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5 Suggestions to Keep Food Costs Under Control

It’s been a challenging couple of years with COVID-19, floods, and now a war impacting food prices. If you are struggling with ways to contain rising food costs, you are not alone – many families are worried about providing a variety of healthy foods for their families. It is getting more and more challenging and you’re likely already doing lots to curtail your food costs – making a shopping list, using coupons, taking advantage of sales, etc. These are our top five suggestions:

1. Plan and shop once a week. This is tough to do, but it works! Every time you shop you pick up something you likely don’t need. Make a plan and stick to it as much as possible. Forget something? Make do without it or substitute with another ingredient.

2. Cook once – eat twice (or three times!). Do you ever feel discouraged after making a delicious meal and in 10 minutes it is all gone? Double up the recipe and serve the same meal twice in one week or use the leftovers for lunches the next day. You can change out the veggie and it can feel like a different meal. For example, make a double or triple batch of pasta sauce and freeze some for another meal or have pasta two nights that week. Another idea is to roast two chickens instead of one and use one for sandwiches for lunch that week. Keep the bones and make a flavourful stock. Add lots of pot barley and vegetables and you have another lunch or dinner meal.

3. Eat more plant-based meals. Meat can be expensive, but just about everything you can think of can be done meatless – chile con carne with a variety of beans and vegetables, tacos with beans, meatless pasta sauce,  stir-fry with tofu, veggie burgers (make your own).  Eating less meat is good for your health, the planet and your budget!

4. Eat local and in season. It’s tempting to pick up those beautiful raspberries and tomatoes off season. Try to stick with root vegetables during the winter months – carrots, turnip, beets, parsnips. Roast up two large baking pans of root vegetables and make them last for two meals. Add grated carrot, beets, zucchini and apple to your salads instead of tomatoes and avocado. You don’t need to buy an expensive vegetable slicer either – a handheld julienne vegetable peeler works great. Divide up the vegetable preparation amongst family members to make meal prep faster and easier.

5. Eat out and order-in infrequently. This is the hardest to stick to. After a long week at work, ordering in pizza for the family is so tempting. How about a compromise? Buy ready-made pizza dough or crusts and a variety of healthy ingredients and gather the family around to create your own pizzas. It makes for a fun Friday night! Here’s an idea: When you make the grocery list this week, ask each family member to add a healthy pizza topping to the list. It’s best to avoid deli meats – they are expensive and loaded with salt and nitrites/nitrates. Use leftover roast chicken, ground turkey, or lean ground beef and consider making at least one pizza without meat.  In the summertime and if you have a BBQ,  try cooking the pizzas on the BBQ to help keep the house cool.  

→$post->category Timber\Term(16)
  • contents
  • Static class properties (1)
  • Available methods (30)
  • public id -> integer27
    public ID -> integer27
    public object_type -> string(4) "term"
    public PostClass -> string(11) "Timber\Post"
    public TermClass -> string(4) "Term"
    public _children -> NULL
    public name -> string(28) "Healthy Eating & Cooking"
    public taxonomy -> string(8) "category"
    public term_id -> integer27
    public slug -> string(26) "healthy-eating-and-cooking"
    public term_group -> integer0
    public term_taxonomy_id -> integer27
    public parent -> integer0
    public count -> integer17
    public filter -> string(3) "raw"
    public term_order -> string(1) "0"
  • public $representation :: string(4) "term"
  • →public static from($tid, $taxonomy) -> static
    @param $tid
@param $taxonomy

@return static

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:91
    →public __call($field, $args) -> mixed
    This is helpful for twig to return properties and methods see: https://github.com/fabpot/Twig/issues/2
@return mixed

Inherited from Timber\Core
Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Core.php:26
    →public __construct($tid = NULL, $tax = "") 
    @param int $tid
@param string $tax

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:68
    →public __get($field) -> mixed
    This is helpful for twig to return properties and methods see: https://github.com/fabpot/Twig/issues/2

@return mixed

Inherited from Timber\Core
Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Core.php:35
    →public __isset($field) -> boolean
    @return boolean

Inherited from Timber\Core
Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Core.php:15
    →public __toString() -> string
    @return string

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:81
    →public can_edit() -> bool
    Can you edit this post/term/user? Well good for you. You're no better than me.
@example
```twig
{% if post.can_edit %}
<a href="{{ post.edit_link }}">Edit</a>
{% endif %}
```
```html
<a href="http://example.org/wp-admin/edit.php?p=242">Edit</a>
```
@return bool

Inherited from Timber\Core
Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Core.php:100
    →public children() 
    @api
@return array

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:361
    →public description() 
    @api
@return string

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:369
    →public edit_link() 
    @api
@return string

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:383
    →public get_children() 
    @internal
@return array

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:331
    →public get_edit_url() 
    @internal
@return string

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:229
    →public get_field($field_name) -> mixed
    @param string $field_name
@return mixed

Inherited from Timber\Core
Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Core.php:125
    →public get_link() -> string
    @internal
@deprecated since 1.0
@return string

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:265
    →public get_meta_field($field_name) -> string
    @internal
@param string $field_name
@return string

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:238
    →public get_method_values() -> array
    
@return array

Inherited from Timber\Core
Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Core.php:115
    →public get_path() -> string
    @internal
@deprecated since 1.0
@return string

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:256
    →public get_posts($numberposts_or_args = 10, $post_type_or_class = any, $post_class = "") -> array|bool|null
    Get posts that have the current term assigned.

