Current meal planning guidelines suggest filling the plate with vegetables and

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“The biscuit recipe caught my eye while I was flippingthrough a book, so I wrote it on a receipt,” said the wifeand mother of four, closing the oven door before checking the hugepot of potatoes boiling nicely on the stove.
McKelvey figures she can get three meals from the 10 pounds ofpotatoes she bought for $4.99. She smiles as she recounts passingup the five-pound bag that went for $3.99.
“We’ll eat mashed potatoes tonight,” sheexplained, “and I’ll freeze the rest.”
With food costs skyrocketing, and the value of our dollar plungingfaster than our car’s gas gauge — we could all use sometips from the food patrol. Thanks to the folks at BuffaloState’s Dietetics and Nutrition department — and thesix-member McKelvey family — we’ve discovered ways toput good food on your table night after night, without repeatingmeals and despite finicky eaters.
For McKelvey, food is more a science, one that she will continue tostudy. With a degree in food systems management, she recentlyreturned to Buffalo State College as a dietetics student and willgraduate in May. She knows that eating healthy — mealsincluding lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meat andlow-fat dairy products — is not beyond most budgets. Herhusband is learning, too.
“Not only do we save money, but in getting her dieteticsdegree, we’re learning as she is,” said Andy McKelvey,an architect. “It will really help the kids later in life,too. A lot of times she’ll save as much as $50 to $70 by thetime she’s done with the coupons. When you see $50 insavings, it makes sense to do it.”
Planning the menu
McKelvey has become a weekend food warrior. Her Sunday morningroutine?
“I pour my coffee. I sit down with the newspaper, my scissorsand my list. I have a master list on my refrigerator divided intogrocery, health and beauty, dairy, frozen, soaps. As soon as I runout of something, I put it on my master list.”
While clipping coupons, McKelvey composes her menu for the weekbased on sale items. The only way to save money, she has learned,is to plan ahead. Shopping daily for dinner only adds to yourbills.
“If red peppers are on sale, they’ll get red-pepperslices for lunch and I’ll grill red peppers forfajitas,” she said. “Sour cream is ‘buy one, getone’ this week, so we’ll be having tacos. Gettingorganized, thinking ahead on what you will eat for dinner iscritical. If you have a menu and you have everything you need onyour list, you will not need to step in that grocery store againthat week.”
McKelvey banks on leftovers. That’s why she often buys an8-pound frozen turkey breast for $15. It also explains her chickensoup strategy. “Put five split-chicken breasts in a soup potand you’ll have soup one night,” she noted. “Thenyou can shred the chicken and make enchiladas, fajitas, tacos,chicken ala king.”
The same holds true for the turkey breast, she explained. With a$15 breast, McKelvey makes two meals for six people and severallunches for her children.
“You’ll have Sunday dinner and sliced turkey forlunches,” McKelvey said. “If you go to the deli, turkeybreast will be $8.99 a pound. “There’s enough left forturkey ala king or over rice with gravy for one more meal.”
If there’s one meal that poses an extra challenge it has tobe lunch, according to McKelvey. Her daughters Alena, 7, andPayton, 9, attend the Olmsted School. Peter, 14, goes to CityHonors and Patrick, 16, is a junior at Canisius High School.
“It’s expensive to pack lunches,” McKelvey said.“They need a drink and you’d rather it not be of thesugary Kool-Aid variety. I buy prepackaged soy milk, and they loveit. One drinks vanilla. The other three drink chocolate. Eighteenservings is $11.99, making them 66 cents each. They can buy milk atschool for 45 cents this year, and that just went up a dime, but Iprefer the lower fat.
“If you buy lunch in school, it tends to be high in sodiumand fat,” she added. “The key is to pack variety,making sure you’re not giving them the same thing every day.A lot people suggest rolling it up in tortillas.”
When grocery shopping, McKelvey not only watches prices, but whatthose around her are buying. While convenience foods areconvenient, you’ll pay more for them. Occasionally, she willbuy cookies, but she bakes most often from scratch.
“People buy prepackaged cookies and chips,” McKelveysaid. “Half-cup Rubbermaid containers hold three cookies, orbuy raisins in bulk and fill up the containers. You don’thave to buy yogurt prepackaged. One time I sent my high school sonin with a little container of Teddy Grahams and I asked if he wasabused and he said the kids wanted them.”
Nutrition lab
Around the table in the Dietetics & Nutrition computer lab inCaudell Hall, Buffalo State College Associate Professor Teja Raoand Assistant Professor Donna Hayes talk food. At issue is one oflast semester’s assignments.
“The assignment I gave them was to see if they could feedthemselves and their families, and plan a week’s worth ofmeals under the thrifty plan [cheapest],” said Hayes.“And I wanted them to still meet the food pyramidguidelines.”
The “pyramid” is a tool, a set of guidelines issued bythe federal government to help people make healthy food choices. Itis updated regularly to reflect changes in dietary guidelines, mostrecently to emphasize grains, fruits and vegetables over proteinsand fat.
“As Americans, we eat a lot more protein than we actuallyneed,” said Hayes. “Current meal planning guidelinessuggest filling the plate with vegetables and pasta. Youdon’t need to have a 10-ounce steak. Three ounces isplenty.”
McKelvey aced this assignment, and carries what she learned withher today as she budgets $200 weekly to spend on groceries, andhealth, beauty and cleaning supplies. With prices increasing— for example, a gallon of skim milk shooting up $1 from$1.69 to $2.69, and a 10-pound bag of rice increasing from $8.99 tomore than $19 — frozen or canned fruits and vegetables canoffer affordable options.
“With canned food, the texture is ruined totally because ofthe heat processing,” said Rao. “And heat destroys somenutrients, basically the water-soluble vitamins, plus a lot ofcanned foods tend to be high in sodium. In a casserole or somesoups, canned vegetables would be fine.”
On the other hand, plain frozen vegetables are not processed withsalt. It’s only when frozen vegetables are combined withsauce that sodium content increases.
While McKelvey stays away from canned or frozen fruits andvegetables, she routinely freezes meat, bulk buying pork chops andchicken breasts — and sometimes adding marinade beforetossing into the freezer. Frozen food will dry out over time unlessit is completely air sealed, she pointed out. As for that crystalice you see sometimes forming in your freezer bags? That means yourfood was not frozen at the proper temperature.
For single-person households, bulk purchasing — as well ascoupon clipping — may work with some caveats.
“With some items you have to buy two to get the coupondiscount,” Hayes noted. “If you live alone, you have tofigure in storage space, and whether you like the food enough tobuy two.”
For more healthy and affordable meal planning tips, Hayessuggested: h t t p :// www.buffalostate.edu/ dietetics/onedish. x m l , www.mypyramid.gov . and http://eatright.org.
jkwiatkowski@buffnews.com