Money Saving Tip: Rice, the Ultimate Budget Extender
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Welcome to another money saving tip! I know a lot of us are already squeaking by with our grocery budgets since the prices continue to increase and now many folks are bringing home less pay than they did before (not to mention those without jobs!) so this is a series I add to from time to time with tips and ideas to get more out of your grocery budget without requiring more from your wallet.
Today’s tip: How to extend your grocery budget using Rice!
In this post I’m going to show you:
- How to get rice for about 1/3 of the price grocery stores charge
- Creative ways to use rice to extend your meals
- Recipes that utilize rice in budget conscious ways.
Let’s start with how to save money when it comes to buying rice…
So here is long grain rice in a grocery store for price comparison.
It is $5.20 for five pounds, so $1.05 per pound.
But this 50 pound bag of the same variety of rice purchased at Sam’s Club costs just $17.84 , which comes out to about
35¢ per pound.
This same amount of rice, if purchased for the same going rate as the five pound bag, would run $52.90, a savings of over $35.00 – and we’re not even counting tax!
BUT WHAT DO I DO WITH 50 POUNDS OF RICE?
1. Store it.
Since rice has such a long shelf life (if stored in airtight containers at 70 degrees it is capable of lasting up to 30 years) this is a great food source to purchase in bulk and save some big dollars. You know how we can go to the grocery store and use a coupon to save $1.00? Well think of buying rice in bulk as having a coupon that saves you over $30.00!
I don’t store grains or dried beans in their original packaging because it really isn’t designed for long term food storage. So the first thing I do when I buy a bag of rice is divide it up into containers. Clean 2 and 3 liter coke bottles are ideal for this. I also fill up my pantry container. This go around, I was short a few 2 liters so I temporarily stored some in gallon zipper seal bags until I have more 2 liters to use.
If you don’t have a lot of pantry space, you can simply store these two liters under beds, in coat closets, even in that unused space between the back of your couch and the wall!
To wash coke bottles: Rinse well with warm water. Add 1 tablespoon of bleach and fill halfway with water. Put lid on and give a good shake. Rinse well again. Leave lid off and allow to dry for two to three days, or until they are completely dry inside.
2. EAT IT
Rice is a primary food source for over half the world’s population and a great way to make any meal go further. I love to use rice as a means of extending my meals and trimming my grocery budget. It can serve as a side dish, an entree (when cooked with meat and veggies in it or topped with a little meat and sauce), breakfast, or dessert.
How to use rice to make your meals go further:
•Make it part of the entree. A great way to do this is to prepare your meat in some type of sauce. Then, combine the two either by stirring the rice into the sauce or by serving the meat over the sauce.
A great example of this is my Sticky Chicken Recipe. you can prepare sticky chicken using skin on chicken legs, then serve each chicken leg atop a bed of rice, with a generous spoonful of the sticky chicken sauce poured over. By adding rice to your entree, you can easily use half the amount of meat you normally would, which can make a serious dent in the most expensive part of your grocery budget.
•In Soups and Stews that call for diced potatoes, use uncooked rice instead. Allow half an hour for soup or stew to simmer so rice can cook.
•Use cooked rice in place of oats or bread crumbs in meatloaf and hamburger patties to make them go further.
•Serve rice as breakfast or dessert – check out this simple preparation for that.
•This is not food related BUT we keep a rice hot pack around our house for those aches, pains, and headaches that arise from time to time. Take a clean tube sock, fill halfway with rice, and tie a knot in the end. When you need a good hot pack, just heat in the microwave for about a minute or so. Be careful because it gives off a moist heat and can burn skin if too hot when placed directly on it. This is a long lasting heat source that can be made in a jiff!
•Freeze it for quick suppers on busy nights – Whenever I make rice, I like to make double the amount I need so I have some for another meal without having to cook twice. Allow rice to cool until warm but not cold, then place in zipper seal freezer bags and smooth flat (this helps it thaw faster). Whenever you need cooked rice, thaw in the microwave or add it frozen directly to dishes that have to cook so that the rice has time to heat up before serving.
RECIPES!
Here are just a few recipes from SouthernPlate.com that utilize rice in fun and economical ways to inspire you.
Mama Reed’s Rice Pudding
Dirty Rice
Janice’s Stuffed Peppers
Slow Cooker Fiesta Chicken and Rice
Steak Tips Over Rice
This recipe actually uses inexpensive stew meat as the “steak tips” and I usually find that on sale.