@internal
@param int|array $numberposts_or_args Optional. Either the number of posts or an array of
arguments for the post query that this method is going.
to perform. Default `10`.
@param string    $post_type_or_class  Optional. Either the post type to get or the name of
post class to use for the returned posts. Default
`any`.
@param string    $post_class          Optional. The name of the post class to use for the
returned posts. Default `Timber\Post`.
@return array|bool|null

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:283
    →public import($info, $force = false) 
    Takes an array or object and adds the properties to the parent object
@example
```php
$data = array('airplane' => '757-200', 'flight' => '5316');
$post = new Timber\Post()
$post->import(data);
echo $post->airplane; //757-200
```
@param array|object $info an object or array you want to grab data from to attach to the Timber object

Inherited from Timber\Core
Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Core.php:59
    →public link() -> string
    Returns a full link to the term archive page like
`http://example.com/category/news`
@api
@example
```twig
See all posts in: <a href="{{ term.link }}">{{ term.name }}</a>
```
@return string

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:398
    →public meta($field_name) -> string
    Retrieves and outputs meta information stored with a term. This will use
both data stored under (old) ACF hacks and new (WP 4.6+) where term meta
has its own table. If retrieving a special ACF field (repeater, etc.) you
can use the output immediately in Twig — no further processing is
required.
@api
@param string $field_name
@example
```twig
<div class="location-info">
<h2>{{ term.name }}</h2>
<p>{{ term.meta('address') }}</p>
</div>
```
@return string

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:421
    →public path() -> string
    Returns a relative link (path) to the term archive page like
`/category/news`
@api
@example
```twig
See all posts in: <a href="{{ term.path }}">{{ term.name }}</a>
```
@return string

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:435
    →public posts($numberposts_or_args = 10, $post_type_or_class = any, $post_class = "") -> array|bool|null
    Gets posts that have the current term assigned.

@api
@example
```twig
<h4>Recent posts in {{ term.name }}</h4>

<ul>
{% for post in term.posts(3, 'post') %}
<li>
<a href="{{ post.link }}">{{ post.title }}</a>
</li>
{% endfor %}
</ul>
```

If you need more control over the query that is going to be performed, you can pass your
custom query arguments in the first parameter.

```twig
<h4>Our branches in {{ region.name }}</h4>

<ul>
{% for branch in region.posts({
posts_per_page: -1,
orderby: 'menu_order'
}, 'branch', 'Branch') %}
<li>
<a href="{{ branch.link }}">{{ branch.title }}</a>
</li>
{% endfor %}
</ul>
```

@param int|array $numberposts_or_args Optional. Either the number of posts or an array of
arguments for the post query that this method is going.
to perform. Default `10`.
@param string $post_type_or_class     Optional. Either the post type to get or the name of
post class to use for the returned posts. Default
`any`.
@param string $post_class             Optional. The name of the post class to use for the
returned posts. Default `Timber\Post`.
@return array|bool|null

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:487
    →public title() 
    @api
@return string

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:495
    →public update($key, $value) 
    
@param string  $key
@param mixed   $value

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:348
    →protected static get_tid($tid) -> int|array
    @internal
@param int $tid
@return int|array

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:199
    →protected get_term($tid) -> mixed
    @internal
@param int|object|array $tid
@return mixed

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:161
    →protected get_term_from_query() 
    @internal
@return integer

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:108
    →protected get_term_meta($tid) -> array
    @internal
@param int $tid
@return array

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:150
    →protected init($tid) 
    @internal
@param int $tid

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:125
→ Called from <ROOT>wp-content/themes/zoomer/blocks/related-items/display.php:54
  1. <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/advanced-custom-fields-pro/pro/blocks.php:831
  2. <ROOT>wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php:341 [acf_block_render_template()]
  3. <ROOT>wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php:365 [WP_Hook->apply_filters()]
  4. <ROOT>wp-includes/plugin.php:522 [WP_Hook->do_action()]
  5. <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/advanced-custom-fields-pro/pro/blocks.php:794 [do_action()]
  6. <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/advanced-custom-fields-pro/pro/blocks.php:679 [acf_render_block()]
  7. <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/advanced-custom-fields-pro/pro/blocks.php:590 [acf_rendered_block()]
  8. <ROOT>wp-includes/class-wp-block.php:599 [acf_render_block_callback()]
  9. <ROOT>wp-includes/blocks.php:2383 [WP_Block->render()]
  10. <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/blocksy-companion-pro/framework/premium/features/render-custom-post-type.php:276 [render_block()]
  11. <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/blocksy-companion-pro/framework/premium/features/render-custom-post-type.php:215 [Blocksy\CustomPostTypeRenderer->get_content_unfiltered()]
  12. <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/blocksy-companion-pro/framework/premium/features/content-blocks/renderer.php:11 [Blocksy\CustomPostTypeRenderer->get_content()]
  13. <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/blocksy-companion-pro/framework/premium/features/content-blocks.php:457 [Blocksy\ContentBlocksRenderer->get_content()]
  14. <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/blocksy-companion-pro/framework/premium/features/content-blocks.php:427 [Blocksy\ContentBlocks->output_hook()]
  15. <ROOT>wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php:341 [Blocksy\ContentBlocks->Blocksy\{closure}()]
  16. <ROOT>wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php:365 [WP_Hook->apply_filters()]
  17. <ROOT>wp-includes/plugin.php:522 [WP_Hook->do_action()]
  18. <ROOT>wp-content/themes/blocksy/inc/components/single/content-helpers.php:476 [do_action()]
  19. <ROOT>wp-content/themes/blocksy/template-parts/single.php:74 [blocksy_single_content()]
  20. <ROOT>wp-includes/template.php:816
  21. <ROOT>wp-includes/template.php:749 [load_template()]
  22. <ROOT>wp-includes/general-template.php:206 [locate_template()]
  23. <ROOT>wp-content/themes/blocksy/single.php:17 [get_template_part()]
  24. <ROOT>wp-includes/template-loader.php:125
  25. <ROOT>wp-blog-header.php:19
  26. <ROOT>index.php:17
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