Welcome

I would like to welcome you to my blog. Many people are struggling and deciding which expenses they can pay and which will have to wait. Many times there is little, if anything, left to buy food. I would like to offer these families some hope and knowledge on how to feed their families a healthy meal in these difficult times.




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!

1 comment:

  1. Amen, and I love your breakdown... it totally baffles me as well when ppl say they don't have enough time. I'm like huh? But your baking that Stouffer's lasagna which you paid $10 for, for an hour anyway... and you won't even have leftovers!!

    Love your blog!! I also follow frugalmakescents.blogspot.com

    She's taught me sooooo much as well!!

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