{"id":2733,"date":"2010-12-07T12:00:49","date_gmt":"2010-12-07T18:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/wordpress\/?p=2733"},"modified":"2013-08-20T20:33:31","modified_gmt":"2013-08-20T20:33:31","slug":"tips-for-low-cost-holiday-meal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/b\/tips-for-low-cost-holiday-meal\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips for Low Cost Holiday Meal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Submitted\u00a0by UNL Extension Educator, Susan Hansen.<\/em><\/p>\n

Holiday meals are a special time for family and friends to get together.\u00a0 For some, it is that one time of year that a special food is made or purchased.\u00a0 For others, it may be a traditional menu that is served each year and rarely, if ever, changed.\u00a0 Whatever the situation, the cost for holiday meals and get-togethers can be surprising.\u00a0 Take a look at places to reduce your costs yet still enjoy family and friends this holiday season.<\/p>\n

Consider making less food.\u00a0 Many holiday meals have lots of food on the table.\u00a0 While it is nice to have the diversity of flavors and food choices, does there need to be three meat choices when one or two will be just as enjoyable?\u00a0 Meat is usually the most expensive part of the meal, consider reducing the number of meat choices or reduce the amount prepared.<\/p>\n

Check the sale ads for your local grocery store.\u00a0 Turkeys become much cheaper around Thanksgiving and on into December.\u00a0 A whole turkey is less expensive per serving than buying separate pieces of turkey.<\/p>\n

Healthier alternatives can be less costly.\u00a0 If you are serving pie for dessert, consider serving pumpkin pie or a fruit-based pie without a top crust as an alternative to pecan or French silk pie.\u00a0 Not only are pumpkin and fruit based pies usually cheaper, they are more nutritious.\u00a0 Yes, pie can be a part of a healthy diet \u2013 it is one of those once in awhile foods.<\/p>\n

Make the food yourself.\u00a0 The more work you do, the less the food costs.\u00a0 The more boxes and cans you open, the more expensive the item per serving.\u00a0 However, you do need to consider your time, skills and equipment when making a choice of using convenience foods or making from scratch.<\/p>\n

Have a plan for leftovers.\u00a0 When a meal is finished, take the time to put the food in containers so they are ready to use for another meal.\u00a0 Put food away promptly after a meal.\u00a0 Perishable food should not sit out for more than two hours.<\/p>\n

The cost of beverages can add up quickly.\u00a0 The cheapest choice is tap water.\u00a0 Serve water as the main choice with meals.\u00a0 Other beverages can be offered after the meal.\u00a0 Some beverages are full of empty calories so let your guests fill up on delicious, nutritious foods rather than not so healthy beverages.<\/p>\n

Do you really need to buy the fancy holiday paper products \u2013 napkins, paper towels, cups?\u00a0 If you enjoy using them, that\u2019s great.\u00a0 But if you are needing to cut costs somewhere with holiday entertaining, look at the disposable products you buy.\u00a0 Holiday cloth napkins or glass bowls that can be used from year to year may be a good investment as well as being better for the environment.\u00a0 Plan ahead for next year by purchasing these items after the holiday season when prices are cut in half or lower.<\/p>\n

Determine what YOUR family wants to do to celebrate this holiday season.\u00a0 There isn\u2019t just one right answer for celebrating the special days.\u00a0 The important thing is to communicate as a family and to consider your family\u2019s wants, needs and resources when making a good decision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Submitted\u00a0by UNL Extension Educator, Susan Hansen. Holiday meals are a special time for family and friends to get together.\u00a0 For some, it is that one time of year that a special food is made or purchased.\u00a0 For others, it may be a traditional menu that is served each year and rarely, if ever, changed.\u00a0 Whatever the situation, the cost for Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":8321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,55],"tags":[450,452,97,453],"class_list":["post-2733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-b","category-c","tag-holiday-cooking","tag-holiday-meals","tag-holidays-on-a-budget","tag-money-saving-tips","cat-44-id","cat-55-id"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/santamoney.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2733"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2733"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8158,"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2733\/revisions\/8158"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}