I had a plan this week for my food shopping.
Martha Stewart's Everyday Food--a magazine I'm obsessed with--had an issue lately that offered five nights of meals for only $50 worth of ingredients.
So, I decided to go to the market, spend the fifty bucks, and make each of the meals.
What a great way to save money and try new food!
...If you're a normal person.
If you're me, here's what happens.
The first stop on the list is produce.
First, I'm supposed to get a yellow onion.
But I can only find a bunch of yellow onions. Do I buy the bunch? Also, I don't really like yellow onions. Is the yellow onion essential?
I decide to move onto the next item on the list.
One head of iceberg lettuce.
Now, I don't mind iceberg lettuce, but it always seems to me like recipes call for iceberg lettuce, use a third of it, and then the rest of it ends up sitting in your crisper going to waste, because iceberg lettuce has no flavor and I never feel compelled to use it and so why--
Moving on.
One pound of Yukon Gold potatoes.
Do they need to be Yukon Gold? I couldn't find Yukon Gold. Is the gold part important or the Yukon? Are Yukon Gold potatoes made by actually Yukons? I keep picturing Dudley Do-Right.
Now I start looking at the actual recipes to see what I can substitute.
I decide the first meal Chili-Braised Pork with Sides--will take too long to cook, because by this point I've been in the market for an hour, and I'm starving.
Plus I don't like the sides--sweet potatoes and green beans.
Does that mean I don't need to buy sweet potatoes and green beans or are they used in other things as well? Is that the trick to this $50 week? Am I going to be eating a combination of pork, Yukon potatoes, and yellow onions all week?
Pretty soon I was having a nervous breakdown right in front of the radishes, so I decided to call it quits and buy ten boxes of pasta, a few blocks of cheese, and Ben and Jerry's caramel-whatever-punny-name-it-is ice cream.
I learned that when it comes to food--and food shopping--sometimes it's best to splurge a little.
Martha Stewart's Everyday Food--a magazine I'm obsessed with--had an issue lately that offered five nights of meals for only $50 worth of ingredients.
So, I decided to go to the market, spend the fifty bucks, and make each of the meals.
What a great way to save money and try new food!
...If you're a normal person.
If you're me, here's what happens.
The first stop on the list is produce.
First, I'm supposed to get a yellow onion.
But I can only find a bunch of yellow onions. Do I buy the bunch? Also, I don't really like yellow onions. Is the yellow onion essential?
I decide to move onto the next item on the list.
One head of iceberg lettuce.
Now, I don't mind iceberg lettuce, but it always seems to me like recipes call for iceberg lettuce, use a third of it, and then the rest of it ends up sitting in your crisper going to waste, because iceberg lettuce has no flavor and I never feel compelled to use it and so why--
Moving on.
One pound of Yukon Gold potatoes.
Do they need to be Yukon Gold? I couldn't find Yukon Gold. Is the gold part important or the Yukon? Are Yukon Gold potatoes made by actually Yukons? I keep picturing Dudley Do-Right.
Now I start looking at the actual recipes to see what I can substitute.
I decide the first meal Chili-Braised Pork with Sides--will take too long to cook, because by this point I've been in the market for an hour, and I'm starving.
Plus I don't like the sides--sweet potatoes and green beans.
Does that mean I don't need to buy sweet potatoes and green beans or are they used in other things as well? Is that the trick to this $50 week? Am I going to be eating a combination of pork, Yukon potatoes, and yellow onions all week?
Pretty soon I was having a nervous breakdown right in front of the radishes, so I decided to call it quits and buy ten boxes of pasta, a few blocks of cheese, and Ben and Jerry's caramel-whatever-punny-name-it-is ice cream.
I learned that when it comes to food--and food shopping--sometimes it's best to splurge a little.
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