A Convenient Choice
MAKE IT FAST! Are you eating on the run even
when you eat at home? More
and more consumers are looking
for better ways to manage their
time and their lives. As they juggle
jobs, child care, and household duties,
many families find the day-today
task of food preparation a hass le.
One easy solution seems to be to buy
more prepared foods. But know your
fac ts. When you fix meals from
scratch, you pay for the basic foods
and use your sk ills, effort, and time to
COST OF CONVENIENCE
prepare them. When you buy prepared
foods, you pay for the food and
the preparation se rv ice.
Sometimes the service offe red by
prepared food-and the relaxation for
the cook-is more than worth the
difference in price. The purchased
convenience may save you from eating
out on really ru shed days-an
even bigger saving.
There are other approaches that can
save you a bundle of money and are
Cost of "newer" frozen plate dinners and entrees and their home-prepared counterparts '
Cost per serving
Food Home-prepared Frozen
Dollars
Dinners:2
Cost relative to cost
of home-prepared
Home-prepared Frozen
Percent
Turkey breasl ------ ----------------- 0.91 ------------ 3.25 ----------1 00 ------------- 357
Beef lips -- ------------------- -- ----- 1.29 ------------ 3.99 ----------1 00 ------------- 309
Cod ---------------------------------- .84 ------------ 3.29 ----------1 00 ------------- 392
Entrees:1
Beef teriyaki -------------------------- .95 ------------ 2.93 ----------1 00 ------------- 308
Shrimp creole -----------------------1 .29 ------------ 3.99 ----------1 00 ------------- 309
Chicken chow mein ------------------ .62 ------------1 .99 ----------1 00 -------------321
Sweet and sour chicken --------------.72 ------------ 2.45 ----------1 00 ------------- 340
Beef stroganoff ----------------------- .89 ------------ 2.49 ----------1 00 ------------- 280
Source: Dianlle D. Odlalld. Ruril S. Verrel. alld Carole A. Davis. "Conl"ellienceand lhe
COSI o/lile 'Newer' Fro:en PIOle Dinllers alld Enlrl?es'-' Family Economics Review.
1986 .110. I. pp. 26-30.
I Prices from three Wash ington, D.C., supennarkets. fi rst quarter 1985.
' Each dinner included a gravy or auce, a rice or potato side dish, and a vegetable mixture. Each
entree included rice or noodles and/or a vegetable component.
Guide E-124
also hea lthier! You may be surprised
that they probably wi ll not cost you as
much in time and effort as you think.
The dec ision to use convenience products
such as frozen plate dinners and
entrees often becomes a trade-off
between time available for food preparati
on, money available for food purchase,
nutritional considerations, and ,
of course, ealing quality . Consumers
must dec ide for themselves which of
these concems are most important.
BE FLEXIBLE The first step in tackling the hassle
of managing meals without
blowing your food budget is to
be fl ex ib le. Be prepared to mix a doit
-yourself approach with comme rcial
convenience. If you're in a hurry ,
a package of mi xed vegetables with
seasonings can be convenient for preparing
a stir-fry meal in minutes. The
extra cost may be worthwhile to save
the time and effort of preparing small
amounts of several vegetables.
One big bonus of lhis approach is that
you are in control-and that can mean
a healthy payoff. Combine and manipulate
ingredients to limit the
amount of fat, sodium, and ca lories in
your d iet, the nutriti onal pitfall of
some commercially prepared foods.
But don't lock yoursel f into the do-ityourself
approach. Sometimes Ihe
prepared choice is cheaper and just as
nUlrilious.
COMPARE YOUR CHOICES HOW do you decide what is the best use of your time and money? Think
about the prepared foods you buy and how often you buy them. Use the
following questions as a mental checklist to evaluate your food choices.
After you feel more in control of your choices and have made some changes you
will only need to think about the questions once in a while .
.. What is the price per serving?
•• Will a less expensive product be equally satisfying?
.. How many people are you feeding?
.. How often do you eat the food?
.. Will the food be a healthy choice?
.. Is the food as low in calories, fat, cholesterol, sodium, and sugar as the make-it-
yourself choice?
.. Does the food taste as good as the make-it-yourself choice?
.. Do you have the skills to prepare the food?
.. How long will it take you to fix the meal?
.. What will you have to give up doing to have time to make the food?
.. What special ingredients will you need to buy to make the dish?
You can modify this checklist to fit your own needs and decisions. Taking stock
of your eating style and personal situation will take some time and effort, but
it is the only way to know when and if the convenience is worth the cost.
NEW COOKING FOR FAST TIMES Some homemakers say, "IfIcan't get a meal on the table in 30 minutes, it's
not going to get made." That means families are dining out more. Still, the
restaurant industry knows that consumers long for basic home-cooked
foods. Many magazines and newer cookbooks are filled with time-saving ideas
so try a few on your fami ly. Here are some tips to get you started on creating
and updating home-cooked fast foods .
.. Develop a repertoire of fast recipes.
Restaurants cycle menus; so
can you. Feature favorites and your
specialties at least twice a month.
While you' re at it, double your
recipes and ei ther freeze or refrigerate
the second batch for a repeat
performance.
.. Keep special supplies on hand for
favorite dishes. This will help you
save money, too, by stocking up
when items are on sale.
.. Dress up cooking to make the basic
special. Add fresh sliced mushrooms
to a main dish salad or saute
them for a tuna noodle casserole.
Don't waste time laboring over a
cream sauce for your vegetables.
Sprinkle on grated cheese for an
accent that is healthy and fast. Skip
the whipped cream and top a fruit
cup with a dollop of yogurt and a
sprinkle of cinnamon for flavor .
.. Do what restaurants are starting to
do-emphasize fresh, fast, and
light! Serve fresh fruits and raw
vegetables. Feature salads and
vegetable combinations; broil,
steam, stir-fry, and microwave for
fast, lower-in-fat main dishes.
Note: Information in this guide
has been reviewed by Priscilla
Grijalva, Extension Food & Nutrition
Specialist and reprinted with
permiSSion from Cornell
Cooperative Extension Service.
Published and distributed in furtherance of the Acts of Congress of May 8 and June 30, 1914, by the Cooperative Extension Service of New Mexico
State University, Robert l. Gilliland, associate dean and director, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, cooperating, New Mexico State University is
an equal opportunity employer. All programs are available to everyone regardless of race, color, religion, sex, age, handicap or national origin.
March 1990 Las Cruces, NM
1M