One Skillet Chili Bake
Hot Buttered Sweet Rice
It doesn’t get any simpler than this….and it’s so good!
If you don’t drink the cola, don’t just pour it out!
Google some of the many uses for it, such as toilet cleaner, slug deterrent,and rain cleaner, etc…
Waste not, even if you “want not” to drink it! : )
I’ve done the toilet thing! And I’m convinced it helps the drains so I pour it in different ones each time. If you ever tasted that nasty stuff, it could probably peel paint off the walls! 😉
Do you know EVERYTHING? I never thought to store rice this way. Thank you!
Oh how I wish I did! lol I often think how nice it would be if we could just get a microchip of anything we wanted to know and insert it into our brains! I feel like I ran out of hard disk space ages ago…. 😉
Thank YOU!
Christy
Thanks for the hints. Really are timely. I am going to be going and purchasing a large bag of rice and storing it. Can you give me an idea as to how many 2 liter bottles you need for the bag of rice? Also on your sugar post. How many do you use for the big bag of sugar? I have the room, just need to get some bottles. Then once I have them I’ll go and get my sugar and rice. Love your site.
Sibyl in Houston
Sure thing! In that photo of Katy with all the rice in bottles, that is a whole bag of it packaged up. If you were doing this exclusively with two liters, I’d say you might need as many as twelve. BUT you see those three liter bottles in that pic? I love those. They come from the Dollar Tree and that coke that comes in it is truly the nastiest tasting stuff I’ve ever tasted in my life, but I just buy it for the container and then pour the coke down my drain and figure it’s helping keep things unclogged 😉 I also get diet whenever I do this because that means if I open it and it spews (I have kids, things happen in the process of getting a 3 liter into the house…) I don’t end up with sticky residue on my floors and it is a LOT easier to clean up. Anyway, I buy those just or the container because I looked and that is by far the cheapest container I can get, especially that size, $1 is quite a deal! So if you were to buy some 3 liters like I do, I think you could get by with about seven.
When it comes to the sugar, you’ll need half the amount of storage containers as you do for the rice if you buy a 25 lb bag 🙂 It keeps indefinitely provided the container you put it in is completely dry and airtight.
I hope I was able to help some!
And on the bottle issue, A lot of times if I hear some young people are planning a get together, I offer to provide the drinks if they’ll save me the two liters – helps you rack them up really fast!
Gratefully,
Christy
Christy
Thanks bunches. I understand about not wanting to drink some of that stuff from the dollar store. I might just have to go get some bottles. Then I can clean them and dry them–then off to Sams. Thanks for the tips.
Sibyl
For those that do not drink soda? Ask the youth group at your church to save some. You’ll have enough in a short time. —
Great tip for buying rice. Did this when my children were home. Just 2 of us at home now. Empty nest. No need for 50 lbs of rice now.
Can you also so the vacuum pack sealer to keep rice for a long period of time? Am looking for ways to store things. Not a big soda drinker ourselves. Thanks and again, love all your wonderful ideas as well as recipes. God Bless you and yours.
You can use a vacuum sealer. Or juice bottles. Or anything of the like. Blessings to you Barbara!
What else can you use for storage if you don’t have empty coke bottles? We don’t really drink cokes at my house – except for the occasional can. Would it work in gallon ziplocs?
Bonnie, I use plastic juice containers. Works just as well and has a wider mouth.
You can absolutely use ziploc bags. Just be aware to check them often because there are some bugs that can get into those which is why I went with bottles. You can also use juice bottles, sport drink bottles, etc. Ask family friends and groups to save their 2-liters or any other bottle that has a screw on lid for you.
NOW I want some rice tonight! Hmmm……..I have a great recipe for white rice sauteed in butter and can of beef broth, french onion soup, and mushrooms. I will make it a meal by adding in pieces of steak and chicken that were leftovers that I chopped into small pieces and froze. That and a salad! Whoo Hoo!
Thanks for the tips and recipes, Christy! You are my favorite “go-to” place when I am trying to figure out what to cook for dinner for the millionth time!
Thanks also for introducing me to Thomas Pit BBQ the other day on one of your posts!!!! I get so tired of my own cooking sometimes. AND they are right down the street from my Doctor, so I simply HAVE to go get BBQ when I leave….right???? Hmmm……..may have to be goin to the doctor more! LOL