I’m amazed every month at how much I spend on food. The largest parts of my costs are from eating out, because of the convenience. But when I really look at my finances and my budget, I try to figure out ways to reduce the food costs. The biggest way to reduce the costs are to not eat out. But I think old habits die hard.
However, I’ve figured out the reason my family and I eat out a lot. I think it’s because we get bored at home (not because we like to have people serve us). It’s because only one of us has been the cook. (That “one” is my husband. I’ve been spoiled.)
In order to stop the pattern of eating out I realized I have to start taking my turn in the kitchen. So some of the ways I’ve accomplished this was to buy some pre-made dinners (ex. pizza, lasagna, chicken nuggets). But all of those can get really old, really fast (then boredom again). So I’m back to real cooking and finding simple dishes to fix that require very little on my part.
One of my favorite simple dishes is called Herb Chicken. You take four chicken breasts (small to medium sized) put them in a baggie with a can of Cream of Mushroom soup, a little bit of basil and oregano, squish it all around. When you are ready to cook it put it in a glass dish, heat the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes (or until chicken is completely cooked). While it’s cooking make a box of your favorite Rice-A-Roni. Add some green beans or a salad with the meal and it’s quite scrumptious. Nine times out of ten this is better than eating out and also reduces the gas necessary to get to another restaurant.
I’m not a tomato eater. I’ve never liked raw tomatoes for some reason, but when I was in France I found a basic tomato dish that I really enjoyed. It was cut up tomatoes, and a vinegar type salad dressing. When I returned from France I tried to re-create this dish, but could never find the right dressing. I tried Italian dressing, I tried rice vinegar (this was yummy with cucumbers by the way) and I tried creating my own vinegar dressings. But I gave up on the enjoyment of the tomatoes I had in France and wrote it off to altitude (after all that’s what was wrong with the popcorn I loved in the Colorado Rockies).
Alas, I have to make an announcement now…..I found the best dressing that brings back the same enjoyment of the French tomatoes. So now I can enjoy tomatoes again. The dressing is Paul Newman’s Tuscan Italian. This dressing is awesome, not only because I can reminisce about my time in France, but because you can dump an abundance of dressing on a salad at it never is too much. If you haven’t tried this dressing…put it on your shopping list!
I love watching Hell’s Kitchen with Gordon Ramsey. Where does he get these chefs? If I applied, I’d probably be accepted. I can be just as inept in the kitchen as they are. I’m sure I’d have the Chef saying the F word (and you can be sure the F word is not Food). But I think Gordon Ramsey’s show in the UK is quite brilliantly titled. Especially being that Chef Ramsey has the mouth of a sailor.
I really want to take the time to point out though that the show “The F Word” is actually quite interesting an very Food related. Instead of being stuck in a rut with typical american meals. This show also goes into some very different (at least for me) types of meals to have.
