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Serve up a dining
delight without starving your bank account.
What better reason than a feast to bring family and
friends together? Yet pulling off a well-heeled meal can be a challenge on a shoestring
budget. Minimize your load from the grocery store and lighten your food bill with
a little consumer smarts. Have a plan
First,
you need to know how many people you're expecting, what kind of eaters they are
-- second-helping stuffers or pick-at-plate patrons -- when the feast will be,
and how it will be presented, says Jyl Steinback, author of the "Fat
Free Living" cookbook series. Before you head out
to the supermarket, look around to see what ingredients are already sitting in
your pantry. Melanie Barnard, author of "Short
& Sweet: 150 Sophisticated Desserts in No Time at All," suggests
keeping it well-stocked, "Because pantry foods tend to be the most economical
and the backbone to any feast." Bigger can be better
When you shop for your ingredients, Steinback recommends buying
in bulk from wholesale retailers when possible. Then do the chopping, mincing,
dicing, and cutting of veggies, meat and cheese ahead of time, and freeze in sealed
plastic sandwich bags. Prepare sauces, dressings and desserts in advance, too.
Another strategy for reducing food costs, according
to Barnard, is planning meals with items that are in season. This not only includes
fruits and vegetables, but it also includes dairy and meat. When items are in
season they are cheaper and fresher. Even though produce and
foodstuffs are available year-round, they could be imported or harvested months
before they're sold. To find out when items are in season, Barnard recommends
checking with your local farmer's market. Keep the recipes
simple and flexible
That way, if you plan on using basil
in your recipe, and you go to the store and it doesn't look good that day, you
can substitute with another herb if you've chosen recipes that can accommodate
last-minute changes, Barnard says. "The hardest recipes
are gussied up because you don't have good ingredients. If you have truly great
ingredients, you present them the way they are. Let them stand for themselves,"
Barnard says. She suggests first preparing pasta. To accompany,
fresh seasonal herbs can be sautéed in olive oil, then simmered together
with a bit of wine, some tuna, canned tomatoes and maybe a little chicken broth.
Barnard says indulge your creativity by adding some artichokes, olives or even
anchovies to this mixture. With the meal you can serve Italian bread and a salad
of seasonal greens. "That is a wonderful dish," Barnard adds,
and one that fits almost any budget. For dessert, she suggests
freezing cans of fruit cocktail in heavy syrup. When you're ready for company,
open the can, empty fruit into a food processor, and add some fruit juice or liqueur.
"In a few minutes you have an unbelievable fruit sorbet,"
she says enthusiastically. | 
