Knowing your way around a kitchen and making it work for you is something money can’t buy. Skills and habits and knowing what flows in and what can be made into something to be eaten now and later. What’s fresh today and what’s going to be fresh tomorrow or the next day. Movement in the… Continue reading Kitchen Habits

Truthfully, I am a baker. Anything baked is a highlight for me. So, my thing is, I bake, anything I can. A few times a year, I do opt out and buy a loaf of bread. But, I, really like my own best. Bread, cake, pizza crust – I bake a lot. I love the… Continue reading What to Make from Scratch?

I’m going above and beyond here. I just read this great article on the HuffingtonPost that Home Cooking increases longevity. Just tooting my own horn here, but this exactly what I’ve been writing about on this verrry blog for the last 2 years. Buying processed food, buying take-out, driving through the drive-thru’s, and what is… Continue reading Something to Chew On

A really good cook always has an intimate relationship with every corner of their kitchen. There’s an order with the food that comes and goes. A natural place of things needed; when and where they need to be used. Mugs next to the coffee pot. Glasses next to the frig. Utensils next to the stove.… Continue reading Connecting with Your Kitchen

I joined the local food co-op and I am so excited! Just look at all this amazing fresh STUFF!    This weeks’ bounty!  All of this was just half of my weekly budget. All of this I was able to afford for myself on a limited budget. Fresh, healthy produce at a very reasonable price.… Continue reading My New Favorite Thing

This week in our Cooking Matters class we cut up whole chickens into pieces. Cutting up a whole chicken is not a nice job, but fairly easy once you get the hang of it. It is less expensive per pound to buy a whole chicken rather than buying the pieces already cut up. Makes perfect sense.… Continue reading The Process of Our Disconnection

Buying just food, is no problem at all on $30 a week. This is my 16th week of living on $30 a week. Adjustments were made for my job and for certain things that may come up and some that definitely will. So far my concessions for work and coffee have been the main adjustments and it has all… Continue reading My Thoughts on Living on a Budget

I was just reading this article on the Huffington Post that I found really interesting and relates well to the message of Inspired Home Cooking. The topic of obesity and how it relates to our own personal economic state has been coming up in many online articles recently. A much debated and studied topic, obesity is… Continue reading A Little Participation Goes A Long Way

I went to the market last night after work. As I was standing in line, I gave in and got a Toblerone bar and one Lindt chocolate. I’ve bought chocolate before on this budget o’mine, but the problem is that today it’s all I’ve wanted. And I have completely given into this craving. I love,… Continue reading All I Want is Chocolate

It’s coming up to the most wonderful time of year when produce is beginning to grow abundantly. Local farmer’s markets are opening up with displays of gorgeous varieties of produce. Produce sections of grocery stores sometimes will sometimes make note on signs of local items – and get an abundance of something in particular when it’s… Continue reading What’s Available To You

My little dog, Duke, has been having some health problems lately. He’s been drinking a lot of water and having to pee a lot and he’s lost some weight. I got him to the vet yesterday to get to the bottom of it, and my little Duke has diabetes. Of course, I was worried if… Continue reading My Little Dog

Last week, as is the usual plan, our office order from a local restaurant. There were “Melts” on the menu. Wow, a melt was just what I was in the mood for, a Tuna Melt fresh off the grill – melted cheese, toasted buttery bread. I laughed inside when I opened my box. I wished I had… Continue reading A Taste for Something Very Particular

I had a conversation with my stepmom a while back. She was telling me about someone she knew who had kept a potato that had pesticide on it for over a year and a half – it didn’t go bad.I have my own experiment going, I have a bag of snow peas that I’ve had since the… Continue reading Real Food Rots