Food prices have been on the rise lately. So it’s no surprise that people are trying to save more when they go grocery shopping.
And that economic situation lines up perfectly with the launch of “Big Bad Budget Battle,” a six-episode cooking competition hosted by Food Network star Ree Drummond, better known as The Pioneer Woman.
The show, which will premiere on the Food Network on August 9 at 10 p.m. a “little stash of cash” at Flavortown Market (the show is produced by Guy Fieri), according to a statement from Discovery.
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The “best cook and most thrifty shopper” will walk away with a trophy and a year’s worth of groceries.
“Everyone has the same amount of money when they go (to the grocery store), and they really have to maximize that money,” Drummond tells USA TODAY.
Drummond says she’s learned a lot from the show’s contestants and has some tips of her own on how to save money on groceries.
She shared three.
1. Buy frozen vegetables
If you’re trying to save pennies, Drummond advises using fresh produce when needed for meals with raw vegetable elements, like salads, but stick with frozen vegetables otherwise.
“There are so many times you can use frozen vegetables,” she says. “You can save a lot of money by replacing what you might buy in the fresh produce section with frozen items, and the quality is barely noticeable when you’re making a soup, stew, or casserole.”
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Drummond says it’s important to know the frozen vegetable section. Most of the time, no one can tell the difference between fresh or frozen vegetables in a cooked dish, she says.
2. Check out the meat deals in the butcher section
Protein is where the pocketbook often takes a hit, says Drummond. So you like to optimize your spending in that area.
“I love going to the meat counter and finding the deal,” he says, noting that it’s almost always a family pack of chicken thighs, which he thinks are the best part of the chicken because they’re considerably less expensive than chicken breasts.
“The number of things you can do with chicken thighs is endless, from stews to stir-fries,” she says.
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Searching for those offers can take you a long way.
The Food Network star added that when she gets a package of ribs or chicken, she tears the package up, repackages it, and freezes what’s left over.
So “I got this great deal, but it’s going to last me several meals,” she says.
3. Buy frozen dough
Other frozen foods beyond vegetables can be very helpful, says Drummond.
“I love things like frozen bread dough, for example,” he says, noting that it’s sold in loaves and can be left to rise by the house chef.
And a loaf can go a long way.
“It can be made into a huge pizza dough, it can be made into little calzones, you can do a lot of things with frozen bread dough,” says Drummond. “And if you bought freshly baked bread, you could spend more money.”
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Check out these recipes to up your cooking game:
Source: www.usatoday.com