I'll be cooking for you now

Cooking for my family has helped me through the difficulty of moving away from my family and friends.  Blogging will keep me connected to my family and friends while giving inspiration to those who have fallen into the slump of eating the same old thing day in and day out.  I will show you how to cook on a tight budget, be inspired, and have fun.

Part of having one income in our family is budgeting.  Because of the economy I know I’m not the only one.  I budget our groceries for the month to be $200 to 250. I do not coupon b/c I tried it, found it difficult, and did not succeed at saving much. If you can do it good for you.  Instead I shop where it’s cheapest and most of the time it means store brand. Money should not be a barrier.

I began cooking for my family while I was in junior high. It started with making the rice, and grew from there.  I learned to cook Salvadoran and Puerto Rican food at home.  American food like meatloaf and chicken fried steak was not a norm until a lot later.  Now that I read cook books and cooking blogs and watch a ton of cooking shows, I find inspiration to cook every day.  There are times when meals don’t turn out exactly the way I plan, but learning from my errors and trying it again has made me better.

Cooking is fun for me 95% of the time. Yes, there are days when I don’t want to cook, and guess what, we have leftovers from the entire week, so I don’t have to cook. If I’m not going to have fun I am not going to cook, and that is that. This is why I constantly find something new.  Not to say that we don’t re-peat; because we do have favorites I go back to our “classics.”

I’m so excited to reconnect with friends and family and connect with new friends through my food ideas. I am looking forward to showing you how we save money and still cook yummy fun food.