39 on $180

Tonight marked my 39th meal in a row for my family of four. It was awful. No really, there was absolutely nothing that was tasty about it! The dipping sauce was not terrible but one cannot live on dipping sauce alone although it would be a hell of a lot easier! My 38th meal, or lunch as some may call it, was pretty bad too.

Feeding a family of four, plus guests and random neighborhood children, is not an easy task when you are the one who plans the meals, makes the shopping list, does the cooking and most of the clean up (although when my husband is home he does help with the dishes). All of my meals are scratch made, meaning that there are no processed or prepackaged ingredients apart from the occasional specialty condiment. I do not buy frozen meals, boxed mixes or canned stuff, aside from beans, tomatoes and beets. Cereal, nearly always Chex because it is gluten free, is the only ready made thing that I buy. Don't get me wrong, I love cooking especially for my family and those whom I love the most. I dreamed of going to culinary school when I was a kid and joined the Army as a cook instead. My time there was invaluable as far as knowing how to cook for hundreds of people per meal and some tricks to making eggs, yes the Army does in fact use real eggs (sometimes). So it is not to say that I do not enjoy my time spent in the kitchen with music blaring or an exhaust fan humming in the background while some member of the family keeps me entertained at the counter. I am human, however, and I do like to have someone else do the cooking and cleaning up every once in a while.

My  last grocery trip was 12 days ago and I spent $180. Twelve days is a long time to go between shopping trips! Needless to say I have exhausted nearly every ingredient in my fridge, freezer and pantry! I love the fact that dairy staples like sour cream and Greek yogurt have a lot of time to work with. The last time my family and I went out to eat it was, well a familiar sea food chain in which our dear friend treated us and then got food poisoning in return. That was nearly a month ago. Before that, I have no recollection of the last time we went out. We just don't spend money on a meal that I can make better, and healthier, at home. We also live in a place where the options are quite limited. Being a Californian in the semi-rural Midwest I will admit that I am picky when it comes to fresh and vibrant flavors with a nice cultural mix. I have found only one restaurant in our three town area that I can even stomach enough to spend our hard earned money in and even that is questionable. I am not a snob, really! I just like good quality food at a reasonable price with fresh ingredients and good service. Honestly, I don't think it is too much to ask.

The way that I look at it is simple: give me a reason to drop $50+ in your establishment. If I can make it at home for less (and have leftovers) I'm not paying you to make it! Sometimes I think that being a California girl has spoiled me. I grew up with fresh fusion cuisine and my parents both cooked our week night meals. I went grocery shopping with my mom every week or so and I knew how much it cost to feed a family of six, including four teenagers. Is it too much to ask that I be able to do the same for my family? I know that people are feeling the burn of the high prices at the grocery store made very apparent by TV shows and websites devoted to coupon shopping. We are all feeling the pinch with costs of nearly everything that we consume rising steadily. The price of milk and the price of gas are about the same- nearly $4/ gallon. With meat prices rising, I have begun to wonder when we started running low on cows, chickens and pigs in the US. I always though that we had an abundance of these things but perhaps, along with everything else, we have begun to suck the meat industry dry.

I am not an economist, nor do I pretend to have a clue about the ins and outs of such matters. What I do know is how to stretch a dollar, how to cook good food that will nourish the body and provide a clean and happy environment to enjoy said food in with great conversations. I may not be the best cook, I certainly cannot bake to save my life, but I try to be better each meal, every day. I will say this, though, I am running out of new things to make at this point and am fairly burnt out on cooking at this point! Even in the Army I had a day off once in a while!