BUDGET WHOLE30 TIP #4

Growing up, my mom always loved by the saying, “Use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without!” We already talked about the first half of this saying – “using up” your food by shopping with a list and sticking to a meal plan, then incorporating leftovers into your weekly meal plan to make sure no food is going bad and being wasted!

“Make do, or do without” on a budget in the food realm means knowing what foods you can swap out and when you can leave it out.

For example, I talked about with my homemade chicken apple sausage recipe that I got ground turkey instead of ground chicken because it was $1.50 per pound less. Ground chicken and turkey are very interchangeable – make do with whatever one is cheaper or on sale! #makedo Or in my homemade bbq sauce recipe, coconut aminos can be expensive or hard to find, depending on what stores you live by. That recipe also works without that ingredient, as it already has so many flavors. #dowithout

One of my favorite budget swaps is using dried herbs vs. fresh. Fresh almost always tastes better…but can get pricey. Did you know you can usually swap dried herbs with fresh? Just use 1/3 the amount! So if it calls for 3 tablespoons chopped basil, you can use 1 tablespoon dried instead. Dried herbs last a lot longer than fresh too, so less chance of them spoiling and ending in the trash.

Think about what that item is doing in the recipe to figure out swaps or if it can be left out. If it’s the ONLY seasoning in the dish, probably can’t be left out. But if it’s almond flour for chicken breading, another course flour like coconut flour could probably work as well.

What are your favorite #whole30 recipe ingredient swaps or has worked without it?