About me

I shamelessly pick up pennies left on the ground.
I turn leftover stale bread into croutons (and bake my own bread).
I consider clipping coupons on Sunday the highlight of my morning.
That's why when I became unemployed a few months ago I started paying closer attention to cooking on a budget.
My goal is simple: keep the weekly food cost down to $40 while keeping my always-hungry husband satisfied.
The results have been wonderful and produced recipes such as garlic soup with chorizo and egg, creamy parmesian pasta salad and perch marinated in soy sauce, peanut butter, garlic, chili and paprika.
The trick to doing this right is setting a few simple guidelines and sticking to them. For example I've changed recipes that might call for duck and substituted it with chicken. Or if an item is on sale at a grocery store I'll go to the manufacturer's Web site to print a coupon.
Sure, it is easier to reach for the $5 bag of Doritos instead, but why get unhealthy food that won't satisfy hunger?
For that same $5 you can buy sweet potatoes, bushel of spinach and chicken thighs to make a delicious dinner that'll likely produce leftovers for next day's lunch.
That's why as I watched people load their shopping carts with food that results in a $120 bill and forces the buyer to return for "small things" later in the week I opted to find a better way to deal with the exorbitant food prices.
You can do it too.