10 tips for an economical kitchen

What to cook for dinner and tactical advice

Once upon a time there were grandmother's advice which, applied to the table, allowed the creation of economical and delicious single dishes without too much effort, today it has become - almost - a necessity and quick economical recipes become the perfect compromise for something tasty at a good price modest. At first glance, the solution seems to be to question the quality of raw materials so as to keep outputs under control. There are many other alternatives that allow savings without compromising the quality option. It starts like this.

Step 1. Docet week.

Planning is a fundamental issue and among the thousand things to do there is the possibility of preparing the sauces to use during the week. The advantage of being able to purchase a large quantity of meat online while saving on shipping and packaging allows you to have 100% Italian meat available and ready to use.

By doing this you can portion the product, keep in the refrigerator what you intend to consume soon and in the freezer the meat sauce that will be consumed later. Grandma's trick is to mark the contents and preparation date on the box, so as to have an idea, albeit approximate, of the expiry date.

Step 2. Food for many, and useful containers

When you cook, the saving rule is that you prepare multiple meals, at least two so as to avoid double costs. Lasagna, cannelloni, roast meat, vegetable burgers... You need to think and plan a diet capable of being repeated without losing substance. The steak on the fly can be accompanied by grilled vegetables that are ready and just need to be reheated, just as the roast of the second portion finds its perfect habitat with freshly harvested salad. In short, inventiveness is the first element to save, resolve and cheer up the spasmodic desire to create in the imagination. The possibilities are truly endless, you need a pinch of ingenuity to satisfy the family's tastes and avoid spending the unbelievable on weekly shopping and bills.

Step 3. Crudité mon amour!

From time to time it is preferable to choose dishes to be eaten cold or raw, without the use of a stove or possibly cooked super quickly and quickly. The beef tartare is a perfect compromise that meets another ready & go meal such as the omelette.

Accompanying a beef steak with dips becomes a necessary and perfect element to keep the flavor of an economical recipe intact. Vegetables consumed raw or cooked in the same pan as the "proteins" allow you to save time and the possibility of creating something quick, quick without too many excesses. For example, if you have chosen to cook a slice of veal with fennel, cooking in a combo allows the vegetables to take on that particular flavor that the meat is able to release during cooking. Ready in no time.

Step 4. Quality Italian meat

The quality of the basic ingredients is fundamental for several reasons, on the one hand it allows the nutritional value to be kept intact and on the other it offers interesting ideas for learning about the less expensive cuts. Choosing common cuts of Italian meat too often is like saying poor quality meat, in reality however, several agricultural companies choose to offer ready-to-use solutions where quality is not questioned. The quantity, the preference for packages with different cuts and the desire to experiment with economical recipes for second courses of meat become the real flagship of some companies. Carne Genuina, for example, offers a wide range of solutions that manage to resolve the one-off desire for a fine cut as well as the need of any family to consume quality meat. Certainty of provenance is fundamental.

Step 5. Legumes yes, better from the farmer

The desire to save must go hand in hand with the idea of ​​few demands. This means that we must be satisfied and regulate ourselves based on what nature offers us and avoid becoming stuck with the desire for something that is not available or present in low quantities. Consuming seasonal fruit and vegetables is the perfect example of the profound meaning of "saving in the kitchen". Prepare, think and invent different recipes starting from the same ingredients and follow the advice of the wise and experienced farmer who can tell us and help us make the expense lighter but only in terms of money. Legumes, for example, are the perfect example of how precious and important seasonality is.

Step 6. And it's immediately soup!

Soup with meat broth is the perfect solution for winter or autumn evenings. That moment when the cool becomes cold and you need to warm the body, in addition to the stove that heats the environment. The soup enriched with pasta - or rice - combined with vegetables, or the poor one where the carbohydrates choose to be there the next time.

In short, it doesn't matter what the choice is, you need to create a satisfying and complete dish, despite having little material available. The solution that grandmothers used was to add pumpkin or potatoes which, thanks to their being pulpy, made the soup a little "thicker" and offered that right extra touch of nutrition.

Step 7. In addition to the homemade snack.

The ready-to-use solutions on the market are succulent, inviting, delicious and...expensive! The year of the pandemic has taught us to make peace with the stove and rediscover the culinary streak that resides unscathed - at times - in each of us. The desire to create something special becomes a perfect starting point to save money and put an end to the seeds that, placed at the bottom of the kitchen shelf, struggle to find space. Cumin, turmeric and sesame are the most acclaimed and well-known, a quick search allows the creation of something new capable of satisfying everyone and becoming the healthy hunger buster - for real! Here, crackers, breadsticks or home-made mini cakes offer a wide margin for maneuver without compromising the saving mood in any way.

Step 8. Recipes with leftover cooked meat.

Carne Genuina often deals with the issue of leftovers as they represent an excellent starting point for creating unique and impossible to replicate recipes. The already heated roast becomes a meatloaf, the cooked vegetables become a puree. The roast chicken becomes the base for a salad with proteins or, to put it in the American way, a chicken salad. The empty refrigerator recipes are generally the most delicious and perfect for a grandmother's trick known to few: discover our 3 recipes with already cooked leftover meat . How to make the refractory family taste the fifth quarter? Use the cut - or part of it - to make the meatballs and only after some time inform yourself of what happened...It will be a little complex, but over time it will become tasty!

Step 9. The party drinks

The need to keep plastic consumption under control is - especially in this historical era - of essential importance. The desire to save something in terms of money and at the same time take care of the environment must be commonplace and offer essential ideas of primary interest. This is why the preparation of homemade thirst-quenching drinks can resolve the doubt and go beyond the usual water. Homemade tea for example, if combined with the juice of an orange and a few teaspoons of sugar, becomes a perfect drink to be enjoyed even cold to accompany a snack or that desire for something sweet that strikes everyone at the end of a hot day. There is always a good reason, even when grilling at home or preparing meatballs.

Step 10. The can like the real ones.

It used to be customary, now it's much more chic to go out for lunch. But the unthinkable cost of having lunch out every day is starting to weigh heavily on the household budget. What to do? Go back, that is, prepare lunch and take it with you. A valid reason to make the lunch even during a Sunday trip is represented by the casus grill which, thanks to the idea of ​​Genuine Meat, manages to satisfy the environmental issue and at the same time have lunch in the midst of nature at the right cost. In short, what matters is inventiveness, everything - or almost everything - starts from here.