Lunch is my favorite time of day to focus my meal around healthy fruits and vegetables, as well as any small amounts of leftovers. Our family spends a lot of money on food. I’m guessing many of you feel that way too!
When I say food I’m not talking about eating out either. The grocery store can really suck you dry if you’re not careful, especially when buying for a whole family. My favorite way to save money on groceries is to waste less. It is a really simple concept but works well and helps cut down the number of products you buy each week.
Lunch is the perfect meal to concentrate on wasting less. This is the meal I like to incorporate any small amounts of leftovers into. If I have a lot of leftovers from dinner, enough to feed the whole family again, then I will save them for a second dinner within the next few days. However, more often than not there is a small amount of leftovers from dinner. These often get thrown out in many households, but consider this, if you use them up you can spend less money at the grocery store.
Usually I divvy out the small amount of leftovers at lunch, it does not matter how small. On the side I cut up fruits and veggies, with possibly a hardboiled egg, or beans. The meal is focused on fruits and vegetables, as well it uses up the last of the food from another meal. It is easy, quick, and healthy.
In my opinion lunch is the perfect time to make sure you are getting a good dose of the fruits and vegetables that are such an important part of your diet. As a busy Mom I know how rushed breakfast in the mornings can be sometimes, and it is not always a balanced meal in our house.
Dinner time can often be just as crazy, so if you are looking to make a change, waste less, and save money on groceries start with lunch! Add sliced apples, carrot sticks, raw nuts and a bed of lettuce to make a small portion of leftovers go further and feed more people.
One example is this bowl of leftover roasted carrots, broccoli, and onions from dinner the night before. For lunch the next day I added a sprinkling a cheddar cheese, raw almonds, pistachios, and cherry tomatoes. It re-invented a bowl of leftover boring vegetables, giving it new life. It tasted great, was satisfying, and the bowl was mainly composed of veggies.
Getting creative with leftovers does not have to be time consuming, and it can be a great healthy alternative to spending more money on food. Vegetables are one item I always make in large amounts at dinner because I know if there are leftovers it will make a great base to the next day’s lunch.
Save money and make life healthy and simple one meal at a time!
Do you have any tips for wasting less?
