Cooking at home for the budget and the body

I usually feel guilty for eating out.   Ok, ok sometimes, also bloated.  Guilty that I spent money on something I could have made at home.  Now, I must make a few exceptions.  One is- Asian food.  Some Asian food, if you've tried to make it at home then you know it requires many small amounts of different frou-frou little spices and sauces.  For instance, Fish Sauce.  I will not buy Fish Sauce since I do not like or eat Fish.  However, I'm not exactly asking how the dish is prepared when I go out, so as long as it has 'chicken' in the title, I'm ok with it.  I just don't like cooking with so many little ingredients.  Tonight for instance, we're going out to Thai food.  I think it's much healthier than Chinese even though I LOVE Chinese food.  Maybe its the same-- health wise but either way I do not feel guilty for Thai, Chinese or Japanese (all I get is Chicken Teriyaki, and yes I use the fork).

The other is fancy food.  Fancy like stuff I don't make at home--- crepes for example.  Yum!  Also, I recently found a place that makes custard french toast.  It's to die for!!!  Pretty much worth any heart ailment you might have.  So that I'm ok with.  But I can cook most everything else.  BBQ not so much, I don't like to play with fire, so I ask my husband to do that.  He has ADD, so he's distracted easily and he's either hovering over the grill asking me if I think it's done yet or he's forgotten about it completely- and I find myself yelling at him to get off the computer and check on the meat.  Pastas, soups, chili, spaghetti, salad-- no problem.

Recently, I found a fantastic blog.  Which I highly recommend you read.  It's extreme, but if nothing else, I found it inspiring to take a close look at what I spend my money on and how to keep it.  He has a great recipe for salad dressing too: (scroll down a bit) http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/04/18/the-amazing-waist-slimming-wallet-fattening-nutrient/

I've made it, and we were practically licking the bowl after we ran out of lettuce.  No seriously, its delicious.

#cooking #budget #health  #guilt