size magnet style from Kaisercraft. It has a Monday to Sunday template with lunch and dinner columns, plus a grocery list column & a spot for ‘next week’s suggestions’. This little meal planner has 52 pages, is only a couple of dollars & will last you the whole year! The advantage of a pad style meal planner is that the sheets are detachable, so you can take your list with you if you are going out. If you are shopping online, just grab the pad from the fridge while you pop your online order in the system, & then it just goes back on the fridge for the whole family to reference during the week. Similar styles can be purchased online or from your favourite stationary store.
Make the first few weeks easy for yourself by listing yours or your family’s favourite budget meals. This will make the grocery list less challenging as you will be familiar with what ingredients you will need & possibly have quite a few in the fridge or cupboard to start with. Make sure everyone has a favourite meal up there on the list, so you get the whole family involved & participating. Choose a wide variety of meals which use different proteins, vegetables, fruits, grains, seeds, nuts & legumes.
Cook from scratch: Cook your meals from scratch rather than buying pre-packaged foods, which are often a lot more expensive and may lack substance and nutrition. When we haven’t done any meal planning and it’s been a long day – we’ve all been there on a regular basis I’m sure! – it’s tempting to load up on pre-made meals such as oven-ready Pizza or deep-fryer meals from the freezer section. While it’s a quick & easy solution sometimes, try to find easy meals that you have staples for at home already and can be made from scratch in minutes. Homemade pizza, for example, is so much healthier and you only have to read the side of the ready-made packet to confirm that fact. Making it at home you are going to avoid a whole lot of synthetic ingredients cleverly disguised as food, excess sugar, bad fats & ingredients lacking in nutritional value. Experimenting with a simple dough recipe can be fun, or try storing organic bases in your freezer. Toppings can be roasted vegies or leftover vegies & meats from the previous night. Topped with cheese or cashew cheese it can be ready in less than 10 minutes. Other meals in minutes, are vegie soups like pumpkin or cauliflower. If you have a Thermomix, Magimix or something similar, it’s all done in the one pot while you have a shower & get the kids ready for dinner. No tinned or packet soup will ever taste as good as one that’s just freshly made from scratch, served with some crusty bread or croutons.
Buy in bulk: Look out for organic foods in bigger quantity bulk buys which can sometimes save you money. Some items such as flour, rice, beans, legumes, seeds and nuts which can be stored for lengthy periods of time, can be purchased in bulk quantities and save you money in the long run. Be sure to store these bulk items in appropriate containers, however, to avoid spoilage. I personally prefer air tight glass containers over plastic to avoid the ‘plastic’ smell getting into the foods. Air tight is also important so the foods do not become oxidated or invaded by creatures such as moths or ants. For those foods which are attractive to moths such as flour & grains, try sticky-taping a dried bay leaf to the back of your food jars.
Certain perishables can also be cheaper in larger quantities sometimes, but still have a decent shelf life. For example if you usually buy a 1kg yoghurt every week, the 2kg tub will often be much better value and last two weeks instead. The same goes for staples like butter and cheese.
Take advantage of specials: Specials are a great way to slowly build your pantry of organic grocery staples & goodies. Most of us don’t have the luxury of buying everything at once, so it makes sense to build up gradually, taking advantage of specials when they come up. Items such as cooking oils, sauces & dressings, tinned foods & baking goods will regularly come up on special and have long best before dates. Organic items on special will often be near cost price and probably around the same price as non-organic (or cheaper), so it’s well worth the investment. Consider buying a few, or box, if they are at a good price and stashing them away. Before you know it, you’ll have a good foundation of organic staples that you can plan your meals around.
Even some organic fruit and vegies on special can be bought in bulk and will store very well in your fridge if you have space, or lucky enough to have a spare fridge. As we discussed earlier, often organics are fresh to market and not cold stored, so may have more potential for a longer life in your fridge. Some organic fruit and vegies that will store well in your fridge for several months are apples, avocado, citrus, kiwi, stone-fruit, beetroot, cabbages or potato. Look out for Wray Organic Online fruit & veg specials & save!
Often you can sign up with your email address for your favourite retailer specials. That way you will be notified when the specials start and can take advantage before they sell out.
