Adventures in Eating In

March has had me thinking about budgeting and how to cut back, especially in the area of eating out. Coupons have helped, and we have been eating at less expensive places. But I have also been asking myself the reasons behind my decision to eat out. After contemplating it, here are my main reasons:

1) Convenience- This is mostly a weekend urge, when I just want us both to be able to relax. No one has to buy ingredients, prepare dinner, or do dishes.

2) Sometimes I crave things that are difficult to duplicate exactly at home, like ethnic food.

So this weekend, instead of eating out, we made two meals at home that resembled food we would normally buy at a restaurant. The gourmet burgers we made with buns from the Grateful Bread bakery, grass-fed ground beef, green goddress dressing and Irish cheddar leftover from our party, and caramelized onions. Best burger I have ever made at home.


Total approximate cost for two burgers: $4.50, or $2.25 each. Obviously, a fraction of the price of eating out. Total prep time: 1 1/2 hours. (Caramelizing the onions was a very long process...)

Saturday, I tried to make Burmese food at home, similar to what we might have gotten at Burma Superstar in the Bay area. Now, I simplified the cooking process for my beloved chicken curry noodles by using leftover caramelized onions and omitting the hard-boiled egg and raw onion. The cooking time was still about 1 1/2 hours, and taste was similar but not identical. Cost per serving: about $2.


Cheap it may be, but I gotta say, this is one complicated dish, traditionally simmered until thick and then served with crushed chilies, lemon wedges, cilantro, raw onions, hard-cooked egg, and caramelized onions. Making it at home is a lot of work. I wouldn't mind paying for just to have someone else do it all for me. But I would have to drive to San Francisco, so that is quite a lot of time and expense unless I was already there.

We will continue our experiments in eating in and see what we come up with. It's always an adventure. And I really like not having to pay a tip.

Have You Heard of the 3/50 Project?

This week, I learned about the 3/50 Project, created by blogger Cinda Baxter, who is aiming to stimulate local economies with the following advice:

"Think of three [local] businesses you'd miss if they went away. Stop in. Say hello. Pick up a little something that makes you smile. Pick 3. Spend 50. Save your local economy." In other words, channel $50 (that would would have spent anyway on food, a hair cut, clothing, etc.) into a locally owned and operated business.

Baxter claims that for every $100 spent in locally owned independent businesses, $68 returns to the community (through taxes, payroll, and expenditure). If you spend that money in a national chain, only $43 returns, and if you spend it online, virtually none of it returns.

As a citizen of one town for most of my life, I can see the potential benefits that the 3/50 project carries for a healthier local economy. My relatively small town often loses potential revenue when shoppers choose to shop at the state capital city that is just a 10 minute drive away, but in fact a completely different county altogether. As for local businesses, I know that I would be lost without my favorite Laotian and Indian restaurant, my trusty dry cleaner and salon, and the Woodland-based Nugget market (the best grocery store I have ever had the pleasure of patronizing). Incidentally, I saw on Facebook that Cinda Baxter visited the nearby city of Woodland and spoke about her project just this week. Too bad I missed her, but I hope to keep her ideas in mind in the future when I need to purchase goods and services and keep it close to home.

Save Your Pennies

Do you see the ancient pirate medallion in this picture?

Sometime last year, my husband started collecting all of his spare change in a jar. Apparently, most men consider it undignified to jingle-jangle when they walk; at least, that was my father’s opinion. He usually just gave his loose change to me, his thrifty child. I was also the one who would go on money-earning expeditions throughout the house, scouring underneath the cushions of our couch and other hidden places for coins.

But back to Paul’s story: For Christmas, I bought him a coin counting machine and encouraged him to keep saving. Just before our last vacation, he took his full jar to a coin-counting machine and found that he had saved over $70! It was nice to have extra spending money on our vacation. I also learned that saving little by little really can amount to something! Who says piggy banks don’t add up over time?

