10 ideas on how to save money on food in a recession. And eat better!

As recession hits and money gets tight it is time to start working out where you spend your hard earned cash and how to save money. Here are BigBarn's 10 top tips on how to reduce your food budget.

1. Avoid supermarkets
2. Get the cook book out
3. Eat in more often and entertain
4. Make your own bread
5. Cook now eat later
6. Give tap water a try
7. Brew your own beer
8. Grow your own
9. Eat less meat and cheaper cuts
10. Eat less and don't waste!

Avoid supermarkets

Yes I know they have huge buying power, are convenient and tell us they are cheap, but they are not. Not for local seasonal fresh fruit and veg and not for meat you can trace and see how the animals have been reared. When farmers, on average, only get 9p in every £1 you spend on food in a supermarket buying direct should be cheaper. To find your local producers of food type your postcode in the red box on the home page. All the farm shops I speak to say they are cheaper than the supermarket like for like, don't be affraid to ask your local producers which products offer the best value. Another reason to avoid supermarkets is to remove the temptation to buy things you don't really need. I am sure we have all been tempted by a dvd or 2 for1 offer.

Get the cook book out

There are so many foods you can make yourself rather than buy ready made. I don't just mean meals in a box full of salt and preservatives, I mean; pizza, pates, coleslaw, mashed potato (oh Delia, please) houmus, muesli, soup, pasta sauce, cakes, biscuits, all dead easy to make and better than ready made . To really eat on a budget have a look at my menu for the week on ingredients cost of £1.40 per day.

Eat in more and entertain

There is nothing more annoying than eating out and paying a great deal for a meal you know you could have prepared better yourself. Get the cook book out, buy some great local seasonal ingredients and invite your friends round. Get them to bring a bottle or make sure they know it is their turn next week.

Make your own bread

If you love bread, as I do, and refuse to eat cheap bread full of additives, you will probably find you are spending a fair bit on good bread. Try making it yourself it really is very easy and once in the habit takes very little time. Once again look up a good recipe and try making sourdough bread. Apparently the reason I feel tired after eating a big sandwich is that the bread and protein take a great deal of digesting. A sourdough bread takes longer to rise and in the process actually makes the bread more digestible.

Cook now eat later

When you cook all your delicious dishes found in your recipe books or in our recipe section why not double up the quantities and freeze for another time or even refrigerate for the end of the week. I often make a bolognese sauce on a Monday and add a chilli and a tin of kidney beans to make it a chilli con carne for Thursday.

Give tap water a try

Forget fizzy drinks, coke, squash, etc all full of sugar or aspartane and bad for you. Try good old tap water. You'll save a fortune.

Brew your own beer

With Gordon constantly increasing the tax on booze and the manufacturers using more scientific methods to increase production and reduce costs now is the time to trying brewing or wine making. Check out our very own part time beer making enthusiast Matt.

Grow your own

Lettuce, onions, carrots, tomatoes, courgettes, spuds, apples, herbs, blackberries; all dead easy to grow and you don't need all that much space. A great way to get kids interested in fruit and veg and you will notice the difference in taste.

Eat less meat and cheaper cuts, and offal!

It takes 9 kilos of grain to produce 1 kilo of beef. That is why meat is expensive. To save money make dishes where you can hide the amount of meat used. A small steak on a plate looks mean, a big portion of delicious smelling bourguinon using the same amount of meat mixed with seasonal veg is impressive. Cheaper cuts can be half the price of prime cuts but are just as delicious, especially if they are well hung, well butchered, and slow cooked.

Eat less and don't waste

I am agreeing with our PM here, in fact he probably got the idea from reading articles at BigBarn. A great deal of waste apparently is caused by cooking too much and throwing the remains away. Especially common when mothers cook four different dishes for four members of the family - arrggghhh. I won't start. The message here is cook well and be creative with leftovers.

So there you have it, save loads, eat better, and win the respect of you friends!

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