Down Pineapple Lane

I have mulled over an idea for some time now and have managed to talk myself out of it every time I entertain the notion. Silence no more! When the economy turned for the worse, there were ideas on how to save money.

One such idea was to eat at home more. Okay, I agree that eating at home might be less expensive than eating out. But, someone forgot to take two steps back. But just one more tweak would make eating at home even more cost effective ~ actually preparing and cooking the food ourselves.

Now, I don’t know at which I am more appalled: 1) that food manufacturers actually believe that consumers will pay the asking price for pre-prepared food; 2) that food manufacturers think that consumers do not know how to do basic cooking anymore; or 3) that consumers don’t realize that there is more money to be saved by doing the food preparation and cooking themselves.  The fact that consumers do pay the prices and that consumers are continuing to buy pre-prepared and pre-cooked food might lead manufacturers to the conclusion drawn in my first two points.

Why do consumers pay the prices and continue to buy pre- prepared and pre-cooked food? Because they feel that it saves them time or effort; its a matter of convenience.

In times when we have more money than time, we can afford to pay to have the work done for us. BUT, in tough economic times, there is a need to find time because we have less money/higher prices. Finding more time in the kitchen is for another post.

But for now ~ how much do we need to save? Just a little? Then by all means eat at home instead of a restaurant.

But if you need to cut back significantly, then the time has come to prepare the meal yourself. Please let me illustrate how we have forgotten how much can be saved by doing the cooking ourselves.

A few months back I had one of those moments that necessitated my putting my hand over my mouth. A family was in the grocery store discussing what to have for supper. (Nevermind that the grocery store is not the place for that discussion.) She asked about mashed potatoes, and he agreed to them. She promptly reached into the refrigerated case and picked up a two-three serving package of pre-prepared mashed potatoes for about $2.25.  My mouth dropped open and out jumped, “I can’t believe that she just paid that much for potatoes when you can buy a whole bag of them and make oodles of servings of mashed potatoes for $3.99.” (Now you see why I had to put my hand over my mouth.) I slowly got over that.

But all the while, I’m thinking, “How many people are spending money unnecessarily for pre-prepared food instead of cooking it themselves?” Do they not know how to cook? Do they not have the time to cook? Do they not want to take the time? Maybe they don’t have economical recipes. (Light bulb!) (Talk self out of the idea.)

Then just the other day I was in the grocery store (again) and found myself in one of those “hand over the mouth” moments. I had approached what I thought was boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $6.97. What to my wondering eyes did appear but one simple bag of pre-cooked, pre-cut up chicken. Two and half cups of cubed chicken for $6.97!! Literally, I was walking through the store with my fingers holding my lips together. What has happened that we cannot cook chicken? What has happened that we cannot cube chicken? (Light bulb!) (Don’t talk self out of the idea this time.)

Our economy being what it is and food prices rising with leaps and bounds, we may need to return to cooking (not just microwaving) food. Food budgets are continuing to grow; food prices are continuing to climb. So the more we can save on preparing and cooking of food, the more money we have for other things or the more food that can be purchased. Right?

We may find ourselves spending time instead of money. So back to the light bulb ~ I have some low-cost recipes to share with you.

You and I are the “consumer advocates” for our homes. It is time that we took measures to control the food budget instead of being puppets to the food industry.

Please tell me how you have taken control of your food budget. There are lots of us who are ready to take action.