Buy in season: Buy organic produce that is in season, as it tends to be much less expensive and more readily available. Seasonal produce is generally more plentiful and therefore more to go around and so the price will tend to be less. For example, in summer, if you are looking for organic pears, they will generally be more expensive as there are a lot fewer varieties available & quantities will be minimal. In winter however, pears are generally plentiful and many different varieties will be available too. This brings the cost down as they will not only be cheaper on average, but there is a much greater chance they will be on special more frequently too, allowing you opportunities to buy in bulk & save. An important note about organic seasonal produce is that it differs greatly from non-organic produce in terms of availability. Certified organic farmers do not cold store their produce for extended periods of time, preferring that the produce is sold fresh and in that season. Non-organic commercial produce however, may spend lengthy periods of time in cold storage, affecting the nutritional quality, taste, texture & overall experience. Watch out for apple varieties in supermarkets cleverly claiming to be “in season” (rather than “new season”), when they could be last years’ produce having spent a year or more in cold storage. Yes, that variety may be “in season” at that time of year, but the actual produce may not be new season fruit that’s just been harvested.
Buying in season is also so much more fun, as it allows us to explore different recipes and recipe adaptations. Even a simple thing like ‘mash’ can be seasonally adapted. Organic potatoes are generally available all year round as Queensland’s harvest may be staggered from that of NSW and Victoria. But adding or substituting seasonal produce to your mash can be so much fun. Use organic parsnip, swede & turnip during winter for a change. The rest of the year, try pumpkins, carrots or sweet potatoes. Wray Organic Online has great recipes in their monthly newsletter and on the website, which always feature seasonal produce with handy tips including seasonal & dietary substitutions.
Shop online with a local organic retailer: I am sure many of us will admit that impulse buys are often the main contributor to the budget blowout. Yes, you have written your list and, yes, you have told yourself that you will stick to the list and not be tempted. But it’s those little extras that seem to slip into our shopping trolley or basket, that can really make the difference between staying on track with your budget, or coming off the rails. Sometimes it’s those special buys, or it’s your children in the chocolate isle, or that tempting product that catches your eye but you just haven’t budgeted for.
Shopping online is a great way to stay on track with your budget. There are much fewer distractions for a start. You can choose a time that suits you and your family when you have a quiet moment. I personally like after dinner, as I find I am not hungry and don’t go looking for treats & sweets. The good thing is you can find a time that suits you best & you don’t have to worry about things that are out of your control like peak hour traffic, finding a car park or waiting in long queues to be served.
Choosing a weekly set box of organic fruit & vegies will make your online shop a lot faster & you know the staples will be covered. After that, it’s just a matter of entering the items on your grocery list into the search bar tool & popping them into your cart. As you shop you will be able to see your cart total which will keep you on track with your budget. Set up a ‘favourites’ list under your profile, for yourself in the online portal to make the process even quicker. All the items you need to buy weekly are already in that list. It’s then just a matter of adding the extras from your grocery list in your weekly planner. When you have decided what day you would like your groceries to arrive, just make sure you have your order in on time before the cut-off so it can be delivered on that day that suits you and your family the best. My family love a Friday delivery as we are usually not working, and then have the weekend to organise our groceries, cook meals & snacks, plan for the week ahead and allows us the chance to grab anything locally that may not have been in the delivery. It may suit you better to have two deliveries per week, but that will depend on the size of your family & your special dietary needs. You’ll soon work out what suits you best whether it be once a week, twice a week or once a fortnight.
As we have discussed in our Top 6 Tips, Organic Meal Planning on a Budget can be achieved with a few simple pointers. Once you have set up your weekly meal planner and your online account with your favourites list, & weekly/fortnightly fruit & veg set box delivered fresh to your home, the rest will fall into place. Sign up for those specials to access great seasonal prices & bulk buys! Have some fun experimenting with a handful of super quick & easy meals to have up your sleeve for when you need them. Try getting family or friends involved too if you can, as keeping to a budget can be an enjoyable challenge to share with others, finding bargains & specials. Most of all, consuming as much clean, organic produce as possible is really rewarding, not only in terms of health but also happiness. You’ve got this!