Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Rising Food Costs
Posted by Christine Szalay-Kudra on June 21, 2010
A lot of us are aware of rising food costs and if you are on a low income or you have a large family, this can make cooking a healthy, interesting dinner every night a bit like a juggling act.
A lot of foods are more expensive than ever, including staples such as beef, chicken, milk, and butter. There are various reasons for these price increases. The rising energy costs mean that food is more expensive to process and to deliver to retail outlets so the end price reflects this.
China, India, and other countries have better standards of living now and are importing more of our food. Ethanol is more expensive and it is used in the processing of soybeans, corn, wheat, oats and barley, making these items cost more.
Animals eat grains so the price of meat and poultry increases because the animals have been more expensive to feed. Grains like oats and corn are used in breakfast cereals so the cereals are more expensive now, as well as the milk you pour over it!
How to Make Your Money Go Further
If you are low on money but still want to give your family high quality, nutritious meals, there are a few things you can do. First of all, why not plan the week’s meals ahead of time and shop for all the ingredients? Try to include plenty of grains and fresh produce because these are nutritious and filling.
Chicken has always been quite cheap and there are many different ways to cook it, such as grilling, baking, frying, and poaching. You can make different sauces and flavorings to go with it because chicken is so versatile. What about a tasty dinner of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and salad? That would not cost much to make.
If you have ever read the history of Kentucky Fried Chicken you will know they started very small but managed to transform cheap ingredients into delicious meals. You can do the same and made KFC style recipes for the family. This is certainly cheaper than taking them out for fast food and fried chicken is very simple to make. For a healthier twist, oven fried chicken tastes just like deep fried chicken but is lower in both fat and calories.
Keep Dinners Varied
Healthy meals like stir-fry use small pieces of meat or poultry so they are cheaper to make. You might like to have fish or meat several times a week and cheaper meals such as risotto or pasta the other nights. This is infinitely better than “feast and famine” where you indulge in whatever you fancy for the first half of the month then you realize you can only afford canned chili until payday.
Homemade food is a lot cheaper and healthier than prepackaged food or eating out. When you make your own meals, you know exactly which ingredients are going into it. Prepackaged food often contains lots of chemical additives and filler ingredients and eating out can work out really expensive.
Everybody loves the taste of fried chicken and home cooked fried chicken is especially good. If you want to discover pan-fried chicken recipes, deep-fried chicken recipes or oven fried chicken recipes, in addition to finding some more brilliant chicken cookery tips, have a look at SouthernFriedChickenRecipe.com
