Creative meals on a budget

October 31, 5:11 PMColumbia Budget Meals ExaminerJulie Tomlinson

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With the price of groceries skyrocketing as well as the price of about everything else, feeding a family on a budget is more challenging today than ever before.  Watching for sales at the local discount stores, using your grocer's discount cards and buying in bulk are good ways of saving money. 

Using one-dish wonder meals or crock pot meals are filling and wallet friendly.  Add a small salad or bread to the meal and you have a real crowd pleaser.  There are many internet sites that have lots of ideas for these types of meals.  You can also create your own recipes and post for others use.

Dessert is usually something left out of the budget.  You can bring it back in by keeping certain staple items in your pantry.  Flour, shortening, sugar and salt can be mixed together for either a pie crust or a cobbler topping.  Pudding mix can be beaten into cream cheese thinned with a little milk and used as a pie filling.  Canned fruit can be added to jello and topped with sweetened sour cream or whipped cream.  Stale bread can be cubed, placed in a buttered dish and beaten eggs with milk, sugar and cinnamon can be poured over this.  Bake until done and you have a delicious bread pudding.  When you have a little extra money you can add fruit and nuts for a change.

Budgeting is a daily challenge but it can be made easier by using all of the resources we have at hand.  Being creative with meals helps our families not feel as if the budget is tight.  Asking them to contribute ideas lets them feel useful as well.