Learning how to still have flavour

When I first decided to start eating on a budget I was really worried that the flavor and quality of my food would be seriously compromised. Keep in mind, if I could live on a champagne budget I would! I soon learned that I didn't have to sacrifice flavour, I just had to start thinking more about the purchases.

Here are some tips:

- When you have extra money in your budget pick up different spices, sauces, etc. These are items you won't have to purchase every shop, and really add to the flavour of foods. The spice that I found and fell in love with during this journey was Chipotle. You wouldn't believe how well chipotle worked with everything!

-Most deli sections will slice specialty cheeses for sandwiches. In the end it doesn't end up being a lot more than processed cheese slices, and its healthier. Some of my favourites were Swiss, Edam, and Gruyere.

- The cheapest sandwich meats are kind of boring. I remember eating copious amounts of pepperoni and salami and getting sick of the taste! One tip is to get between 50-100gms of a more special, better tasting meat. Get it sliced really thin and put one or two slices in with the salami. You'd be surprised at how much the taste changes.

- If you need to use boxed foods, like hamburger helper, for a meal spice it up. For one thing those dishes are basically just meat and pasta, I would fill mine with veggies and other flavours.

Here's an example of a meal I would make with Tuna Helper.

Instead of one can of tuna I always used two. And on top of the instructions in the box I added garlic, onions, peppers, tomato, and some cheese if I had. You'd be amazed at how different the meal tastes with a little freshness put in!