Every time you cook it's a opportunity to learn something anew, about the same recipe.
Tortillas is a very good example of the above statement. It has very simple ingredients, yet if you use your imagination you can use anything to create endless combinations of the same thing with different textures and different out comes. Some people believe that you only have to have all the same ingredients to make tortillas. Nope! Substitute milk for coconut milk, half and half, if your really low on milk half water and half milk, soup broth, condensed milk cut with water...and on and on. I made a lot of different types. When you know how to create tortillas in so many ways you will soon discover that when money gets tight, you'll still be able to make your tortillas. All these skills add up and help you get buy in the tight times.
When I started cooking for my self and my husband it was all trial and error. I was not the type to gravitate towards T.V cooking shows or rely on a certain cook book. I had no cook books. But what I did have is lot's and lot's of notes that I had collected over a long period of time. From different ideas, yes some from magazines, some from cook books that I could not afford and others from the internet. And when I mean trial and error I really mean trial and error. Cooking from notes is a lot different than having the whole recipe in front of you. It happened this way and I am really glad it did, it forced me to be more imaginative and really focus in on what I was making. I am highly detail oriented and notice the difference between things, and other subtle nuances. Here is what I've learned and here is how to make the most of what you have. As prices go up and up, being creative in how you prepare your meals is paramount, because it is what get you from day to day, week to week, month to month and year to year.
1st. SHOPPING: KEEP IT SIMPLE & BORING.
You enter the shopping center or out door farmers market and all your thinking about is food and more food and oh look there's this and that. But what you have to keep in mind ,is keep your shopping list simple and boring, yeah I now it's not exciting, but in the long run it will save you money. This is only an example you can change it to fit you life style any which way, so here is the trick. Monday- Friday make very simple meals, nothing exciting, but still good. Then on Saturday and Sunday try something fun or different, save the special exciting meals for the week ends. Learn how to maintain a pattern like this and in time you will see it does save you money. Now if you get distracted by fancy meal thought out the week, you know the one with the fancy names that only make enough food for two people and you end up spending $25.00 a plate. Your not going to be saving money.
2nd. RESTAURANT ROBBERY
The fastest way to drain your bank account is to eat out. You will not save money. If you have the income to do so great, but keep in mind if you add up all your receipt after one month of eating out and you can afford to buy a small car, your really wasting money, and your wreaking havok on your health. Restaurants don't think about keeping you healthy, they stuff all their recipes with butter, eggs and rich sauces. And if you drink, were talking calorie explosion.
2nd : THE PIT FALL OF COUPONS.
Are you really saving money when you come home with 50 tubes of tooth paste. How is tooth paste going to feed your family? Coupons trick us in to spending money else where. Consider this when your driving your vehicle to save money with your coupons, add the price of the gas on to the items you purchased, it might be cents, but over time your losing money. Purchase things you can use for meals that you are going to make. If you purchase 50 cans of peas, but don't really like peas and don't use them, that's a waste. I know people who buy just to buy. This is all for now I might go deeper into this subject in another post. If your going to use coupons, use them on things your going to make with meals with. To really utilize your coupons make sure you purchasing your items with in a reasonable distance from where you live.
3rd. PLANNING OUT A MEAL
When your trying to figure out and plan a meals for the week, plan it to what you already have. If you plan it for things you don't have for instance like a new recipe with expensive ingredients, your going to find your self spending a lot more money and your fancy meal might only be enough for every one with no left overs. Utilize what you already have instead of going out and buying more food. Avoid recipes that have unique and specialized ingredients and stick to recipes that you know exactly what all the ingredients are and have on hand or know you can improvise. For example if it asks for carrots add another vegetables and so on. Now I'm not trying to be a spoil sport, but save the special recipes for special times when you do have a little bit more money to play with. If you rely on specialty recipes for all your meals, say good buy to your money, because it will go fast.
4th. HOW TO INTEGRATE A MEAL IN TO ANOTHER + LEFT OVERS
All of the recipes I provide can be mix with each other.
Here is an example.
1. DIRTY RICE: Put between two tortillas with cheese, Add it to soup broth.
2. MANDARIN PANCAKES: Go good with any type of left over meat, scrambled eggs, left over rice and veggies, tuna salad. Basically anything you can think of that sound yummy even the dirty rice
the ideas are endless if it sounds good try it. And keep in mind any stir fry you have left over can be turned into a soup. All you have to do is heat up the broth and add the veggies. All ways think ahead, what can I do. Here is another thing that I do. Lets use Dirty rice for an example when the meat and rice is done cooking do not mix it together, but rather dish it up in separate bowls and freeze it separate. This way you can use if for another idea. I tend to dish up soup like this so, it leave the broth free for other stuff, gravy, using it to cook meat in. I am always thinking ahead and every thing is used up even if it's two spoon full of stir fry veggies from a dinner that can be make in to a soup with rice and broth. This is why I advocate for saving leftovers, it really saves you money. Another important thing too is learning how to treat your refrigerator and freezer like a moving conveyor belt, say what? Yes a conveyor belt, if you find a why to keep thing organized, dated and utilizing what is at hand, this will save you money. It takes a little practice and a little enginuity and once you find your own method you'll will start to see money being saved.
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