Okay, First "Real" Post - Eating At Home

Hi! Yikes, how easy it is to let time get away. Well, here goes our first post related to our intent.

Rockin the Recession by eating at home more often. Seems like a pretty simple idea. But truth is, Americans LOVE to eat out! According to the Dept of Labor's Consumer Expenditure statistics, as of 2006, the average person spent almost 45% of their food dining out! Of course, because of this recession, that number has surely dropped some, and maybe even significantly. But my guess is folks still afford themselves that luxury.

The point of this post, and the blog in general, is not to say "No...you can't do that!" to eating out or any behavior for that matter. Rather, it is to encourage and inspire some alternatives. And eating at home more often turns out to be one of the best ways to Rock the Recession!

For instance, just last night we had what most folks would consider a restaurant quality meal for a mere fraction of what it would have cost us to get the same meal at a local restaurant. We bought some beautiful Scarlett Snapper [1 lb @ $8.99 per lb (Penn Dutch market - we love that place!)], a 1/2 lb of fresh asparagus ($1.99 per lb) and some spaghetti squash (2 lbs @ $1.39 per lb - but enough for two separate meals). We broiled the snapper in a dab of butter, lemon and spices (total cost probably less than .50), roasted the asparagus in olive oil, salt and pepper (maybe .10?) and microwaved the spaghetti squash and seasoned with some spices (again, maybe..."pushin it"...lol...a nickle). So, what we thought was a delicious, nutritious, custom (! seasoned to our specific tastes) meal for a total of about $12. And that is one of our "expensive" meals because the snapper is relatively "pricey" versus chicken breast, steak or other meats, other fish, etc. (Note to those with a keen business mind: I realize we do not include the cost of utilities used for cooking and cleaning up but we assume that is basically offset by the cost of traveling to & from the local restaurant)

For us, it is a joy because a) we truly enjoy cooking, b) we enjoy each other's company - so working together in the kitchen is an added bonus/experience c) we love to "Google" - so finding great recipes that we think we would like is exciting, fun and challenging, d) we like the satisfaction of "doing it ourselves" and, e) we know we can take the money we saved and put it to some other use we choose.

I am sure there are plenty of other reasons why eating at home is so cool...post a comment to this blog and let us know yours!

Well, happy "eating at home" as a way to Rockin the Recession! Til next time...

K