Food Pairings – Guest Post

One of the first things that a frugal eater learns is the importance of stretching your groceries out as much as possible. That is the reason that people who are trying to save money on their groceries will start with getting educated about great meal planning. By learning how to choose foods that will last across several meals, these people figure out how to truly make the most of their grocery budget. Unfortunately, this can get boring for the palette if you’re not careful. Finding great inexpensive food pairings that can be turned into many different types of meals is one key to keeping your grocery costs down while still keeping your taste buds satisfied.

Defining Food Pairings

There are some foods that just naturally go well together. Peanut butter and jelly is the most common example. You can put peanut butter and jelly together in a variety of ways and it always tastes good. Put this pairing on bread, crackers, cookies, cakes or even just in a spoon by itself and it always tastes good together. That’s the key behind any food pairing. The two items have to naturally go well together in a variety of different recipes to count as a good food pairing. This means they can serve as the core ingredients of multiple recipes to make for an interesting selection of meals.

Why Learn About Food Pairings

Food pairings are important for frugal grocery shoppers because they keep shopping costs down, simplify meal planning and allow you to enjoy a variety of different tastes with simple recipes. When you purchase the two core ingredients of the pair in bulk at a discount rate, you make life easy on yourself in the kitchen. The idea is to get enough of these two ingredients to use them in at least one meal every day for a week. You get a series of interesting meals and yet your grocery list can remain short.

Basic Affordable Food Pairings to Get You Started

If you’re interested in trying out the idea of reducing your food spending by working food pairings into your meal planning then here are some of the top food pairs to get you started:

Broccoli and Cheese. This is one of the most versatile food pairs. Combined together with a few simple ingredients, this food pair can make many dishes including soup (hot and cold, chunky and smooth), casseroles, chunky baked potatoes, pot pies and pastas. This food pair is also good on its own both cooked and raw. Cheese is a tricky food to find at an affordable price but it can be done by using coupons and buying in bulk.
Bacon and Eggs. Eggs by themselves offer so many different options since there are so many ways to cook them. Throw bacon into the mix and you can have soufflés, casseroles, scrambles, deviled eggs with bacon, bacon-and-egg burritos and even bacon egg lasagna. Buy your bacon in bulk on a budget and get your eggs from a local farmer’s market to keep costs down. Steak and eggs make another good food pair if you can find affordable meat.
Avocado and Tomato. When these two items are in season, you can combine them to add some interesting new dishes to your menu. Smart recipes for this pair include guacamole salsa, tomato and avocado salad, hot and cold sandwiches, stuffed tomato and pasta with avocado-tomato sauce. Grow these two items in your own garden to further reduce the cost of this great food pair.
Spinach and Oranges. This is a healthy food pairing that many people aren’t familiar with. Some of the recipe options for this pair include spinach salad with orange dressing, steamed spinach with fresh orange slices, pasta with an orange spinach sauce, a spinach omelet with oranges on the side and orange spinach smoothies.

Making the Most of your Favorite Food Pairs

These top food pairs aren’t the only foods that go well together. Sit down and brainstorm all of the foods that you think go hand-in-hand. Then browse through your favorite recipe sites to create a comprehensive list of the affordable recipes that include both items. Buy the items in bulk and use them as the core for your week’s meal planning. Your wallet will thank you and so will your mouth!

Kathryn Vercillo is a writer for Promotionalcodes.org.uk, a free website that offers coupon codes for the UK. The site shares free voucher codes (like this Travelodge promotional code) and also publishes money saving ideas. It is a fabulous resource for frugal ideas, tips and tricks, and the latest frugal trends on the internet.