Food and Budget

[cjsmith]

Am I the only person I know who picks up TV dinners and divides dollars by calories?

Big ol' Tombstone extra-cheese frozen pizza: $3.50. Two meals.

Two bell peppers: $3.98. Mistake.

Comments

[firecat]

The closest I come is reminding myself that no matter how expensive the groceries are, they're less expensive than eating out.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I'm still trying to convince myself of that, actually. :-/ Factors that affect this balance include my lack of total goddesshood in the kitchen (leading to waste both through mistakes and through spoilage of what I can't bring myself to finish eating), the fact I cook for one (leading to waste again, usually spoilage), and the fact I'm pretty darn good at eating cheaply at burrito places. :-)

These peppers were bought with tikka masala in mind. I also got tofu, though I forgot the heavy cream and will have to pick that up later. The recipe "feeds four". Tombstone beats it handily on price, as do at least two of the places my coworkers and I go for lunch. (O'course, it'll be tikka masala. That's worth something.)

[firecat]

Yeah, I would compare tikka masala made from scratch to tikka masala bought at a restaurant, rather than comparing it to a Tombstone pizza or a burrito. (I think Trader Joe's might have it in a single-serving pouch, btw.)

When making food for myself, I tend not to really "cook" so much as throw stuff together. Frex, I just got done eating some "Imagine" brand creamy tomato soup to which I added a hunk of cheese, a handful of tortilla chips, and a handful of nuts. Each ingredient is expensive to buy ('cos all organic except the nuts, and nuts are expensive), but I can get 4 meals out of it with ingredients left over.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I would compare tikka masala made from scratch to tikka masala bought at a restaurant, rather than comparing it to a Tombstone pizza or a burrito.

Right, fair enough.

(I think Trader Joe's might have it in a single-serving pouch, btw.)

And I bet that beats both the other options.

...but I can get 4 meals out of it with ingredients left over.

*nod* For me, leftover ingredients have zero value because they don't get used... but as you say, if I got the hang of "throwing stuff together", that would improve.

[firecat]

And it's easy enough to find uses for leftover tortilla chips, cheese, and nuts, if only for TV snacks. :-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yum! :-)