Stretching My Food $$ - Servings & Portions

 

One of my strategies to keeping my grocery budget very low this year is by strategizing my meal plans in order to be able to make the most of the food I purchase and keep any food waste as minimal as possible.  A big part of that is to know how many servings are required and what an actual portion size is.

 

After becoming an empty nester I have discovered that it doesn’t take a lot of food to feed me delicious and healthy meals on a daily basis.  It has taken me a little bit to figure out how to properly manage that too.  Since I was a young child I’ve not been a big breakfast eater.  In fact, I much prefer to eat a brunch or lunch and then an evening meal, so just two meals a day.  Sometimes I’ll eat just one.  I’m also not a huge snacker so this makes meal preparations really easy for me.  I often find that if I make one large meal a day I can actually divide it up into two meals and I’m pretty much good to go.

 

When I cook I will typically make four servings.  I will consume one serving, put one away for a leftover meal that same week and freeze the other two to eat later on.  When I make my meal plans I focus on using up the items I already have before purchasing something new so I minimize any potential food waste.

 

Keeping my serving sizes in check not only helps me to maintain my budget but it also helps me maintain my health by not overeating.  Often I find a typical serving size may be too large for me so I will cut it down.  I find this especially true with carbohydrates like rice, pasta and bread.  I tend to eat much smaller amounts of those than the average person.

 

How do you manage portion sizes?  Do you, or have you ever, weighed or measured your food?  Do you find food waste to be a struggle at all?