Ditto your remarks. We think alike. I am retired and am the chief cook and bottle washer for three people. I would add, I buy mostly basic ingredients and cook from scratch. I plan my menu based on what’s on sale this week. I try to serve a meat and two veggies when possible but I do find myself cooking junk food more than occasionally. I can cook a close imitation of any Mexican Inn, Italian Inn, KFC, McDonalds, Long John Silvers, Pizza Hut, etc menu item for a fraction of the cost.
America is blessed. Take a little time to learn to cook using basic foodstuffs and you can dine as well or better than Obama does in the Whitehouse. Bet he wishes he had some Texas BarBQ, chilli, tamales, enchaladas, etc.
I guess that makes 3 of us. I do about 90% of the cooking. I’ve just started trying to bake bread. Did 2 sourdough loaves yesterday. Net cost; about $1 for the flour and salt and the ammortized cost of the sourdough starter. Was pleased with the results. OK so I brew my own beer, raise bees and a garden and cook most things from scratch. Where do people find time to watch tv?
.
I’ve posted this before but here’s a Schlotsky’s sandwich recipe that’s super simple despite so many steps. Without the genoa salami which isn’t sold here, I can make 5 sandwiches (still on the pricey side vs. bp&j) for the price of one store bought. Scroll down: http://texascookin.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2012-01-01T00:00:00-06:00&updated-max=2013-01-01T00:00:00-06:00&max-results=20
Same here on the frugal cooking. The Thanksgiving turkey was boned and the carcass boiled and frozen for soups later. The Christmas ham was picked and frozen and the bone is going into a pot of beans tomorrow, brrrrr! Might make some cornbread, too. Last night, the leftover roasted chicken became pot pie and desert was banana bread from some old bananas pulled from the freezer that were bought on sale. I haven’t been to the store since before Thanksgiving but have to go tomorrow because the dogs ate the last of their food. I’ll stop eating before I scratch those monsters from the bloodless rock of a budget.