Cooking on a Budget

The whole purpose of this blog is to show people that it is possible to create a variety of delicious meals while also staying on your budget. I definitely know how hard it is to not have a huge budget for groceries, so I tend to find recipes that either have few ingredients, inexpensive ingredients, or ingredients that I already have (e.g. white rice, milk, eggs, chicken etc). Lately though, I have been branching out and not running away from recipes that have things like rice vinegar or corn starch, even though I'm not 100% sure what exactly to use them with! Buying a whole lot of new ingredients can initially add up, but you will have them forever! Granted, we save a bit of money shopping at the Commissary as opposed to local grocery stores here in Hawaii, but even when I was living back home and doing the grocery shopping for my dad and I, I managed to save my dad some money too! I bought all of my regular groceries at WalMart, and then went to Publix for the fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, and other special items. Sadly, the WalMarts here don't have a grocery selection like they do everywhere else, and even worse, there is NO Publix, but we make do with what we can find!

The most important thing I do before going grocery shopping is make a list, which I'm sure the majority of people do. I base it off of the general household foods we need (e.g. cereal, milk, eggs, bread etc) and also the list of meals my husband and I came up with for the upcoming two weeks. When I get to the Commissary, I strictly stick to what is on the list, and try my absolute hardest not to stray from it too much. When I go grocery shopping by myself, I tend to go waaay over budget, always grabbing special treats that I don't even need. However, when Cory comes with me, I'm always way under budget, so even though he hates grocery shopping, he will be there every time because I hate not having extra money!

The moral of this particular posting was to show that it isn't impossible to eat delicious food that isn't repetitive (we were eating the same few dinners ALL the time for a while) while still having money to spend otherwise! Remember!!! 1. Always be prepared with your list 2. Do not stray from your list 3. Don't be discouraged by recipes that have new ingredients even if you aren't used to them

How can you become a better cook for yourself or your family if you're too afraid to try new things? Happy cooking/shopping! (:

~S