Thursday, April 30, 2009

Cooking Philosophy and Tips

I am working on the first menu, but it is taking longer than I expected. It will be up soon, but in the meantime, I have a million ideas that are swimming around in my head, so I thought I better write them down.

I like delicious food, and I also like to cook. This means that I enjoy spending time making a great dinner or special treat. However, I teach piano lessons most afternoons, which means that by the time I am finished up with lessons, I don't have that much time to get dinner on the table (usually less than 30 minutes). I accomplish this by doing a lot of prep work ahead of time.

I also get a thrill out of seeing how good we can eat on as little money as possible. I love to have dinner be only $4 or $5 dollars total. Of course, this is not always possible, but on average, I try to have the total cost of groceries for the week be no more than $50-75. Some weeks I may spend more, some weeks less.

Understanding the previously mentioned philosophies is critical to understanding the development of my meal plans. First and foremost, the only way that I am able to do this each week is because I sit down on Sundays and plan out the week. What does this planning entail? Most importantly, what I am in the mood to eat. This is the privilege that the cook gets for doing all of the work! I enjoy cooking the meals so much more when it is something that I am looking forward to eating. This is also where having the week's meals planned out is helpful. If on Monday I am not in the mood to eat or cook my planned meal for Monday, I at least have several other meals already thought through, with the ingredients to make them.

In order to eat inexpensively, it is absolutely essential to know the best prices for your most purchased items. Only buy these items when they are at their best price. Then buy a lot if they are freezable. I have a large freezer just for this purpose. To keep costs down, it is more important to plan your meals around what you have in the freezer or what is on sale versus a particular recipe you want to make. In the Atlanta area, here are my price points of common things I buy:

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts: $1.99/lb (Kroger)
Split chicken breasts: $.99/lb (Kroger)
Chicken leg quarters: $.59/lb (Kroger sold in 10 lb bags)
Flat iron steaks: $3.99/lb (Kroger)
Boneless pork shoulder: $1.50/lb (Costco)
Pork shoulder with bone and skin: $.99/lb (Kroger/Publix)
Pork loin: $1.89/lb (Costco)
Salmon: $5.99/lb (Costco)
Tilapia: $4.99/lb (Costco)
Ground Beef: $2.20 (Costco) This is not the cheapest available, but the quality is unbeatable

Ethnic markets are my best friend. Specifically Asian markets. Their cuisine relies so heavily on produce, that produce at Asian markets is invariably loads cheaper than standard grocery stores. For example:

Cilantro: $.33/bunch
Limes: 5/$1 or better
Tomatoes: $.60/lb
Fresh or dried spices: TONS cheaper than the grocery store
Green onions: 5 bunches/$1.00
etc
etc

It is important to note that I am a stay-at-home mom. This means that I have the luxury of time earlier in the day to prepare dinner ahead of time. I understand that this is not possible for everyone. In addition to prepping earlier in the day, I also take advantage of preparing more than one meal at a time. For example, if I am going to the effort of cooking chicken one night, I will cook whatever extra I may need for another meal later in the week. Or perhaps to freeze. This doesn't work will all foods, of course, but I utilize this strategy all of the time when I know that later on in the week I will be pressed for time one night. Again, this is where a weekly meal plan is crucial because I have already thought through the food requirements and what I can do ahead of time.

I think that is all for now. Hopefully I will be finishing up my Menu #1 shortly, and I am anxious to hear any critiques that you have!

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