Living Off Of $25 a Week - Possible?

I confess one reason I haven't posted as many recipes lately is because of trying to cut back on grocery store expenses. Naturally, I was interested when a blog I follow, Cheap Healthy Good, recently did an experiment: The blogger's husband was to cook for his family for a week, using only $25. I was interested to see what the guy would eat (seriously!). Granted, he used a fully-stocked pantry in addition to his grocery store finds, but still impressive!

The ideas that were shared at the conclusion of the successful experiment were helpful to me, as an economically-minded shopper, and also since I do the grocery shopping in our family. Some of the things that worked well for this man were:

• Starting with a big chunk of meat and stretching it as far as it would go. This guy used a 3.5-lb pork shoulder over and over: in tacos, on top of egg noodles, as a breakfast side, in a peanut sauce, etc. I think this is a great idea; it also helps limit meat consumption.
• Making a big pot of chili at the beginning of the week. This veggie-and-bean dish provided useful leftovers for many days. I'm going to keep this in mind next Meatless Monday!
• Coupons, shopping from the circular, and unexpected discounts. By staying flexible and open minded, he found many unexpected deals.
• Big, healthy breakfasts. Hello, oatmeal!!!
• Baking. Homemade just about anything trumps store-bought any day! He mentioned cookies, but I think this is almost always true for baked goods.
• Starches. He built almost all of his dinners around potatoes and grains, which are cheap and filling. I would add beans and legumes to this category - they make the foundation of some great, cheap meals too! (Think split pea or bean soup, stewed lentils, chili, etc.)
• Fruit. Especially bananas. I wouldn't support the last part because bananas aren't local and overall produce a negative effect on the environment due to shipping. (Although I still cave in and buy them every now and again. I'm still human and I still crave banana bread sometimes!) However, I agree that fruit is the perfect naturally sweet snack. Apples and oranges are usually easier to find local and cheap in California.
• Peanut butter. A good source of healthy fats, I would just add to be sure you buy natural. I feel sorry for those kids who die if they smell a peanut, cause they're missing out. And what's up with schools outlawing PB&J? Sacrilege! (Just kidding)

I hope you were inspired by this awesome husband like I was to save more on your next trip to the grocery store!

Indian Spice and Everything Nice (and Cheap)

A recent article in "Cooking Light" magazine suggests trying new foods in the coming year. Whether it be growing your own exotic herbs or cooking with an unfamiliar food such as quinoa or fennel, the article submits that this will help us break out of our eating routines, potentially add health benefits to our diets (assuming you haven’t been aching to try fried butter...), and inspire us with a renewed enthusiasm for food.

One thing I’ve long wanted to try is Indian daal, a lentil-based dish served with rice. The aforementioned article actually included a recipe for daal, and I decided that I would make it.

I began my experiment yesterday in the Indian grocery store next to the popular Kaveri Madras restaurant in Sacramento. As I piled all of the necessary ingredients into my little basket, I began to worry about the cost. Spices are notoriously expensive, and I almost always sneak into my mom’s pantry when I need to use some for a recipe, rather than shelling out the $5-10 price per container at the store. (Don't judge a poor girl.) Nothing I saw had a price on it, which I found odd and a bit disconcerting. (The girl behind the counter later told me that their price sticker machine had jammed up.)

As I looked down at my basket and saw the cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, turmeric, mustard seeds, nigella seeds, cumin, and moong lentils, I felt a bit of trepidation and guilt at the thought of the cost of my experiment. (After all, saving money is another one of my goals!) Imagine my relief when the grand total came to a mere $13.63! I also had a pleasant conversation with the girl behind the counter, who helped explain how to cook a proper daal and even got on the internet to make sure that I had the right spice that I needed for the nigella seeds.

Who knew that spices would be so much cheaper at Indian stores? I will totally go back for that reason alone. I will write again next week about the results of my attempts at daal-making.