Are you tired of having the same thing every time you buy chicken or ground beef? One thing I have learned is that you can never belong to too many recipe sites. Each one has its own unique spin, each one offers different choices. Just about every manufacturer of food products has a site these days.
Try something new with that piece of meat/veggie. You might be surprised just how many inexpensive meals you can find. Not every site is for the gourmet minded. I believe the key to ward off food boredom is variety. Try different cuisines such as Thai, Indian, Portuguese, German, Spanish and the list goes on and on. They use many of the same ingredients just in different ways and you will be surprised just how inexpensive they really are.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Cooking from basics
I wonder some times if people have actually forgotten how to cook. I hear all the time "I just don't have time to cook from scratch, it takes too long." I just shake my head and sigh. What could possibly be more important than cooking a good wholesome meal for your family. Take that time and spend it with your children, teach them how to cook. My children were in the kitchen from the time they were born. As Infants they just hung out on the counter in their little seats, as toddlers they sat and played on the kitchen floor. About the age of two they started to help by "washing" veggies. By the time they were 6, we gave each girl a day of the week to plan dinner for the family (we only had daughters), with help of course, then later on their own. We had some of the most interesting meals, but it was so much fun being together. There were even times we would throw it in the trash and go get takeout. Just remember it is all about spending time together not how perfect the meal was.
"Do you use Rice-A-Roni?" I ask. "Oh yes all the time!", they reply. "Did you know that in the same amount of time it takes you to make up a box of Rice-A-Roni you can make the same dish from scratch?", I ask them. That is when they look at me like I have a third eye or something. Your standard Long Grain Rice takes 15-20 minutes to cook, the same as Rice-A-Roni. Look at a box some time and read the Nutrition facts. Salt is fourth on the list of ingredients and they have to add those extra chemical compound vitamins, which your body does not readily absorb. Now don't get me wrong here, I am in no way bashing Rice-A-Roni, I use it too, from time to time. But what I am saying is that people have gotten so used to ready made products that they don't even think about cooking a meal from basics.
Now lets compare cost. A box of Rice-A-Roni was $1.49 the last time I checked the price and yields 2.5 servings. A 5 Pound bag of rice costs me $2.59 and yields 18 servings. That is $0.60 each serving compared to $0.14 cents each serving. You say but that is just the rice. Ok lets work this out. You will need 1 cup of rice $0.56, a can of broth $0.99, a couple of spaghetti noodles $0.02, a little pepper $0.01, and a little garlic powder $0.02. That comes to a total of $1.60. You say see that is more, but remember we have more servings. With every cup of rice you get 4 servings, when you break it down to per serving costs here is how it compares, $0.40 per serving. as apposed to $0.60.
Cooking with basic products cost less and you control what you feed your family.
Happy cooking everyone!
"Do you use Rice-A-Roni?" I ask. "Oh yes all the time!", they reply. "Did you know that in the same amount of time it takes you to make up a box of Rice-A-Roni you can make the same dish from scratch?", I ask them. That is when they look at me like I have a third eye or something. Your standard Long Grain Rice takes 15-20 minutes to cook, the same as Rice-A-Roni. Look at a box some time and read the Nutrition facts. Salt is fourth on the list of ingredients and they have to add those extra chemical compound vitamins, which your body does not readily absorb. Now don't get me wrong here, I am in no way bashing Rice-A-Roni, I use it too, from time to time. But what I am saying is that people have gotten so used to ready made products that they don't even think about cooking a meal from basics.
Now lets compare cost. A box of Rice-A-Roni was $1.49 the last time I checked the price and yields 2.5 servings. A 5 Pound bag of rice costs me $2.59 and yields 18 servings. That is $0.60 each serving compared to $0.14 cents each serving. You say but that is just the rice. Ok lets work this out. You will need 1 cup of rice $0.56, a can of broth $0.99, a couple of spaghetti noodles $0.02, a little pepper $0.01, and a little garlic powder $0.02. That comes to a total of $1.60. You say see that is more, but remember we have more servings. With every cup of rice you get 4 servings, when you break it down to per serving costs here is how it compares, $0.40 per serving. as apposed to $0.60.
Cooking with basic products cost less and you control what you feed your family.
Happy cooking everyone!
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Opening Post
Hello and welcome. I hope this site will be of assistance to all who are here. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. I am new to this so please be patient with me. I hope to have everything up and running shortly. Have a wonderful day.
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