Evening Edge

Milk, eggs, meat and produce prices have reached a 17-year high. Meanwhile, gas and heating oil are gobbling up more of our available cash, leaving us less to spend on food.

What's a home cook to do?

Planning, effort and a little restraint can help rein in the costs of providing family meals. Here are some tips:

GET SAVVY ABOUT CHICKEN

• Buy a whole chicken, which is often as low as 69 cents per pound on sale, instead of boneless, skinless breasts at $3-plus per pound. Roast it whole (good for at least two meals) or trim off legs, wings and breast meat for another dish and use the rest to make chicken stock.

• If you're not keen on carcasses, try buying a cheaper cut than boneless breast meat. Choose bone-in breasts, boneless thighs or, cheapest of all, drumsticks.

CUT BACK ON MEAT AND SCOUT FOR DEALS

• Find the meat department's "reduced for quick sale" section. Most supermarkets have them, and though you won't find a deal every week, occasionally you score (we found beef tri-tip and a pork loin for a couple of dollars per pound less than the regular price). Gotta use it quickly, though, or it's no deal.

• Build filling meals around cheap protein: Dried beans are a good bet _ especially tiny red lentils that cook in a flash. Pair them with ginger and curry powder or other zippy flavors, and simmer with inexpensive veggies like cabbage and carrots. And don't forget about eggs, still a decent deal even though the price is going up.

• Buy bacon by the slice at the meat counter; just a little bit adds a lot of flavor to pasta dishes and other one-pot meals.

• Buy ground meats, or get by on less of the more costly whole-muscle cuts. Choose recipes that stretch meat, such as stir-fries or fajitas, pasta dishes or frittatas.

GET ORGANIZED

• Make a weekly menu plan and shopping list, and stick to it. Set aside an hour each week to get organized, on a weekend or an evening after the kids go to bed. Pull recipes and jot down what you'll make for dinner, check cupboards for ingredients on hand, and write a grocery list. Include in the plan any steps you can do ahead of time, such as browning meat the night before for lasagna, mixing and shaping a meatloaf, or chopping vegetables for a soup or stir-fry.

• Grocery shop only once a week, at the store that has the best combination of deals and products for your needs. If you have to run out for milk or a single ingredient, send a family member who can resist impulse buying.

EAT IN SEASON OR SAVE IT FOR LATER

• Eat mostly or only seasonal fruits and vegetables. Cook more root vegetables in the winter; eat more grapes, tomatoes and zucchini in the summer. The fresh produce will taste better and probably be cheaper, too.

• Use your freezer, especially for winter temptations like out-of-season fruit. In late spring and summer freeze rhubarb, peeled and sweetened peaches, and summer berries (head to a farm stand or U-pick farm for the best prices) to use year-round. Freeze black bananas to use in muffins or bread.

• When fresh basil is cheap and abundant (think July), make and freeze pesto or puree the leaves with olive oil and nuts. Freeze in small amounts (an ice-cube tray works great), and pull it out any time you need a quick topping for pizza or pasta.

ENFORCE YOUR SPENDING GOALS

• Switch to a cash-only budget. Set spending amounts for groceries, eating out and miscellaneous household purchases (light bulbs, cat food). Allot yourself a small amount of fun money for coffee dates, etc. Then put cash in separate envelopes for each category.

• When it's gone for the week, it's gone. When you visit the farmers market, know what you can afford to spend, take cash and leave when it's gone.

• Shop online. Even with a $5 to $10 delivery fee, you'll often come out ahead by buying only what you need for your week's worth of meals.

GO GREEN

• Plant an herb garden. Backyard herbs limit trips to the store, and perennials like rosemary, thyme and sage need little care. Tarragon and basil are a little more finicky but delicious. Alternatively, buy fresh herbs in bulk at a store where you can purchase as little as a sprig or two.

• For deals on organic veggies, look for your supermarket's frozen or canned house brands. Sign up for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share with a local organic farm. If the share costs around $500 for the season, that's $23 per week for enough fresh, organic vegetables for a family of four.

START A SOUP NIGHT

• Make soup once a week. It's filling, cheap and delicious: Think potato-leek, Cuban black bean, butternut squash, corn chowder, split pea, mushroom barley, curry vegetable. If you like meat or the flavor of it, find recipes that use small amounts or inexpensive cuts, like ham hocks.

MAKE YOUR OWN DESSERT

• When your sweet tooth calls, bake instead of buy. Especially economical are chocolate cakes or cookies that call for cocoa powder (not solid chocolate), and homemade berry shortcake — make the biscuits, and buy berries in season when they're on sale.

BE A SMART SHOPPER

• Buy what you need, and don't stock up without a purpose. Don't buy four boxes of cereal when all you need is one. Shop in big-box membership stores only if you know you can use large quantities, or split large portions with another household.

• Find hidden deals at the supermarket: 2 liters of store-brand sparkling water in the soda-pop aisle sell for less than a buck; the family-size packs of corn tortillas are the best value, and you can freeze them in meal-size portions so they're handy.

• Cut down on junk food (chips, crackers and sodas), which are pricey and full of empty calories. While you're at it, curb the bottled-water habit and drink from the tap (invest in a filter if you don't like the taste). Rethink your idea of a snack: peanut butter toast, a bowl of oatmeal, or some homemade hummus and veggies are healthful and affordable choices.

• Use supermarket membership cards. Check weekly ads and clip coupons. Look in newspaper inserts and also online (for a list of free coupon Web sites, go to About.com.

• Make sure to read a shelf tag's cost per ounce or pound when comparison shopping. Smaller sizes aren't always cheaper: We found small containers of house-brand yogurt at one store a sweeter deal than the 32-ounce containers some weeks, and not so during others.

• Buy spices and grains in bulk _ but only after checking what you already have in your cabinet. Don't buy more than you can use in a year.

• Prioritize your dollars when buying organic produce. Fruits and vegetables testing highest for pesticide residues, according to the Environmental Working Group, are peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, lettuce, imported grapes and pears. It makes sense to spend more and get organic for those items. On the low end of the residue spectrum are onions, avocado, frozen sweet corn, pineapple, mango, frozen peas, asparagus, kiwi, bananas, cabbage and broccoli. (For a complete list, go to www.foodnews.org.)